OUR STORY
Our current swim school site opened in July of 2013, 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 Canterbury Swim School, as the two are intertwined. All of our swimmers are part of us and of Waitaha. We cannot begin to thank you and your families enough for the loyal and unwavering support over the years. This is our story...
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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 Huia and Jenny shared it with Chris Hurley (Matthew’s father) in 2009; he liked the plans and came on board, bringing with him business skills and experience. Chris was also the very first President of the Waitaha Swim Club. Together, our founding team faced many barriers, obstacles, detractors, and nay-sayers – 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 our swimmers would have heard Huia say that many times over the years. And we didn’t just try – we did. We chose to surround ourselves with positive people, people who believed in our vision, 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 the project through to its completion, even though there were times when a huge personal cost was involved.
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.
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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. 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.
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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.
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In November 2011 circumstances meant that Huia and Jenny had to walk away from a long association with Templeton Swimming Club, a club Huia had coached voluntarily for 28 years and Jenny 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, Waitaha 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, Jenny, Sam, and Matthew, to reflect the Waitaha strength, name and region.
Our squads still carry their original names today: Aoraki – the highest peak in Aotearoa and therefore the pinnacle for squads, flowing into Pukaki, 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 our 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.
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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 in the club today and it really blows us away.
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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 Charente Way 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.
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During this time we took on board 2 staff members – Jenny's 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. Huia and Jenny's 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 Jenny's son Luke, Chris’s daughter-in-law Allyse, Huia’s wife Barbara, his daughter Te Ana, his granddaughter Raiha, and of course Matthew. So, yes we are very much a family business and family orientated.
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So, we say to all of our swimmers, don’t ever think you’re just a number to us, because you’re not. We remember when all of our squad swimmers started with us, several 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 or even baby classes.
Gemma Ballinger was the first ever parent to email us wanting to bring her son Cody – who was then only 9 months old – for lessons. Jenny was so excited when we received that email – she 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. By the time we left McKenzie that tiny pool was bursting at the seams with over 360 children, and around 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, our three founders 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 Jenny 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.
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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. We’ve had partnerships and marriages, 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.
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However, we couldn’t have done it without all of our swimmers who are the very spirit of the swim club, and the wonderful support and dedication of the club committee members over the years. 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, and considerably more swimmers than the 9 we started out with.
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.