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A Growing Wave Reaching Diverse Audiences With Aquatic Programming By Hayli Morrison
hen U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps clinched his 14th career gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in August, his name was firmly rooted in history and in the minds of aspiring young swimmers across America. The Olympic champion met face-to-face with his fans in subsequent public appearances at locations like the McBurney YMCA in New York City, where he presented a grant to enhance the YMCA's citywide swim programs.
The success of Phelps and his Olympic teammates immediately bolstered interest in the swimming sport among adults and children alike. It's a phenomenon seen after each Summer Olympics, but even more so this year with the involvement of such a high-profile athlete as Phelps, according to Kay Smiley, aquatic specialist for YMCA of the USA.
"I was talking to a swim teacher the other day who said she was just walking into church and got absolutely bombarded with parents saying, 'My child wants to learn to swim. What do I need to do?'" Smiley recalled.
It is the kind of momentum boost that aquatics facility managers dream of. However, the long-term challenge facing programming managers is how to keep the momentum strong. This can prove difficult in a society full of increasingly busy, overextended families. But with U.S. children watching television an average of two to three hours each day—which can be linked to childhood obesity, attention deficit disorder and a host of other afflictions—it is more important than ever to get kids off the couch and into the pool. Aquatics facilities and programming have both become key tools of exercise, entertainment, marketing and even community enhancement.
"Swimming is a life skill, and we need to get kids in the water and get them interested in it. We have to get them excited to be in the water and have something they want to do, like go down the waterslide," said Kevin Post, project manager for Counsilman-Hunsaker, a St. Louis-based design firm that focuses on aquatic facilities. "If the kids are out there playing and having fun, they don't realize it is exercise and it's good for their health."
Smiley said interest in swimming has increased across age and ethnic lines as well. Older swimmers are often seen poolside, as swimming has long been known for its therapeutic and general exercise qualities.
"We've got more boomers getting ready to retire, and low-impact activity is going to take off," Smiley said. Aquatic circuit training is also becoming more popular for overweight children and teens, she added.
Meanwhile, women of Middle Eastern heritage, wearing specially designed swimwear in keeping with their faith, are participating in swim lessons more often.
"Ten or 15 years ago, we wouldn't have seen that, so it's exciting," Smiley said. "The pool is for everybody."
Design for the People
With family-friendly features like waterslides, lazy rivers, zero-depth entry and spray fountains, fun-filled aquatics facilities resembling small waterparks are cropping up everywhere from hotels to schools and neighborhood parks. A facility's design is certainly a big factor in the amount and type of people who visit, and it can be challenging to balance the wants and needs of all.
For that reason, the community itself should ideally be highly involved in the design of the facility, according to Post. A design approach that is "of the people, for the people" will take into account community demographic information and public input. Post even recommended that planners go into elementary schools and engage the students in discussion, particularly when public tax dollars are funding the project. This can be helpful in deciding the amenities as well as the programming.
"A lot of people have the belief that 'If you build it, they will come.' In my opinion, that's not necessarily true. If you build an appropriate facility, they will come," Post said. "Kids and their parents prefer a structured environment. They have busy days to plan. They know they can fit it into their schedule, and there's the social aspect and the carpooling option is feasible."
He added, "The college market prefers unstructured programming, with more amenities available. Very young age groups need less threatening activities. The teen demographic needs a thrill element, so we have to decide what age group we're trying to meet."
The city of La Mirada, Calif., enlisted help from Counsilman-Hunsaker when designing its interactive, multi-faceted aquatic center, known as Splash! The facility, a little over one year old, offers diverse programs, amenities and features with very broad appeal.
The pirate-themed water attraction debuted in November 2007, filling a need in a community that previously only had one lap pool at a nearby university and a second small pool that operated six weeks each year. Splash! features a 25-yard pool surrounded by canopies, a pirate-shaped tipping bucket, lazy river, spa, cannon and a tangle of twisting waterslides.
"There was definitely a need and a desire to offer an aquatics program, and one that was year-round," said Lori Thompson, aquatics programmer for the City of La Mirada. "We had done some studies prior to taking on this facility, and aquatics was one of the top requests from the community in our surveys, so it was put in our community services master plan."
Programming Innovation
It is evident the community was ready for Splash! to debut. In its first summer of operation, the facility hosted 100,000 visitors at "Bucaneer Bay" alone, the interactive section that appeals to children and families. However, while the amenities at Splash! are a huge draw, aquatics programming is an equally important component.
Splash! decided to feature standard offerings like swimming and lifeguarding classes alongside more diverse offerings like water polo, board diving and synchronized swimming classes, Splash! Mini Olympics, and even the Polar Bear Plunge on New Year's Day. The creative programming ideas at Splash! were equal parts in-house innovation and collaboration with other aquatic entities.
