Whangarei Aquatic centre cream of the crop

Cream floats, with both Sport Northland and the company running its Whangarei Aquatic Centre rising to top honours at the New Zealand Recreation Association (NZRA) annual awards ceremony.

Sport Northland's Top Energy Watersafe/Northland Swim for Life programme won the association's outstanding community recreation programme award. It was presented at the ceremony in Dunedin.

Community Leisure Management (CLM) won the outstanding pool award for the aquatic centre, which it administers, and CLM lifeguard Wayne Riley, 48, collected an award for best lifeguard in the country.

The centre has about 50 staff, including 22 lifeguards, and its seven pools - six of them heated to 28-36 degrees Celsius - are used by 250,000 people annually.

It has a shop, cafe, gymnasium with 650 members, 1100 youngsters in its swim school programme, and is a popular exercise and recreation venue, particularly after work, at weekends and during school holidays.

NZRA judges said the aquatic centre was a good example of extensive community engagement, promoting culture and heritage by incorporating tikanga Maori in the development and future initiatives at the pool, including te reo lessons.

NZRA chief executive Andrew Leslie said the judges noted the centre was an efficient, effective and sustainable pool. It operated efficiently while being clever about the reuse of its wastewater, with local contractors using it on roads.

"It fills a niche in the area and is a true community hub," he said.

CLM's aquatic centre manager, Scott Linklater, said the company, formed in 1995, administered 38 recreation sites around New Zealand and this was the first time it had won the outstanding pool award.

The Top Energy Watersafe/Northland Swim for Life programme is used in 95 of the the 141 Northland primary schools, with 11,000 children expected to get swimming lessons over the next four months.

Judges said: "This needs-based programme focuses on a range of activities in the schools to improve water safety, help prevent injury and drowning, and maximise lifelong participation in aquatic activities."

Top Energy funds the programme in the Far North, while the Northland District Health Board, Kiwisport and Water Safety NZ fund it in the Whangarei and Kaipara districts.