22 May 2018

One of the first lifeguards at the old QEII Pool is returning to the new Taiora: QEII to run a club for swimmers aged over 50.

Willie Pitama started work at QEII Pool on 9 February, 1974, a week after the Commonwealth Games were held at the complex.

Back in the swim: Shirley Forbes and Willie Pitama from the QEII 50 Plus and Ear

Back in the swim: Shirley Forbes and Willie Pitama from the QEII 50 Plus and Early Bird Club.

Forty-two years ago he founded The QEII 50 Plus and Early Bird Club and now he is re-establishing it at the $38.6 million Taiora: QEII Recreation and Sport Centre when it opens at the end of the month. The club will meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 6.30am until 9.30am, and the first get together will be held on June 6 after Queens Birthday Weekend.

Mr Pitama came up with the idea as a young lifeguard after seeing a need for a social group for older swimmers. It took off, and at its peak the club had 300 members. Since the 2011 earthquake and the old QEII’s demolition the following year, the numbers have dwindled to about 30 but a core group of members still meet for lunch once a month and they hold a Christmas party every year.

Now 67, Willie can’t wait to return to the new version of his old stomping ground and revitalise the group with some new members. Walking inside the doors will be like going back to normal, he says. “It’s like coming back after I’ve been away on a holiday. It just feels the same.”

The separation following the earthquakes was like “the family had split up,” he said. “The club members were like mums and dads to me. I was learning off them and they were learning off me. You have to ask them what they want, not what you think they should have.”

Club Co-ordinator Shirley Forbes, who is 81 and still goes to the gym and does aqua jogging three times a week, says it’s a great time for new members to join and she has been recruiting at other Council pools.

She is feeling very positive about Taiora. “Oh gosh yes, I’m counting the days until it opens. I’m excited that we’ll all be together again.”

QEII has been a huge part of her life, with all of her four children training there and later representing New Zealand in swimming, track and field, and waterpolo.

She and her husband Bruce became regular members of the 50 Plus and Early Bird club after they retired and she says it is a great way to socialise and exercise at the same time.

The oldest member of the group is 97 and still swims 30 lengths three times a week at Graham Condon Pool and Recreation Centre. Another eight members used to carpool from Kaiapoi so they could swim together at QEII.

Council Recreation and Sport Operations Manager Nigel Cox is pleased the club, which has Council support, will continue at the new Taiora: QEII Recreation and Sport Centre. “It’s really important that older people are encouraged to stay active and connected and that’s what this group has a proven track record of doing. We’re really keen to see it flourish in the new, rebuilt QEII facility.”