Public swim lesson registrations in Creston have declined this year, though school-based swim lessons have seen an increase.
Tia Wayling, the Regional District of Central Kootenay’s programming manager, presented a summer programming update to the Creston Valley Services Committee Thursday.
Public swim lesson registration fell to 56 this year, down from 68 in 2025. At the same time, school swim lessons served 353 students, an increase of 84 from 2025.
Wayling said the decline in public lesson registrations is raising some concerns, particularly because the trend appears to be unique to Creston.
“This is a direction in trend that we’re only seeing in Creston. We’re not seeing this in the other facilities,” said Wayling.
“To know that we have captured more children in that school age group was great. However, that decrease in registration interest does raise a few flags for us and for staff.”
She said staff want to raise more awareness in Creston about the importance of swimming lessons and water safety.
“Moving forward, staff will focus more effort on promoting that public lesson and continuing, as always, to monitor usage trends and patterns throughout the year.”
Overall use of the Creston and District Community Complex remained strong over the summer, with paid drop-in admissions up 13 per cent from 2025.
The increase was largely driven by adults and children under five.
Wayling said keeping the pool open continuously through the day, rather than having a midday closure as it did in 2025, may have contributed to the increase.
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