"The aquatics community is very strong," Thompson said. "Somebody comes up with a great idea and it works, they're more than willing to share. So that's where a lot of ideas come from, and we do have a very creative staff."
To maximize revenue potential, designers created Splash! so its components could be used simultaneously for multiple purposes.
"For instance, we might have lap swimming going on at the same time as swim classes," Thompson said. "So we are able to be very cost-effective and maximize the use of our facility."
While multi-purpose use is important for cost-efficiency, facility operators should also mind the importance of staying on top of the trends. Even if current funding and space do not allow for cutting-edge programming, future expansion options might be factored into the facility's master plan.
Some facilities are taking a more "entrepreneurial approach," according to Post, forming partnerships with area businesses to grant naming rights for a building or even a program in exchange for corporate funding. The design of a facility might also serve to complement, instead of compete against, nearby facilities. Such a plan facilitates a cooperative spirit in the local aquatics community while offering local residents enough options to meet all their needs.
Aquatics programming options have certainly come a long way in another regard—that of instruction methodology. In the relative Dark Ages of the aquatics industry, programming instruction and overall direction was largely determined by trial and error. Aquatics instruction is now more likely to take a student-centered approach. More research goes into teaching methods so the classes are more adaptable to each student's preferred learning method.
"It's all about how the children learn. Kids learn better when they figure it out themselves," Smiley said. "I think there's more science behind what we do now. We have more research and evidence-based information behind what we do now, so we can design our programs around that."
In addition to scientific developments, such factors as technology, exercise, marketing and water safety initiatives all play a significant role in program development as well.
The Technology Factor
The in-pool movie is one programming feature catching on at many aquatics facilities across America. Swimmers gather to watch a family-friendly film projected onto a nearby screen. Some colleges and universities are even using elaborate scoreboards or built-in LCD screens as movie screens. It is an adaptation of the traditional drive-in movie theater, but with the added benefit of getting families into the water, which ideally would translate into repeat visits in the future.
"Getting technology into the pool is becoming more standard," Post said. "We're seeing that kids like the interactive features, and the next step is bringing in the technology and dealing with that short attention span. The next step is what's coming in the future—bringing video games in like Dance, Dance Revolution. I'm thinking it's going to be something more aquatics-related, like where you're in a boat and you feel like you're rowing down a river, but you're stationary in the pool."
Probably the closest thing to hit the market thus far has been the Nintendo Wii video game system, an interactive virtual reality offering that has been embraced by several private gyms as an exercise accessory. The Wii has been used as a physical therapy and rehabilitation tool for senior citizens and injured athletes. It was even used as a training tool for Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima before winning gold in the 100m breaststroke at the 2008 Olympic games, according to Japanese media reports. Kitajima credited the breaststroke move favored by legendary video game character Mario as the "perfect mental training for envisioning the actual Olympic hall."
Further integration of technology and aquatics would come as no surprise to Smiley. "Over the years, we've taken all sorts of things from dry land and put it into the water," she said.
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By the Numbers...
The following statistics on water safety are the latest ones provided by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- In 2005, about 3,582 fatal, unintentional drownings occurred in America. That's about 10 drowning-related deaths per day.
- Drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional, injury-related death for American children between the ages of 1 and 14. This age bracket comprises more than one-fourth of all fatal drowning victims.
- In 2005, drowning-related deaths were four times more common in men than in women.
- Between 2000 and 2005, drowning-related deaths were 1.3 times less likely among Caucasians than African-Americans.
- Among children between the ages of 5 and 14, the ethnic differences were even more pronounced. Drowning-related deaths were 3.2 times higher for African-American children than Caucasian children, and 2.4 times higher for American Indian and Alaskan Native children.
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Exercise Options
Circuit training is one "dry land" activity that has already found its way into the swimming pool, opening up more options for exercisers whose body weight would otherwise inhibit such endeavors.
"Weight is taken off them when they get in the water, and they can move and feel comfortable and really move around," Smiley said.
This is another area where technology has an increasing presence in the aquatics world. Swimming Technology Research has developed a data-based option for analyzing everything from the basic beginner's swim movements to the effectiveness of an aquatic exercise or therapy program. Dr. Rod Havriluk, company president, developed Aquanex more than 20 years ago as a doctoral student at Indiana University as a means of gathering information necessary to complete his thesis. The revolutionary system uses underwater video, equipment sensors and other technology to determine exactly what is transpiring throughout the range of a person's movement.
