Swimming, Like Breathing
Would you like to learn yourself, or teach your children and grandchildren, to feel light, natural, and confident in the water - in short, to swim as easily and naturally as you breathe?
Then you won't want to miss the chance to do exactly that in a brand-new, state-of-the-art pool with an athletic design, opening in late June or early July of this year right in the heart of "Russian business Toronto," at the intersection of Dufferin and Finch. It's also worth noting that this will be the signature swim school of Yakov Kreinis, a coach who has worked successfully in Ontario for many years and whose students have gone on to become champions and medalists at competitions ranging from school meets to international events.
That said, this isn't really about medals and trophies, however much every young swimmer wants them. The core idea behind Yakov Kreinis's new aquatics complex is to give people of every age the chance to enjoy Canada's beautiful rivers and lakes without fear, to feel confident at any beach resort, and to keep themselves in shape year-round with genuine pleasure in the pool. After all, swimming is one of the most well-rounded, beneficial, and accessible sports around, suited to the widest possible audience, from toddlers to seniors.
How will the new pool operate? What will surprise and delight its visitors? Which age groups is the lead coach focusing on? We put all of these questions to Yakov Kreinis directly, and here's what he told us:
"The new pool will open at the end of the school year, so over the summer we'll be running our first pilot series of classes, so people can get a feel for the facility.
"The new pool is 20 metres long, has 5 lanes, and the water is kept at 30 degrees, enriched with sea salt. Nobody here will ever be cold, and nobody will have ear trouble. We'll maintain that water temperature year-round, in both winter and summer. At the same time, the air right around the pool is kept at 28 degrees, so there's no sharp temperature drop for anyone stepping out of the water. And for the parents and spectators who can watch training sessions from a dedicated viewing gallery behind a glass partition, we've made sure they're comfortable too: that area is air-conditioned and kept at 22 degrees.
"This new aquatics complex wasn't designed purely as a training ground for future champions - it was designed to be the most comfortable possible place to learn. Our main goal was to eliminate all the side effects that usually come with the territory, like the effect cold, chlorinated water has on our students' bodies.
"This is an exclusive pool with private changing rooms, beautifully maintained saltwater quality thanks to the most modern equipment available, consistent humidity levels, elimination of unwanted odours, and so on. To keep all of that at the level it needs to be, we can't run the pool into the ground, so there will never be more than 15 people swimming in it at any one time. Everyone gets their own private changing stall. The washrooms and showers are kept spotlessly clean, and there's a comfortable waiting area for parents with young children.
"The teaching groups will be small, no more than 3 people per lane, and each group will have its own dedicated instructor. Compare that to a typical city pool, where a popular coach usually has 30 to 35 people swimming at once across 3 or 4 lanes. Each session will run an hour, and the schedule is posted on our website; the age range is as wide as it gets, from around 3 years old right through to the most senior of seniors. I currently have students in their seventies, because you can learn to swim at any age at all, there's no limit to it.
"The pool is conveniently located right in the center of 'Russian Toronto,' at Dufferin and Finch, easy to reach whether you drive or take public transit. It'll be open 7 days a week, from 4:30 to 8:30pm on weekdays. Hour-long sessions are set aside for kids who already swim, and 45-minute sessions for the very youngest. Pricing for classes is also available on our website, jacswimschool.com.
"At the new pool, I'll be leading a tight-knit team made up mostly of my own former students. Every one of them knows exactly what I expect from them, how I teach, and the core principles behind what I'm trying to achieve in teaching people to swim. This will be, in a sense, a signature swim school built around my own approach, because I'm opening my own pool specifically so I can do the things I've tested and proven, over and over, through my own experience.
"Our school is an official Red Cross representative, and we clearly go well beyond that organization's teaching standard for swim instruction. But as a former competitive swimmer, I always try to get more out of my students. We're not embarrassed to show off our students' technical ability to specialists at any level. For more than 10 years, we've run groups focused on refining swimming technique for anyone who wants to join, and most of the people in that program are competitive swimmers, from beginners all the way up to champions.
"Generally speaking, Canadian parents are quite involved with their kids, signing them up for all sorts of activities and driving them everywhere: music, basketball, swimming, you name it, and their overall approach is understandable and logical: teach my child at least the basics, but above all, make sure they enjoy it. In my view, though, swimming ability carries a somewhat different level of responsibility. A child might spend six months to a year enjoying the pool and a great relationship with their coach, and then, during a family outing in nature or at summer camp, suddenly start drowning in a lake. You can play soccer or tennis in a fairly casual way, since, after all, it's not life-threatening, but swimming is something you actually need to know how to do properly. So I take it as my responsibility to use that same hour a week to genuinely teach a child to stay confidently afloat and master the basic principles of swimming. Otherwise, in a serious situation in the water, something terrible could happen to them.
"We try to create an atmosphere in our sessions that's genuinely supportive, but first and foremost focused on getting real work done, and we aim for a real, reliable result. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by abilities in your child that you hadn't noticed before, and we'll make sure they stay engaged. The whole process is completely transparent, and any question from a student or parent gets a thorough, professional answer.
"At the new pool, we'll be teaching people of every age to swim, starting from a year and a half old. Up to age 5 is our preschool level, where the main goal is learning to stay afloat in the water. Past age 5 is our school-age level, meaning fairly intensive instruction in actual swimming technique. And that's exactly the outcome we're working toward. Once school-age kids master swimming, they go on training as athletes and competing for their schools in various meets.
"I'm originally from Odessa myself. A former competitive swimmer. I competed many times in various all-Union and republic-level competitions. I later graduated from the physical education department of Odessa Pedagogical Institute, and I've worked as a professional coach ever since, including 11.5 of the 12 years I've lived in Canada, doing nothing but the work I love. And I hope this new project of mine will be the next chapter of that."