TV 3 ON LOCATION AT THE ROTORUA AQUATIC CENTRE
Released : Thursday, September 13, 2007

TV 3 show Pacific Beat Street will be filming a story on the National Underwater Championships this weekend

Pacific Beat St has its finger on the pulse of New Zealand’s youth culture with a distinctly Pacific flavour.

Sports reporter Bea and her crew will be on location at the Rotorua Aquatic Centre following the fortunes of an Underwater Hockey team, FIG JAM, as they compete at this weekends National Club Championships.

You can catch all the Underwater Hockey action this Saturday, September 15th at the Rotorua Aquatic Centre from 8am and Pacific Beat St every Saturday morning, 11.30am on TV 3.

NEW AQUATIC CENTRE GEAR GIVEN THUMBS UP
Released : Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Mokoia Intermediate School give the Rotorua Aquatic Centre's new inflatable a test run

New inflatable attractions, poolside furniture, and an electronic scoreboard have given the Aquatic Centre a fresh new look after recent maintenance. Children from Mokoia Intermediate School got a sneak preview of the equipment, after it was given a test run by Aquatic Centre staff. Operations Manager, Colin Elstob, says the children gave the new gear a big thumbs up. The new items will form part of the complex’s new summer attractions including birthday events, Green Team school holiday programmes and inflatable fun days.

SHARNI MAKES WAVES AT LIFEGUARD AWARDS
Released : Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Rotorua Aquatic Centre lifeguard, Sharni Kahukiwa, was recognised at the recent NZ Recreation Association "Just Add Water Seminar"Aquatic Centre Lifeguard, Sharni Kahukiwa, was recently a finalist in the inaugural Lifeguard of the Year Awards at the New Zealand Recreation Association’s (NZRA) ‘Just Add Water’ seminar at Te Papa in Wellington. The Lifeguard of the Year Award recognises and reward employees who have made an outstanding contribution to the delivery and development of aquatic services in New Zealand. Sharni, who has been a lifeguard at the Aquatic Centre since 2004, says she was surprised when she found out she'd been nominated. "It was a real buzz to make the final as I have only been a lifeguard for 3 years. The lady who won the award has been in the industry for over 20 years.” However Sharni says she can't claim the recognition for herself, as she works with "a great bunch of people who provide awesome support". Operations Manager, Colin Elstob, says when Sharni first started at the Aquatic Centre, she quickly impressed with her work ethic and willingness to learn. She continued to grow in her role and began work on completing the National Certificate in Community Recreation, during which she exhibited a new found confidence and leadership skills, and before long was managing a shift in the absence of her supervisor. "She has become a mentor to new staff as they commence their careers in aquatic recreation,” he says. NZRA CEO, Brendon Ward said Sharni rated very highly and should be proud of her achievements, along with the other finalists who were all of a very high calibre.

ROTORUA AQUATIC CENTRE ENTER NZRA AWARDS
Released : Tuesday, November 07, 2006

The Unison Lake Safety Programme is the programme being enetered into this years 'Outstanding Programme' of the Year.

The purpose of the Unison Lake Safety Programme is to equip children between the ages of 3 to 13 years of age with the key elements of aquatic awareness and lake safety, whilst having fun in, on and around the lakes of Rotorua. It is a first of its kind in New Zealand and the programme sees educating the public and especially young children, on water safety as one of its fundamental tasks. Education is proven to be the most effective and efficient way to promote and improve water safety. The programme is an on-going lake safety initiative in partnership with Rotorua District Council, Rotorua Aquatic Centre, Swimsation and the principal support sponsor being Unison Networks Limited

IN THE BEGINNING – I TE TIMATATANGA

Being a country surrounded by coastlines, lakes, rivers and swimming pools we are all aware of the dangers associated with water activities. Drowning is a major, but often neglected, cause of accidental death globally and is New Zealand’s third highest cause of accidental death. Pre-school children are one group constantly at risk. Much of the improvement shown in drowning rates recently can be attributed to the success of initiatives to raise awareness of water safety as an important social issue. Coastal regions have the well renowned BP Surf Lifesaving Programme available for persons wanting to learn water safety. Upon investigation it became apparent that in-land areas such as Rotorua and surrounding districts did not have any lake safety initiatives in place. With increased awareness of safety around the water and the national awareness of, key dangers that face children when entering or swimming close to any lakes and rivers, it was decided to implement a programme which met those needs. The programme would educate and physically challenge all participants and teach them the lake and river safety skills needed to stay alive.

IN THE MIDDLE – I TE WAENGANUI

Rotorua District Council and the Rotorua Aquatic Centre undertook this programme because of the community requirements for swimming education, recreation, exercise, healthy lifestyles, and water safety awareness. It is also showing a leadership role in addressing key areas that could potentially mean death of children due to a lack of lake safety education and skills needed when in or around the lakes of Rotorua. The Unison Lake Safety Programme also fits very well into the Council’s long term management and activity plan. Additional programme innovation allows for children to learn the lake safety skills in a controlled environment such as a swimming pool and then apply these skills learnt in a lake or river location. Children also get to experience first hand outside variables such as ‘water temperature’ in lakes or ‘currents’ in rivers which add to the reality of survival. New Zealand Water Safety’s ‘river safe’ survival hand book is taught throughout the lake safety programme and strongly promotes and teaches the ‘river safe’ survival skills. Water Safety New Zealand strongly supports and endorses this in-land water safety programme. The programme also fits well into the national ‘swim for life’ campaign where children are taught to swim a minimum distance of 200m. The friendly Swimsation staff manage the programme which introduces activities in and out of the water.

IN THE END – I TE MUTUNGA

The Unison Lake Safety Programme is now into its 3rd Year of operation and has shown steady growth trends. The target is to have 1000 children complete the programme annually. Currently the programme has seen over 3,500 children complete this popular and successful programme. The Unison Lake Safety Programme is giving children the life skills and confidence of being safe in and around the lakes of Rotorua. The Rotorua Aquatic Centre and the Lake Safety Team would like to thank the NZRA for the opportunity in entering into the NZRA Awards and especially Unison for their annual sponsorship towards this programme.