The Barrhead Swim Club might not have any swimmers yet, but when they do they will have a full slate of coaches.
On June 14, as part of an informational meeting at the Barrhead Agrena’s multipurpose room, clubpresident Janeen Millar introduced the people who will given the responsibility of helping its members reach their swimming goals, head coach Gerald ‘Gerry’ Jenkins and assistants Colleen Kiselysk and Charlene Assenheimer.
Jenkins is a program assistant at Barrhead Elementary School and has a background in lifeguarding and swimming instruction.
“I’m really looking forward to this experience,” he said, adding while he hasn’t coached before, he regularly volunteered with Athabasca’s swim club. “Just stepping in and helping out wherever I can and I have definitely [life] guarded many swim meets.”
Jenkins added while he has been given the title of head coach, he definitely believes in a team approach working together as a staff.
“I don’t believe that there is a head coach, there are just coaches and I appreciate any help and input I can get,” he said. “My real focus is promoting a healthy lifestyle. I know from my own life how good swimming can be in helping people get and stay healthy.”
A teacher by trade, and a mother of five, Kiselysk said the reason why she decided to volunteer, as a coach is multi-faceted.
“Swimming from an early age has been a big part of my life,” she said, adding she first taught herself to swim when she was six years old, noting her parents were non-swimmers.
“For me I believe swimming isn’t an option for kids, it is a necessary skill,” she said, adding she had a cousin who drowned. “I have also met a lot of adults who have a fear or water and I don’t want to see that in kids.”
Kiselysk added as a teacher and a mother, with children all of which have been in at one time or another been a part of the Barrhead Swim Club, she has seen how beneficial swimming can be.
“Two of my daughters went all the way through swim club and became lifeguards and my other three are just chomping at the bit to get back into it,” she said. “I guess that is a big part of my motivation. I’m going to be at the pool all the time anyway so I might as well help coach. Plus I would love to see the club grow back into the wonderful, beautiful family that it was before.”
Like Kiselysk, Assenheimer was introduced to swimming at a young age, when she was seven.
“This guy who ran a swim club walked into my dad’s office and wanted to cut a deal,” she said. “My dad said teach my kid to swim I’ll cut you that deal and the next thing I knew I was swimming competitively for the next seven years.”
This was in Saskatchewan.
When Assenheimer moved to Barrhead, although she had given up competitive swimming, she was a regular at the old aquatic centre.
One day Assenheimer was at the pool during a public lane swim, when she decided to stay to see what was going on.
It happened to be a swim club practice.
“At that point the club had been around for about four years and Fred Thistle had just taken over and he came over to me and asked me if I wanted to help coach,” said Assenheimer who took him up on his offer.
Assenheimer also said being a swim club coach, something she did for 16 years, helped her become an educator. Currently, Assenheimer is an assistant principal at Barrhead Composite High School.
“It was through my work as a swim coach that I started to seriously consider teaching and working with kids,” she said. “But before all that I was a swimmer and I feel blessed to be involved in helping a new generation learn the joys of swimming.”
