AusLeisure

Waterco creates healthy water for children and teachers at Far North Queensland swim school

With swimming pool chlorine notorious for its side effects, many swim school teachers and operators are looking for healthier alternative to chlorine for their salt water swimming pools.

For Margie Thorpe, the owner-operator of Margie's Swim School at Mareeba in Far North Queensland, spending up to seven hours a day submerged in chemically chlorinated pool water meant losing all of her body hair, recalls that "I didn't even have eyelashes.”

Thorpe believes the combination of corrosive pool chemicals and the fumes produced by the heated water in the enclosed space not only caused significant hair loss, but potentially triggered the two bouts of pneumonia she has suffered from since building her swim school pool.

Thorpe explains "I constantly smelt like chlorine and I do think it was getting into my lungs because I've had pneumonia twice in three years.”

A long-term resident of Mareeba, Thorpe has spend 20 years teaching the region’s youngsters to swim, ranging from babies aged as young as four months through to early primary school children.

Located on the junction of three waterways in Far North Queensland, the town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning 'meeting of the waters'. It’s certainly an apt name for a local business that uses water to bring the community together.

In 2011, after years of working in backyard pools, Margie and her husband Shane decided to build their own pool on a 2.5 acre parcel of land.

The key feature of Margie’s Swim School is a purpose-designed, 12-metre x 6 metre indoor heated pool to cater for the “very young, easily distracted, and special needs” customers. It includes a shallow area for toddlers and fearful learners to experience the fun and safety issues about being in and around water.

Qualified by AUSTSWIM in Swimming and Water Safety and Infant and Preschool Aquatics, Thorpe is also a licensed Swim Australia Teacher of Swimming and Teacher of Learners with Disability.

Her pool offers a private and safe environment, with small classes allowing individual attention.

Only one lesson is conducted at a time, so there are no distractions - for Thorpe or her young students.

After initially installing a saltwater chlorinator in the custom-built pool, "that was about the only way we could get water in the pool and get it up and functioning", Thorpe advises, Margie's husband Shane came across Hydroxypure as a means of keeping their water clean.

Thorpe states "Shane spent years researching different systems and he kept insisting that Hydroxypure was better than all of the others.

“He was constantly looking, because, as the pool is basically in a large tin shed, he wanted to preserve the shed as well as me."

Instead of spending most of the day in chlorinated water, Thorpe is now able to teach her young students in an aquatic environment that is free of impurities and the side effects associated with chemical sanitisers. Not only is the pool water at Margie's Swim School sparkling clean but also enriched by the extra oxygen molecules generated by Hydroxypure's hybrid ozone technology.

Hydroxypure inventor Nick Briscoe states “the most pleasing aspect of this installation has been the multiple problems that Hydroxypure has solved for the owners at this site.

“These problems are common within most swim schools. Many operators are not aware that there is an alternative to chlorine now that is proving that they no longer must be subjected to an uncomfortable environment to work within an industry that they are passionate about.”

Since Hydroxypure was installed at Margie's Swim School in April 2016, Thorpe says not only has all of her hair grown back but she has had positive feedback from her clients, commenting "I teach a six-month old infant, who has dreadful eczema, the poor thing, and the mother told me that she doesn't have to apply any medication for two days after swimming in Hydroxypure.”

Thorpe teaches many children diagnosed on the autism spectrum and interestingly, she says they are fascinated with the texture of the water, adding "the ozone that's coming into the pool produces tiny bubbles, and the kids are fascinated with the texture of the water and how soft it makes their skin feel. It shimmers like silver."

Margie's Swim School has received rave reviews from parents and invigorated its owner-operator.  When asked what inspires Margie to wake each morning to teach children to swim, her answer is "their smiles".

She concludes "I am now teaching the children of the children I once taught – that's two generations of swimmers in the one family.

"One of the joys I get from my work is seeing the mums, dads and grandparents spending one-on-one time with their young children and grandchildren, without worrying about the daily duties that come with parenting. Seeing their smiles is why I wake up every morning."

Click here to contact Waterco through their entry in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory.

Images: Margie Thorpe, the owner-operator of Margie's Swim School at Mareeba (top) and  youngsters learn to swim at the School (below).

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