A pilot programme is helping Pasifika people learn to swim, conquer their fears and open up potential careers. Katie Townshend reports.

Ana Lama stands at the back of the line and watches, apprehension creasing her face.

One-by-one her classmates jump off a wall, into the deep end below, before joining in a huddle.

Five weeks ago, this was Lama’s worst nightmare – she was terrified of deep water.

But that was then. Today, she knows how to swim.

Now, she knows how to float, kick paddle and breathe, and she’s learning to go further each time.

“I can actually swim 50m without my feet trying to touch the ground each time,” she said proudly.

For the 40-year-old, who moved to New Zealand from Tonga in 2007, feeling confident in the water is a whole new world.

That door has been opened thanks to a pilot programme being run at Richmond Aquatic Centre.

It’s been spearheaded by Te Mahi Ako, an organisation offering work-based learning for careers in active recreation, leisure and entertainment.

They’ve partnered with the Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust and the Swim Magic school at the pool to offer the course, helping a group of 10 Pacific people learn to swim.

Te Mahi Ako regional learner advisor Nick Makea (Nga Puhi and Niuean – Liku Village) said they had identified a lack of Pacific and Māori representation in the aquatic industry, both in swimming instructors and lifeguards.

“The idea just came from lack of lifeguards, and our lack of being able to swim, as Pasifika people and Māori as well.”

Water Safety NZ’s Drowning Prevention Report 2022 found that Māori and Pasifika were “significantly overrepresented” in drowning statistics.

The pilot was running for six weeks to help the 10 participants perfect the basics.

“We’re hoping that we’re going to have three lifeguards before the end of the year,” Makea said.

Not everyone learnt to swim, so getting a small group taught the right skills would have ripple effects throughout the community, as they would help teach other Pasifika and encourage others to upskill, he said.

“Even though 10 is a small number, that 10 is going to have a massive effect in the coming months and years.”

Already, there was interest from local iwi about further courses, and organisations from Auckland and Christchurch as well.

And it’s already been life-changing for Makea, who is participating in the weekly lessons after deciding he should step up.

“I couldn’t swim,” he said.

Learning as adult was an experience he never expected to have, but it had been awesome.

He’s even considering becoming a swim teacher.

It was about creating a safe space for Pasifika and Māori to learn without feeling shy or judged, he said.

“The ultimate goal was for Pasifika teaching Pasifika, Māori teaching Māori.”

That was the benefit of the class – they were able to learn and laugh together “knowing nobody’s better than anyone else”.

No-one exemplified that more than Lama, he said.

In the pool, Lama dons her goggles and makes her way up and down the lengths, perfecting the techniques.

Growing up in Tonga, the way they learnt was to jump in and just do it, she said.

“My friends told me to chuck myself into the deep. That’s how most of them learnt how to swim … it didn’t work.”

Fast-forward to adulthood, and while her family regularly spend summer days at the river or beach where her four children are confident swimmers, you won’t find her venturing far from the rocks where her feet can touch the bottom.

She recalls watching her then 4-year-old get into trouble in a river and having to send her eldest – then 9 – out to save them.

“They’ll always end up saving mum, rather than mum saving them … I was standing there, but I knew I couldn’t save her.”

It meant that, when her kids asked to head to the river or beach in summer she would refuse to take them unless their father was also there.

This summer would be different, she said.

“I’ll be the first to chuck my togs on.”

The big difference was knowing that she could swim herself out of deep water – even if her feet couldn’t touch the bottom.

The biggest lesson? That she could float.

“I didn’t even know that I could.”

For swim teachers Lisa Stanley and Patsy Berriman, stories like Lama’s are what it’s all about.

“It’s really emotional, and I think it’s been incredible to see the commitment to what she’s trying to achieve here. Like, she’s just got in the water and given everything a crack, and even though it’s been challenging, she’s never once given up and said, I’m not doing it, or I can’t do it.”

Stanley said they did the job because they want people to be able to enjoy the outdoors safely, and this group proved it’s never too late to learn.

“We want them to be able to go to the beach, in the rivers in the summer, and be able to spend time with their children and know how to support their children as well.”

The lessons had taken the whole group right back to the basics, starting with floating and then building from there, she said.

“None of these guys knew how to float.”

Everyone had come far since that first week, and by week three some of the stronger swimmers completed the 200m challenge – swimming eight 25m lengths without stopping, Berriman said.

“They were surprised themselves at how far they could swim with just a [small] amount of changes to their swimming technique.”

Stanley said this course would be followed by another six-weeks then an intermediate level, after which they could move on to lifeguard skills.

Week five of the course coincided with water safety week at the aquatic centre, so the class was taught how to safely jump into water from height wearing a life jacket.

They then learn to huddle into a group before forming a “snake” and kicking as one to get to shallow water.

And so, one-by-one they jump into the deep end of the wave pool. Hold your nose, cross your arms and jump, feet first. Turn onto your back, and kick to the group.

Lama’s been watching nervously. Then it’s her turn – the woman who five weeks ago would stay on the rocks, too afraid to go into the deep water.

She steps up to the wall, crosses her arms and jumps.

In the water, she flips onto her back and goes to join the group, the smile beaming from her face.

She knows how to swim.