OUR STORY
As we write this in July of 2023, our current swim school site has been open for 10 years this month, however the club has been going slightly longer. To tell you the story of the beginnings of the club is to tell you the story of the beginnings swim school as the two are intertwined.
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Long, long ago in a far-off galaxy – actually in the early 2000s - Huia and Jenny had a dream that arose from their many years of coaching. They saw there was a shortage of water space in Christchurch, particularly on the Southern side of the city. They wanted a better deal for swimmers and to have the facilities to teach children the skills they needed to become a competitive swimmer (if they wanted to) right from the outset. They also wanted to address the state of swimming in New Zealand, to make learning a life saving skill affordable to everyone, regardless of individual circumstance. They believed that such a necessity should not be a luxury – it should be the right of every child, and it is still their vision to make this happen. They wanted to build a facility that could benefit the community, foster health and well-being, become a place for people to meet, share experiences, develop friendships, become a place of learning, fun, relaxation, and therapy.
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This vision would not have happened until we shared it with Chris Hurley (Matthew’s father) in 2009; he liked our plans and came on board with us, bringing with him business skills and experience we didn’t have. Chris was also the very first President of the Waitaha Swim Club. Together, we faced many barriers, obstacles, detractors, nay-sayers, people who didn’t think we could do what we said we would – suffice to say the tall poppy syndrome was very much alive and well in the swimming community at that time. But, swim coaches are notoriously competitive and determined so we ignored all of that and carried on.
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DO, OR NOT DO. THERE IS NO TRY, ONLY DO. The famous advice given by the wise old Yoda to the young Luke Skywalker and which many of you swimmers sitting here today would have heard Huia say that to you over the years. And we didn’t just try – we did. We chose to surround ourselves with positive people, people who believed in us, and wanted to share in, and be a part of that dream. We chose not to listen to the negative, and to continue with our plans. It’s very true it would have been so easy to have given up many times, but for us this was never an option. We were never going to try and build a pool – we were only ever going to do it. We never doubted ourselves, and we never doubted we would see this project through to its completion, even though there were times when a huge personal cost to each of us was involved. And that has still been the case over the years.
In November 2010 we had become frustrated with continual stonewalling and bureaucratic red tape associated with the site we originally preferred – which incidentally was the Templeton outdoor pool - we cast our eye out for another and came across the current site in January 2011, and put an offer in on it. We were due to sign up for it on the day of the Christchurch Earthquakes in February 2011. The earthquakes occurred before that happened and the actual signing was delayed.
As you can imagine after that fateful day the building process became an absolute nightmare. There were so many delays and after purchasing the site we had to jump through numerous bureaucratic hoops; we had to pay for all sorts of geotechnical reports, electromagnetic reports, feasibility studies; we engaged two different architectural companies - neither of which appeared to understand our needs or requirements - and the costs to build in Christchurch following the earthquakes were ramped up virtually overnight by something like 35%. And that was really hard - we were just ordinary people trying to build something that we envisaged would help others, and when talking about a multi-million-dollar project it was a lot of extra money to suddenly try and find. In effect, we’d shelled out loads of money but had absolutely nothing to show for it. We needed some way of beginning our swim school in order to recoup some of this huge outlay.
Through Huia’s brother-in-law we were put on to a company called Apollo; they had a new type of pool design they wanted to bring into the country and would build what we wanted on budget – which they did. Our stainless steel pool was the first of its type in New Zealand - all others were concrete or tiled. Apollo showcased our pool and have now gone on to make numerous others like it around the country.
In November 2011 circumstances meant that we had to walk away from a long association we both had from Templeton Swimming Club, a club Huia had coached voluntarily for 28 years and myself for 18 and one which our children had all swum for. This was a heart-breaking decision at the time, but one with which we felt were left with little choice. But we were determined to still coach and make this vision happen so we decided to start our own swim club and we chose the name Waitaha. For us, it embodied the values we hold in high regard and to which we aspire. It is a strong name steeped in history, rich in tradition and ancestry, held in great mana, uttered with respect. It is the name of the first people in this region – and that is what we wanted – to be the first and foremost club in the region. We approached the local iwi and were granted permission and their blessing to use the name. They also came and blessed the site prior to the commencement of building. Much later the squad names were, in turn, chosen by Huia, myself, Sam, and Matthew, to reflect the Waitaha strength, name and region: Aoraki – the highest peak in Aotearoa and therefore the pinnacle for squads, flowing into Pukaki, and supported by Waitaki, Waiau, Rangitata, Rakaia, Waimakriri, Hurunui, Te Waihora - all significant waterways of the Waitaha area. Water, is the essence of our sport and what we do; it is an element which is traditionally considered sacred for Maori, being the essence of life, so the squad names all of you swimmers are part of are very symbolic and represent great strength and vitality, so we hope you own those squad names with humility and great pride.
Waitaha began with the massive number of 9 club swimmers, and they trained in one lane at Wharenui for a few months. We look at the numbers of club swimmers here today and it really blows us away.
Despite starting the club, frustratingly we were still without our own pool. In January 2012 we approached McKenzie Residential School (which was about a kilometre from our current site) to see if the school would allow us use of its pool. We owe a great debt of thanks to the school who didn’t know us but put their faith in us and said yes, we could use its’ pool for free in return for teaching their children - all of whom had severe behavioural issues. It is an understatement to say how much those children taught us every day we were there – they were as sharp as tacks and really kept us on our toes and really challenged us – which was great, because it was what we needed to stand us even better stead as coaches. That pool was a 15 metre 2 lane pool and in April 2012 Canterbury Swim School opened its doors at McKenzie and in that first week we had our 9 Waitaha club swimmers and a huge total of 14 swim school children come through them.
