Top left Summer Stevens and daughter Poppy Bazley. Bottom left Jacqui McKenzie and Mandi McKenzie.
Top left Summer Stevens and daughter Poppy Bazley. Bottom left Jacqui McKenzie and Mandi McKenzie.
Three decades ago, Mandi McKenzie was in her mid-thirties and working as a swim instructor at Raumati Pool, when she decided to start her dream business from scratch.
With four children in tow, her husband Duncan in the trades, and handwritten paperwork strewn across her lounge floor, Mandi successfully launched Kāpiti Learn to Swim on the coast.
What started with about 80 students per week in 1994 gradually increased to 1000, after local primary schools began bringing in students for lessons over summer.
Thirty years on, having celebrated its birthday last month, Mandi’s start-up is now a multi-award-winning success.
“The time has gone really quickly because I’ve enjoyed it so much. When I opened our swim school, it was because of my passion for water safety,” says Mandi, whose eldest daughter Jacqui McKenzie bought the family-run business last October. “I’m still just as passionate now and love working with kids and seeing them develop their confidence and water safety skills. Plus, it worked well with having a family.”
A love for water is in the blood for Paraparaumu-bred Mandi, who grew up around the ocean and watching her father Alex McKimm make Plylite trailer boats.
Alex McKim.
The late Kāpiti Coast businessman and pioneering boat builder helped to make pleasure craft affordable for thousands of New Zealanders wanting to fish from small boats, or have fun on the water.
In 1971, when Mandi was nine, he constructed a 25-metre pool in their backyard so she and her sister – plus many other locals – could swim and train.
“Kāpiti had Raumati Pool, but it was an open-air saltwater pool and dad gave ours a cover. Growing up, there were many thousands of competitive swimmers who used the pool in our backyard morning and night, year-round, to train,” recalls Mandi, who began competitive swimming at 10. “It’s funny because now I’ve got one in my back garden.”
Mandi’s days of competitive swimming made it an easy transition into teaching in 1989, when she became an instructor for children and adults.
By October 1994, dedicated to water safety, the hardworking wife and mother began running Kāpiti Learn to Swim from Raumati Pool.
“The early days were such an exciting time for us. I created a Learn to Swim programme that I saw could work and was very fortunate when I had many families keen to join up,” Mandi says. “My husband and our children pretty quickly got used to a lot of ‘swimming speak’! We ran classes six days a week, minus Sunday, for babies through to adults, and still do.”
Mandi spent many hours at night on the phone arranging bookings, and taught herself to use a computer after running a solely paper-based business until early 2000.
“I had a very loyal group of teachers and between us we worked our magic teaching a lot of Kāpiti Coast children to swim. It’s a real joy watching a nervous, anxious swimmer relax and become open to learning in the water,” she says. “It’s about developing a good rapport with your swimmer and nurturing them, so they feel safe. Once that trust is achieved, it’s an easy transition to buoyancy and enjoyment in, on, and under the water.”
In January 2004, Mandi and Duncan opened the Ratanui Road Pool for business and Kāpiti Learn to Swim ran from the two premises.
Two years later, it won Outstanding Swim School Operator at the 2006 Swim Coaches and Teachers of New Zealand (NZSCTA) annual awards.
“When we purchased the Ratanui Road property, I managed to talk my poor husband into digging a large hole inside a greenhouse that’s on the section. It was out with the hydroponic system and in with a Learn to Swim facility!” Mandi laughs. “Jacqui was living in London and asked one night on the phone, ‘Do you want me to come back to New Zealand and help you, Mum?’ So, she came home and joined me here at Ratanui Road in 2007.”
Jacqui, who started swimming instructing with Mandi when she left school at 16, had worked with children in nannying, kindergarten teaching, and teacher aid roles.
Just six months after the award-winning swim instructor returned home, however, Kāpiti Learn to Swim lost its council contract for Raumati Pool.
“It was really hard emotionally to be let go like that, but it was just the reality of business,” Jacqui recalls. “Mum and I worked through that time together and ran the business solely from Ratanui Road, starting with one receptionist and building it up to what it is now.”
In 2017, Jacqui’s efforts helped the family business secure Customer Service Business of the Year at the local Electra Business Awards.
A couple of years later, Mandi took away Master Swim Teacher of the Year through NZSCTA, while Jacqui received Swim Teacher of the Year.
Mandi, also mum to son Jamie McKenzie, admits their success came down to loyal families, who became like friends.
Top left to right, Sophie McKenzie, Chelsea McKenzie, Mandi McKenzie, Jacqui McKenzie, and Jacqui’s son Charlie Bazley, 15. Bottom left to right, Summer Stevens, 17, and Poppy Bazley, 16.
“I know we’re very fortunate to be able to operate our craft and enjoy what we’re doing, and the parents and families have been wonderful. Many of today’s swimming students have parents who were taught by us in the 90s and 2000s, and it’s such a neat feeling to be passing on skills again to the next generation.”
Mandi’s own grandchildren, ranging from late teens to preschoolers, are current or ex-students of the swim school. Her other two daughters Sophie and Chelsea McKenzie also taught as instructors, while three of Jacqui’s children now work at the pool.
When Jacqui bought the business, it was “a no-brainer that just made sense” for Mandi, who still works up to 20 hours a week teaching.
“I’m getting older, and Jacqui has worked hard over the years. She deserved to take it to that next level with a bit more youth on her side.”
Today, Jacqui visits a local kindergarten every week to share her self-created water safety programme – hoping to decrease New Zealand’s drowning statistics.
She has been recognised for her dedication, winning an Outstanding Contribution to the Community NZSCTA award.
Her 30- to 45-minute safety presentations include water play and interactive learning activities, while she educates older students about rip awareness.
“I teach children who mightn’t have the opportunity to learn to swim and am passionate about making a difference for individuals and the community,” says Jacqui, who also specialises in working with higher-needs children. “Really, it’s about providing our community with the high-quality service Mum created, and carrying that legacy on.”
