Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre — Attraction in Brantford

I am writing to express my serious concerns regarding the safety of my son’s swimming lesson on Wednesday, November 20th, at 4:30 PM. My son is currently enrolled in the Swimmers 2 program, but the regular swim instructor was unavailable due to illness, and a substitute instructor was brought in to teach the lesson.

During the lesson, the substitute instructor had the children wear life jackets however had the children take the life jackets off before moving to the opposite end of the pool. While observing, I initially thought the water in that area was shallow enough for the children to touch the bottom. However, my son, who is not a strong swimmer (hence his enrollment in lessons), was instructed to jump into the deep end. After jumping in, he struggled to stay afloat, repeatedly going under the water for long intervals and only briefly resurfacing.

The instructor had her back turned to him, focusing on the other children preparing to jump, and did not notice my son struggling. Alarmed, I immediately turned to the lifeguard next to me and asked if the water was deep. Upon confirming that it was, I told them, “My son is going to drown; he can’t stay above water.”

Despite my alert, there was no sense of urgency. One lifeguard slowly walked over to another male lifeguard to address the situation, leaving my son in distress. He was eventually able to grab onto a rope to hold himself above water. Even then, the lifeguard simply told the instructor that my son could not swim, and they continued to observe him with minimal concern. Eventually, the instructor brought him a board to hold onto and moved the class back to the shallow end.

I have several critical questions and I’ve called and left a message with front desk for management to call me and I’ve emailed and haven’t heard anything back yet…

What protocols are in place when a substitute instructor takes over? The instructor appeared to be unfamiliar with the children’s swimming abilities and demonstrated a lack of awareness and attention. Why did the instructor not notice my son struggling in the water? This lack of vigilance put my child at serious risk. What is the policy for lifeguard intervention in emergencies? The lifeguards failed to act promptly when my son was visibly in distress, which could have had tragic consequences.

Following the lesson, I approached the head supervising lifeguard to express my concerns. Unfortunately, her response was dismissive. She seemed unconcerned about the seriousness of the situation and offered no answers regarding the protocols or actions of the staff. Instead, she focused on irrelevant details, such as commenting that I was wearing outdoor shoes on the deck, which felt incredibly inappropriate given the circumstances.

It is unacceptable that a parent had to intervene to bring attention to a life-threatening situation. If I had not been vigilantly observing, my child might have drowned due to negligence. The lack of urgency, awareness, and appropriate action from both the instructor and the lifeguards is deeply troubling.

I am requesting a call from a manager to discuss this matter further. I would also like a detailed explanation of: • The safety protocols in place for substitute instructors. • The policies regarding lifeguard intervention during emergencies. • The steps your facility will take to ensure that such an incident does not happen again.

Our children participate in swimming lessons to learn water safety and build confidence in the water. On this occasion, my child was failed in a way that could have led to a tragic outcome. I look forward to hearing from you soon regarding this urgent and...

I signed my infant son up for swimming lessons here. First, when signing up they don’t split up the lessons based on age well enough. There used to be parent and tot 1, 2, and 3-now it’s all combined from 4 months to 3 years. Second, half of the lesson was spent in the big pool that was way too cold for babies. It was almost too cold for me to be in the water. The kids in the class were fussy and my son was not enjoying it. If you’re offering lessons for infants this young you should ensure you’re following the pediatric standards as 82 degrees is not an ideal temperature for comfort or safety. The pool area was also extremely busy and loud so you cannot hear the instructor. The only reason I’m giving 1 star is because I was able to cancel and get a partial refund for the lessons. I switched to another facility where the infant lessons are done in a 91 degree pool, with a smaller age group, as it should be, and we are...

I love this center and have used it a lot for swimming with my kids. This review is being written while I'm super frustrated as I just packed 2 young kids in the car for swim lessons and arrived to a closed center due to snow. That's completely fine and I understand, however, I spent all morning checking the website and calling to see if they were cancelled. No one answered, nothing on the website (which is a terrible website). I finally hit the option on the phone for "alerts" and all it said was to check the website, which had nothing indicated on it for inclement weather. When I arrived, multiple people were getting back into their car with their kids because they also arrived for swim lessons. If you want to run programs, you need to have a system in place for cancellations, weather, etc. If you have a system in place, then maybe a more suitable person should be running it. Sorry for my rant,...