"One of the first people we tested with an exercise was generating very little force and we weren't sure why," Havriluk said. "Then we realized they weren't keeping the exercise device perpendicular to the direction of motion they were moving in. They were finding an easier way to exercise, sort of sliding it sideways through the water, and it was subtle enough that it was the sort of thing you wouldn't necessarily notice from the surface."
Havriluk pointed out that this mistake happens often, many times unbeknownst even to the aquatic exerciser or therapy patient.
"There's difficulty with helping a client understand how to do a motion—especially if it's a novel exercise for them and the instructor is demonstrating from the pool deck," Havriluk said. "There's a communication gap, and without the data, it's impossible to be certain that they're doing it correctly."
Havriluk also developed a second system two years ago, MONA, which is designed to monitor more basic swim movements, as well as the positioning of the legs, arms and head. Though it's also a scientific data-based system, it is more geared for basic swimming instruction.
While science and technology certainly has its place in diagnosing problems swimmers might experience in the water, any aquatics programmer knows that when it comes to kids, it's all about fun. Along with aquatic circuit training, fun-filled aquatics camps are increasingly used as a means of combating obesity in America.
The Lodge, of Des Peres, Mo., is adding a water aerobics "Boot Camp" program for ages 16 and up to build on the popularity of its annual Aqua Adventure Camp for kids. Aqua Adventurers spend their first hour in a swim lesson, followed by two hours of aquatic games in an effort to mix exercise with fun.
"Basically, anything we can do to keep those kids moving and having fun," said Brad Schmitt, recreation superintendent at The Lodge. "It's really turned out to be one of our most popular activities."
The popularity of aquatic exercise is understandable in light of the fact that water acts as the great equalizer among kids. With activities like synchronized swimming and water polo, body weight is not as much a factor as on dry land. Body weight can, in fact, prove to be an asset.
"Not every child wants to run up and down a soccer field, but what we're seeing is that kids who are a little bit heavier, they float really well," Smiley said. "And now, suddenly, they're no longer the last ones picked on the team, and you see them just beam."
Marketing Strategies
Of course, part of the trick to getting bodies in the water is getting word out about the facility and its offerings. Keeping an aquatics program afloat requires a creative, multi-faceted marketing approach, as well as ongoing cost monitoring. Too many programs and not enough participation can spell financial disaster.
The Lodge knows this, and has adopted a very cost-aware operational strategy, expecting to recover 95 percent of costs in 2008. That percentage, while surpassing the facility's goal, is down slightly from 99 percent cost recovery in 2006. It's certainly a change from The Lodge's first three years of operation, when the facility was at full capacity, and those living outside the Des Peres city limits had to join a waiting list.
The downward trend in cost recovery has shifted The Lodge's membership recruiting focus to embrace non-residents and more corporate members. While there is no planned increase in membership fees, the facility has raised fees for daily admission, programs, camp activities and rental of the field and pavilion. It's all part of the cost-benefit analysis that should be ongoing in any aquatics facility.
"We are always evaluating our programming, and we have never provided free programs where sponsorship is not supporting it. Thus, cutbacks are not necessary for programming," said Des Peres Parks and Recreation Director Susan Trautman. "I am a big believer that my staff has to have control over their expenses and revenues. They are accountable for their budgets, and I make sure they have the tools to measure their success."
Just as marketing supports programming, the opposite can also be true. As many aquatics facilities have learned, programming features can actually function as marketing tools—a very effective strategy during tough economic times. Many have opened up aquatics camps or basic swim lessons to the general public as a means of generating interest in the facilities themselves.
The Lodge utilizes this strategy with its Monster Mash each Halloween, a giant party for the community. Complete with Radio Disney DJs, Mad Science experiments, a costume contest and games, the popular event attracted as many as 700 people last year.
"Before we had this building, we just had a Halloween maze in one room in City Hall," Schmitt said. "When we came here, we wanted to definitely do a community event."
With its Polar Bear Plunge each New Year's Day, Splash! has also used programming as a marketing tool to connect with residents in and around the La Mirada community. However, Splash! is a relatively new facility that is still enjoying considerable buzz and feeding off significant pre-launch marketing efforts, according to Thompson.
"We did a lot of marketing before opening, and we had special events during the Fourth of July and other times to get the word out before we even opened," she said. "We had 7,000 people attend our ribbon-cutting, and that was in November."
Nevertheless, Splash! continues to mail out monthly newsletters to every home in La Mirada, regardless of the residents' membership status. It helps promote brand recognition, party rental and most importantly, keeps all residents apprised of one-time and ongoing aquatics program offerings.
