This swimming life

Gary and Shona Martin at Enterprise Aquatic Centre. Picture by Paul Rickard

A summer romance in 1969 was the start of what was to become the Enterprise Aquatic Centre, with its associated Martin Swim Club and Enterprise Swim Team. Gillian Cowperthwaite talked to the faces behind the centre, Shona and Gary Martin, who met as teenagers in Hawke’s Bay on their way to a swim meet.

The Martin surname will be synonymous with swimming for many people in the Gisborne region and with 50 years of providing learn to swim and coaching classes that is hardly surprising.

Martin Swim School has assisted thousands of children, young people and adults to become confident swimmers with sound water survival skills.

At the heart of the swim programmes are husband and wife team Gary and Shona Martin, who met through their shared passion for swimming.

Shona (nee Twisleton) was born and bred in Gisborne and was a member of the-then McGlashen Swim Club.

The McGlashen Pool opened at Gisborne Intermediate School in 1958 and was named after long-serving principal Mr R N McGlashen. The McGlashen Swim Club was formed in 1963. Members of the club would travel by train to Hawke’s Bay to attend swim meets. In December 1969 the Gisborne contingent, after arriving by train, travelled with the Hawke’s Bay team in a bus headed for Palmerston North for an inter-regional swim meet. Gary, originally from Hawke’s Bay region, met Shona on that bus trip. The friendship that began with swimming as the common connector blossomed into something more which saw Gary driving to Gisborne nearly every weekend to spend time with Shona. Gary eventually moved to Gisborne during the winter months of 1973 and the couple were married in September of that year.

During that summer of 1973 the fledgling Martin Swim School hired the Te Hapara School pool and they started what was to be their first swimming lesson programme.

The next pool they used for their swim lessons was a private, backyard pool.

“Shona’s father Dick had been toying with the idea of getting a pool. He chose the biggest Para pool you could get at the time and we installed it in the backyard of their Makaraka home,” Gary said.

The Makaraka pool was to be home to Martin Swim School for a number of years.

In 1980, the McGlashen Swim Club, of which both Shona and Gary were active members, made the decision to set up a major fundraiser called Operation Undercover, for a new indoor pool for Gisborne.

The initial fundraising events and activities took place over a period of five years.

“The committee and club members undertook all sorts of events and activities to fundraise. You name it, we did it,” said Shona.

Intense fundraising, and securing major sponsorship from the Enterprise Cars Motor Group of $100,000 — to be spread out over 10 years — meant the building of the new pool at Nelson Park, Riverdale could begin.

“In 1984, the club changed its name from McGlashen Swim Club to the official name of the Enterprise Aquatic Swim Team – which is now more commonly known as the Enterprise Cars Swim Team (ENT).

“The hole for the pool was dug in March 1985 and although the building was far from finished we had swim teams training in October of that year.” said Gary.

Since that 10-year period expired, Fred Lewis of Enterprise Cars has continued to give an annual grant to the club.

Local firm City Construction built the centre, and Ritchies Concrete constructed the concrete pool.

The Enterprise club pool has been home to Martin Swim School since its inception and swimming lessons started there during the latter months of 1985.

The pool was officially opened in January 1986 by Allan Wallbank, who was Gisborne’s Member of Parliament at the time.

Martin Swim School leases the pool and operates the learn-to-swim lessons from the complex and are responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the pool. A plumber by trade, Gary is able to take care of maintenance of the pool equipment and minor building but as the Enterprise Swim club owns the building it is responsible for major building repairs and improvements.

“The pool was built to FINA (International Swimming Federation) and Swimming NZ specifications so national records could be broken in the pool and it was built with products that the club could afford at the time. Over 200 New Zealand records have been smashed at club meets both here and away at swim meets in the open and age group divisions. Eighteen New Zealand Representatives have come from our programmes,” Gary said.

The club has continued to fundraise over the past 38 years to continually upgrade parts of the structure and are “eternally grateful” for funding and sponsorship over the years from consistent donors – the John Clarke Trust, the Williams Family Trust, Pang and Nita Chan who were formerly of China Palace, Bill and Elizabeth Williams who funded the update on the foyer area when the building was extended, Eastern & Central Community Trust (ECCT) and the New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT).

Gary and Shona have remained heavily invested and active in their involvement with running the club – Gary as head coach and club manager for many years. They are both active on the committee. Gary is now chairman/president.

They have been instrumental in fundraising events over the years and travelling with swim teams to regional, national and international swim events.

They have both earned places as life members of the Enterprise Cars Swim Team, Hawkes Bay/Poverty Bay (HBPB) Swimming and honours for service to swimming in New Zealand. Gary is also a life member of the New Zealand Swim Teachers/Coaches Association.

He also has a place on the honours board as a New Zealand representative as coach and manager spanning intermittent years from 1990 to 2015. All knowledge gained on those trips was brought back to the Enterprise swimmers.

“On the club side of things we have been very fortunate over the years to have had positive and hard-working committees to work side by side with and for that we are very grateful.

“The club really is a team effort with committee members and parents of swimmers stepping up to help out at club swimming nights as timekeepers and marshals and also getting behind fundraising ventures.”

Shona’s mother, the late Helen Twisleton, worked tirelessly for many years supporting the club in a variety of ways and also earned a place as life member on the honours board.

“Mum would say, ‘I’ve done everything for the club except swim for it’.”

Shona and Gary were recognised for their outstanding voluntary contribution to the community with Citizens Civic Awards Merit Certificates in 2020, Gary for his contribution to swimming and Shona for swimming, ballet and the Meals on Wheels service.

Over the years of building a swim school and their involvement with the Enterprise swim club, Shona and Gary raised a family of four, now adult children, and they are proud grandparents of 13 grandchildren, who all had to Learn to Swim, with some going on to higher honours.

Their love of swimming has been passed down through the generations. Gary handed over the  position of head coach to his son Matt Martin, who has represented New Zealand in swimming and broken New Zealand records.

Shona and Gary continue to operate Martin Swim School with an unwavering passion for teaching young people to swim confidently. Under the Tairāwhiti Swim for Life programme, funded by local trusts, they also teach water safety and survival skills to school children throughout the district.

Family and community are hugely important to Gary and Shona, and they are proud to be an integral part of the swimming community in Gisborne by offering their learn to swim programmes and the positive culture of the Enterprise Cars Swim Team. With “no plans on the horizon”, they are set to continue running Martins Swim School alongside their team of seven swim instructors. Those humble first swim lessons held back in 1973 laid the foundation for 50 years of successful swimming.

“It’s so rewarding to see kids gain confidence in the water and watch them grow into confident swimmers – it doesn’t get better than that,” Gary said.