The mid 1980s and Huia Mikara was ‘parent-helping’ when older members of his group observed smaller, much younger, children swimming lengths of the 50 metre pool. Buoyed by this sight they decided they too could swim a length. Each set out with the greatest intention only to find they could barely complete 10 metres without stopping. By halfway they’d all decided they’d had enough. Sitting on the edge of the pool exhausted they watched in awe of the other children swimming length after length.

“What are you going to do about it?” a commanding voice demanded at Huia’s shoulder. “They clearly want to improve their swimming. I’m running a course for new ‘learn to swim’ instructors this Saturday afternoon I expect to see you there.” This was Huia’s first introduction to Master Swimming Coach Nicky Renwick and the start of his 28 year swim coaching path.

Now he is a nationally qualified coach and co-owner/director of Templeton Pool Developments (with his two business partners Jenny Jones and Chris Hurley) which owns the Waitaha Aquatic Centre. This brand new state of the art indoor swim pool complex is the home of Canterbury Swim School (the trio’s learn to swim business), and the Waitaha Swim Club.

The Waitaha Aquatic Centre was several years in the making. As volunteer coaches, Huia and Jenny were frustrated with the lack of available time in council run facilities, and also saw the need for a pool to serve the western suburbs of Christchurch.

Huia mentioned this dream to David Ormsby, Te Puni Kōkiri Te Waipounamu Regional Manager, whom he knew through the swimming fraternity. David recommended the Māori Business Facilitation Service (MBFS) run by Te Puni Kōkiri.

“I admired Huia and Jenny’s approach to swimming. It is very whānau orientated - they go over and above what other coaches would do,” David says. “I believed that there was significant potential for the two of them as coaches and business owners.

“MBFS is ideally placed to help new and existing business owners, who have already done a considerable amount of work themselves, but could benefit from a bit of objective business advice and mentoring,” David says.

“He looked at our business plan and had a chuckle,” recalls Huia of his first meeting with the MBFS Account Manager.

“He told us it was a nice flowery presentation. However, it lacked grunt and required more clarity around the financials.” Te Puni Kōkiri provided the funding for mentoring by Phillip Roth of Polson Higgs.

“We put together the plan, Phillip came up with suggestions, and encouraged us to consider different aspects of the business we hadn’t thought about. It was so helpful to have someone looking over our ideas and fine-tuning them.”

“Phillip helped us with a feasibility study, and sat in on meetings during our negotiations with the Christchurch City Council,” Huia says.

The journey forward still had its ups and down. Building costs in Christchurch rose after the Canterbury earthquakes and the original site earmarked for the development fell through.

But hard work and perseverance paid off when the Waitaha Aquatic Centre was officially opened in grand style by Governor General His Excellency Sir Jerry Mateparae late 2013.

The pool is open for public swimming, but its main focus is on providing swimming lessons for all ages. As its motto ‘Puawai’ implies – its owners are passionate about helping young Cantabrians to reach their goals in the water.