The National Swimming Pool Foundation® (NSPF®) and SwimToday’s partnership comes to fruition as SwimToday’s website now highlights swimming facilities that employ four or more CPO® Certification holders on staff. Families who are looking to find a facility with the desired USA Swimming clubs and Make a Splash programs, can now find pools maintained to a high-standard thanks to the sponsorship and swimtoday.org.
NSPF became a sponsor of SwimToday in 2014 and continues to support the mission of SwimToday: to drive more children to join the sport of swimming and increase health and happiness. Encouraging swimming has always been part of NSPF’s mission of helping people live healthier lives, and the organization’s leaders saw an opportunity to partner with USA Swimming through the SwimToday program to further that mission.
“Let’s provide parents searching for a swim club for their child the chance to find healthier and safer facilities,” Thomas Lachocki, Ph.D., CEO of NSPF stated. “In order to be listed as a certified facility on swimtoday.org, the facility must have at least four employees on staff who have passed the required course and obtained a CPO® Certification. NSPF feels as though four is the appropriate number that should ensure a facility will have a certification holder on site for proper pool care or problems,” concluded Lachocki.
Alex Antoniou, Chief Marketing and Information Officer of NSPF, expanded further on the idea behind the new SwimToday menu feature. “Having a facility pop up after ‘CPO® Certification’ is selected at the top of swimtoday.org provides incentive for facility owners to get their people trained with the most recognized pool operator certification program.” Antoniou continued, “It also rewards the owners for retaining four or more certification holders available on the premise. Parents will see this certain facility as reputable and accurately cared for by professionals.”
The partnership between NSPF and SwimToday will lead to more swim team enrollments which can provide more revenue for the facility owners. Overall, the sponsorship can benefit the entire swimming industry, as it will raise the demand for skilled and educated pool operators. Eventually, four or more CPOⓇ Certification holders at a facility could become an industry standard, which would decrease chemical exposures, poor air quality, diseases, or injuries throughout the country while increasing facility use.
Facility owners should visit nspf.org/swim-today to sign up to be listed as one of the “CPOⓇ Certification” facilities or to find out more. Swim coaches can encourage facilities to become listed and pool operators should take the first step in becoming certified. If a facility needs to enroll their staff in a CPOⓇ Certification course to achieve the desired four needed, they can find a class at https://www.nspf.org/course-locations. For more information, please visit nspf.org today.
About SwimToday
SwimToday is a first-of-its-kind marketing collaboration within the swimming industry. It is a joint, industry effort created to promote and grow participation in the sport of swimming. The campaign is led by USA Swimming, Arena USA, Speedo USA and TYR Sport, with additional support from the following aquatic organizations: National Swimming Pool Foundation, Colorado Time Systems, Swimming World magazine, TeamUnify, Counsilman-Hunsaker and USA Swimming Foundation. Creative support is provided by Colle+McVoy, a Minneapolis-based advertising agency.
About National Swimming Pool Foundation
We believe everything we do helps people live healthier lives. Whether it’s encouraging more aquatic activity, making pools safer, or keeping pools open, we believe we can make a difference. NSPF® offers products and programs that are technically sound, convenient, and beautifully designed. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit located in Colorado Springs, CO., proceeds go to fund research and to help create swimmers. In 2016, NSPF will escalate its mission to create healthier lives by joining forces with Genesis, an educational leader for builders of residential pools and spas. The National Swimming Pool Foundation has been keeping pools safe and open since 1965. Visit www.nspf.org or call 719-540-9119 to learn more.
Swimming News release courtesy of SwimToday.