Lack of industry recognition holding back aquatic fitness

Professionals attending the 2024 Aqua Alliance Forum have expressed their views about a range of issues that they feel are holding back aquatic fitness activities.

Key among insights shared by delegates attending the Forum at Sydney’s Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre last Friday was a belief that facility managers and operators often failed to appreciate the value of aquatic exercise to users and as a strand of facility programming.

Linked to this, delegates cited poor marketing of aquatic fitness and its benefits, lack of appreciation of its value and a need to move away from the outdated and no longer relevant terms 'aqua aerobics' and 'water aerobics'.

The insights were obtained during an 'Aqua Think Tank' facilitated by Dr Carleigh Yeomans and Dr Paul Bowell of the Department of Management and Marketing at Swinburne University of Technology.

Takeaways from the think tank will be consolidated by Dr Yeomans and Dr Bowell and shared in a future advisory on solutions in the aqua sector.

Attendees also shared their concerns about a shortage of aqua fitness instructors with numbers having declined as a result of the pandemic when professionals were forced to find other employment as a result of facility closure and programs being halted.

Low wages, a complicated process for qualification and a lack of education providers were also cited as being a deterrent to employment in aquatic fitness.

The Forum was followed on Saturday 19th October by the Aqua Summit 2024 and was staged by the Aqua Alliance as a result of the success of the inaugural Aqua Industry Forum and Aqua Summit in 2023.

The events were staged by the Aqua Alliance with the aim to bring together professionals from the fitness, aquatic, research and wellness industries and grow the aqua fitness ecosystem.

Founded by Marietta Mehanni, Dom Gili and Jenn Schembri-Portelli - three experts with extensive experience in aqua fitness education, training, programming, mentoring and consulting, Aqua Alliance has quickly gained traction through practical, impactful initiatives for the aqua fitness sector.

Schembri-Portelli contributed the feature Championing Aquatic Fitness in issue 164 of Australasian Leisure Management magazine in which she wrote “Aqua Alliance is focused on understanding the industry’s trajectory and developing strategies to broaden and diversify the talent pool.

“The goal is to expand the demographic of instructors, team leaders, and managers, ensuring the industry remains strong and sustainable. We also need to identify which water workouts matter, for whom, and why the landscape must evolve.”

Aqua Alliance earlier this year was invited to participate in the Royal Life Saving Workforce Symposium, where it shared insights into the history, successes, and concerns of the aqua fitness sector in Australia.

Aqua Alliance, in collaboration with AUSactive, RLSSA, and various venues, is also actively working on an industry compliance project. This initiative aims to develop strategies and a draft template to guide both employers and employees in ensuring best practice for aqua Instructors and programming.

Click here to view the eversion of issue 164 of Australasian Leisure Management.

Image: Attendees at the 2024 Aqua Alliance Forum at Sydney’s Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre last Friday. Credit: Chris Alexander.