Water Safety
Water safety is another primary factor in aquatics programming. Whether through in-house programs or through community outreach in schools and churches, broadcasting the message of water safety is a foremost priority throughout the industry—and for good reason. Drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As many as 30 percent of child deaths between ages 1 and 4 were related to drowning, primarily in residential swimming pools.
These startling statistics have prompted many aquatics facilities to step up their educational efforts recently, to include not only in-house programs, but also hands-on outreach programs in the community.
One such organization, YMCA of Greater Houston, has orchestrated a speaker's bureau to educate community members on water safety. Taking it a step further, the organization has teams of volunteers traveling to apartment complexes citywide, offering week-long swim classes all summer to kids and adults who may not otherwise have such exposure to the water.
"We've had some very deadly summers in the Houston area recently. The climate is so dry and there's water everywhere," said Kristine Meyerson, association aquatics specialist for the YMCA of Greater Houston. "It seemed like every day you'd turn on the news and hear about another child lost in a drowning. We just felt like we were uniquely situated to have an impact on that."
The Houston area YMCA's "Apartment Water Wise" program, in conjunction with USA Swimming's Make A Splash program, targets apartment complexes with underserved populations. Many residents don't have transportation, time or money for swimming lessons. Thus, the apartment outreach program is free, subsidized by grant money, funding from ConocoPhillips and sometimes a small fee paid by the complex, if possible.
"They just walk across the parking lot to the pool," said Make A Splash Program Manager Kim O'Shea, who recently saw the initiative in action at a Houston-area apartment complex. "The kids are lined up on the steps in their swim gear, with their goggles on, just waiting for those guys to pull up."
Ambivalent attitudes toward swimming and water safety—and sometimes even an outright fear of water—can be a generational issue in some communities. In the two years the on-site swimming instruction outreach has taken place in Houston, Meyerson said it has faced cultural and demographic barriers, just to name a few.
Nevertheless, the student count grew from 400 the first year to 820 students the second year. Students with inadequate swimwear were given size-appropriate suits and goggles, funded by grant money. The popular classes have seen students ranging in age from 6 months to 59 years. In one instance, three generations of a family were present in the class, a success story that represents a key to breaking through the generational barrier.
"The biggest influencing factor in whether a child learns to swim is what their parents do. If a parent learns to swim, their children will," O'Shea said, citing a recent University of Memphis study. "So we say, 'If you don't teach your child to swim, you're jeopardizing your grandchild.' It's not necessarily a scare tactic, but it's a scary statistic to think about."
The cultural barrier is a very significant factor in the apartment complexes targeted by the Make A Splash initiative, but that barrier has been largely overcome through very strategic volunteer recruiting and training. Outstanding high school students living in the complexes or surrounding neighborhoods are recruited for leadership and mentoring roles. It helps bridge language and cultural gaps, and facilitates parental trust in an educational environment that utilizes community insiders, not just outsiders. Best of all, it gives the youth mentors extra motivation, a purpose in their life and respect in their community.
"Now, those students are the role models teaching in their own community," Smiley said. "They're speaking the correct language, so there's not a barrier, and it helps parents relax.
"One of the girls said, 'I never really understood why it mattered whether I graduated from high school or went to college, but now I want to graduate from high school and I am going to college. I see these swim instructors and I want to be like them,'" Smiley recalled. "It was a significant change in her mindset, and the only real difference was she got picked to be a role model."
Make A Splash is partnering with different local entities across the United States to expand the knowledge—and ideally a love—of swimming to all populations. "If you never learn to swim, you never have the opportunity to want to do it the rest of your life," Meyerson said.
In Atlanta, Make A Splash has partnered primarily with the Atlanta Falcons NFL team and the Boys and Girls Club, dramatically increasing use of the club's four pools.
"They had four pools in the Boys and Girls Clubs, but they didn't have any swim lessons going on," O'Shea said.
In Chicago, the primary local partner has been the city's Park District, again increasing use of available pools and driving up interest in swim lessons, according to O'Shea.
Aside from promoting water safety education, another primary motivation for local facilities to partner with the Make A Splash initiative is enhanced community awareness of the facilities and their programs. With a professionally-produced banner and a free public service announcement as part of the package, the initiative can drive a significant amount of publicity to local facilities and their programs.
Currently, 10,000 kids have either taken swim lessons or simply learned about water safety guidelines through the Make A Splash program. There are 16 local partners in nine states, but O'Shea hopes to see those numbers grow dramatically in the near future. In fact, she expects to have 500 local partners by 2012, and be better prepared to capitalize on swimming's inevitable wave of popularity when Michael Phelps takes to the Olympic swimming pool again to chase gold medal number 15.
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