The University of New Brunswick Sir Max Aitken pool will be decommissioned by the fall of 2018, and a Fredericton-area mother is concerned over the closure and what it means for her children.
Pamela Moxon said she’s concerned over where her children, Jesse Canney, 20, and Jagger Canney, 11, will swim once the pool closes.
She said Jesse lives with autism and Jagger has mild autism and ADHD. Moxon said swimming helps them cope, and fit in with others in the community.
Currently, there is no new pool in the works, and Moxon is worried the two other pools in the capital region won’t be able to meet the current demand for pool time.
“It’s very important, it’s like our whole life, it revolves around the pool,” Moxon said.
Between both her sons, Moxon said they spend 16 hours per week in the pool training.
She said swimming has “enriched their lives.” When she found out the pool would be closing and there were no plans for a new pool, she said she was “heartbroken”.
“It was terrible. It was like a kick in the stomach ’cause I could see like their whole world crashing down ’cause swimming — it’s their life,” Moxon said.
READ MORE: UNB Fredericton’s Sir Max Aitken Pool, Lady Beaverbrook Gym to close in 2018
Moxon said Jesse hopes to qualify for the Canadian Paralympic team that will compete in Tokyo in 2020. She said she’s worried that without proper pool time, that may not happen.
“For Jesse, as a toddler, he was really a big worry and a big care. He was a runner,” Moxon said. She recalled having to call 911 once when he took off running, and said she used to have to put a body harness on him to keep him safe.
“Then I put him in swimming, and he was in private lessons, and he went from there to Special Olympics, and his Special Olyimpics coach said he needs to be challenged more so she talked to the FAST coach,” Moxon said.
She said he started swimming with FAST when he was 15 years old, and is now in his fifth season.
“I just think how far he’s come from when he was a toddler ’cause we never dreamed he’d be able to do anything like this at all,” Moxon said. “He couldn’t stay focused. He acted like he didn’t even listen to you and he was severely autistic, but now, he fits right in with the whole group. When he’s in the water, you can’t tell him from his peers.”
Moxon said she’s not sure what will happen if Jesse can no longer swim.
“It gives him a sense of purpose. I feel like he’s doing something meaningful with his life,” Moxon said. “There’s not really anything else that Jesse can do really, I mean, unless it’s Special Olympics-type sports, but this sport, he fits in with the regular crowd and does well and has great success at it.”
“My favourite thing to do is swimming and competing,” Jesse said.
Jagger said he feels like a “regular person” swimming, and told Global News he wrote a letter to Fredericton Mayor Mike O’Brien asking him to help find the team a new pool.
“I put, ‘So just find us a pool, ’cause we need one,'”Jagger said.
In an email to Global News, City of Fredericton director of communications Wayne Knorr said there isn’t any update from the city’s side of things, and referred to the mayor’s statement issued on March 23.
Fredericton Aquanauts Swim Team (FAST) head coach Marta Belsh said the club uses the pool seven days per week, twice a day.
“It’s very unfortunate because it will mean for us that we’ll have to make some choices in terms of what our program is going to look like in the future,” Belsh said. “So, we’re striving really hard to make sure that we can accommodate everybody who we have already.
She said there is already a waiting list for some groups, and said it will be a challenge to accommodate everyone once the pool closes in 2018.
She said there needs to be a plan for a new facility soon.
“It would be, the sooner the better, probably just so we can make sure that we can maintain the programs that we have and the services that we provide to so many kids like Jesse and others,” Belsh said.
Moxon said she knows it will be a regional facility, but said she doesn’t understand why the city is prioritizing a new arts centre when health and wellness is crucial. She said all the regional partners need to come together and figure something out soon.
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