Wave recognized for fitness innovation

By CHRISTINE HENSLEIGH / For the Pilot

You might not think of fitness as a product that needs innovation, but these days top fitness managers understand that even exercise is a commercial ware. Which makes The Wave's latest award — in the category of fitness innovation — part of the next generation of fitness models.

The Wave was awarded first runner up in innovation for their Third Grade Swim/Water Safety Program, a program that merged outside swim classes into the school curriculum and beat out big-city competition from across the nation for one of the top spots.

Every year, Fitness Manager Magazine gives out coveted Nova7 awards as a way to keep fitness industry invigorated with new ideas, which are essential to the survival of the fitness industry.

"We do look at fitness as a product," Wave executive director Art Krueger said.

The idea of fitness has evolved beyond the leg warmers and Gold's Gym model of the late 1980s, Krueger explained. With busy lives, bringing the product to kids while they were at school was a big part of the innovation. The other half — recognizing the need to introduce kids to fitness at a young age.

"This next generation of kids might not outlive their parents," Krueger said, citing a rise in obesity and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle as motivating factors for the program.

Local schools arranged schedules to accommodate the program, which did more than just introduce kids to swimming. Water-safety skills and confidence building were also the focus. By the end of the program, all the kids were comfortable in the water — even kids with no water experience.

The innovative frosting on this cake was the funding — private funding made the program possible in the first place, a fact that The Wave hopes to replicate as they expand into other area schools.

The $1,000 cost per school includes transportation, equipment and Red Cross lesson fees. Full funding for the program, estimated at more than $8,000, has not been secured, though donors are currently being sought — and the Wave is committed to the program because of its importance as a facet of fitness.