A Vancouver mom is speaking out about her experience at a community pool when she was trying to show her daughter how to swim.
Hailey Arthur took her daughter to Kensington Pool earlier in the summer so she could get familiar with a pool before starting a summer camp in July.
“You know, where the deep end is, kind of working on her strokes, her floats and her glides specifically,” Arthur told Global News.
“And a lifeguard approached us to say I was not allowed to teach unsanctioned swimming lessons.”
Arthur said she told the lifeguard several times that she was just trying to get her daughter to feel comfortable in the pool but said the lifeguard told her it looked too much like a lesson.
“We’ve had way too many unsanctioned swimming lessons going on and you cannot teach — you can only do play swim — during public swims,” Arthur said the lifeguard told her.
Arthur said she found the experience frustrating, as swimming lessons are hard enough to get her two children signed up for.
“We all joke in my daycare group about, you know, the lottery night and winning the lottery to get your kids into swimming lessons through the city,” she said.
“And my thing was I just want to keep my daughter safe and her to know, to learn swimming eventually, but I know that’s going to take time, but just staying safe around water.”
The Vancouver Park Board told Global News that this policy has been in place for a few years.
Arthur said different municipalities have different rules because her cousin in North Vancouver can teach her children swimming during public pool time.
“To me, water safety and swim safety are of just utmost importance,” she added.
“We’ve heard enough about drownings this summer and different water safety that’s happened along the water that, you know, it’s a huge frustration to me.
“We should be able to teach our own kids safety. It doesn’t come down to, you know, perfecting strokes and glides. It’s more the safety around water.”