During this time we took on board 2 staff members – my daughter Kelly who was with us right from the outset and Sue Heslop, who came on board part way through our stint at McKenzie - both of these ladies coached many squad swimmers in their early days, some of whom are still here today. Our families have been, and continue to be very supportive and an important part of what we do. In the early years they pretty much had to come and work with us in order to see us. Apart from Kelly, we’ve also been joined over the years by my son Luke, Chris’s daughter-in-law Allyse, Huia’s wife Barbara, his daughter TeAna, his granddaughter Raiha, and of course Matthew. So, yes we are very much a family business and family orientated.
So, we say to all of you swimmers, don’t ever think you’re just a number to us, because you’re not. We remember when all of you squad swimmers started with us, some of you have been with us for many years, either still as swimmers or joined our staff. Many of you we remember being in the pool with you accompanied by your parents in the beginner classes. In July 2012 Zach and Tamsyn Knowles joined us at McKenzie; Nick and Ben Harris in September 2012 – who are incidentally the only swimmers from that period still currently swimming; Ryan Gibbs joined in April 2013 also at McKenzie; Gemma Ballinger – I’m not sure if she actually knows this - was the first ever person to email us wanting to bring her son Cody – who was then only 9 months old – to us. I was so excited when we received that email – I phoned Huia and Chris to share this wonderful news that we actually got an email! But unfortunately, the McKenzie pool wasn’t warm enough for babies and so they joined us as soon as we opened the new pool in July 2013; the Hicks family joined us in July 2013 – Amber the only family member still swimming was installed in a pushchair at the end of the pool while Matt joined the class I was taking in the pool with Will; Finn Henry started in January 2014; Sienna Choat in February 2014; Caitlin Roberts in March 2014; Cailin and Dolph Marmetschke in September 2014; Mia Henderson in November 2014 (Brooke, who was still very little, not until some time after that). A little bit later Taylor Martin joined us in July 2015; Keegan and Tristan Gerber in August 2015; Alex and Dexter Marr in January 2016; Ilia Podilian and Jed Alcayde in March 2016; Keira Phelan in April 2016; James and Oliver Kim in June 2016; Grace Brooking in August 2016; Gemma Scott in July 2017; Kathy and Andrew Gai in November 2017. Next were Ethan and Moana Jiao in January 2018; Iris Gu in February 2018; Bentley Todd in May 2018; Lucy and Pippa Henshaw in June 2018; Muen Liu in July 2018; Catriona Smart in August 2018; Minnie and Jackson Cowles in September 2018. More recently we have had Eve Cai join us in January 2019; Louis Ma in February 2019; Aubrey Doney, Tavin and Taiwa Lim in March 2019; Reese White in April 2019; Jayden and Mason Lee, Eunji and Jihyeon Kwon in September 2019; Alex Drury and Caitlin and Imogen Petersen in January 2020; Samantha Reed in July 2020; Daniil and Vadim Pulin in June 2020; Artem Anikonov and YiZiXuan Han in July 2020; Deborah and Aiden Son in October 2020; Daniel and Jason Cui in in January 2021; Leina Kim and Tao Iyoda in June 2021, Ryan Tan and Jihoon Ha in December 2021. I hope I haven’t missed out anyone – my sincere apologies if I have. It is staggering to think most of you joined us prior to starting, or very early on, in your school life, and here you are still with us. So, please don’t ever think you’re just a number to us, you’re not. You’re part of us and of Waitaha. We cannot begin to thank you and your families enough for the loyal and unwavering support over these many years.
Our new pool opened in July 2013 and by the time we left McKenzie that tiny pool was bursting at the seams with over 360 children, and I think about 20 club swimmers.
The Waitaha Aquatic Centre was officially opened in October 2013 by the then Governor-General, the Right Honourable Sir Jerry Mateparae. When we first talked about our official opening, the three of us wondered what we were going to do and who to get to open it. Huia very confidently announced he was going to get the Governor-General to do it – Chris and I looked at each other and said ‘yeah, right’ not thinking for a moment it would happen. We were totally gobsmacked when we were advised through Governmental channels that this man – the closest thing to Royalty in NZ - was coming. We then wondered what on earth we were going to do with him – not to mention all his entourage – we had no idea! But somehow it all managed to work out on the day.
So, after all these years it’s very satisfying to see that our facility has become very much a part of the community and the community that has developed around it. It is really humbling to think that something we built has brought so many people together – people whose paths would not have otherwise crossed. With regards to staff we’ve had partnerships with Patrick and Ruby, marriages with Matthew and Georgia (plus another future squaddie on the way), many friendships have developed between swimmers and also swimmer parents - it is just so great to see. To be an enabler of such life-changing experiences is actually pretty mind blowing.
However, we couldn’t have done it without all of you who are the very spirit of the swim club, and the wonderful support and dedication of the club committee Their hard work has ensured that from very small beginnings Waitaha is now in the strong position it is currently, with a great team culture, considerably more swimmers than the 9 we started out with, and there are several more looking to join its ranks. Thank you so much for taking up the torch of our vision, nourishing it and ensuring it is not only a reality but burning bright and flourishing.