Janet Barber Aquatics 

I have taught swimming and Water Safety for 54 years. I have always made drowning prevention one of my primary goals in life. Through my high school and university years I was self employed working in my own back yard teaching swimming lessons as a Red Cross Water Safety Instructor / Examiner.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Education degrees I continued to teach in the summer months while I worked at my full time research position with Abitibi Price. We had 2 beautiful daughters and as they grew up and entered high school they joined me in support of the "family business". My husband also played a huge role in supporting me as well over the years. He did everything from website design, to book keeping, tech support and was always my confidant. He is a man with many talents. 

One of my biggest gifts beyond continuing with drowning prevention has been the gift working with today’s youth. Without the great staff and volunteers that worked with me, this program would not be the best program out there.

Over the years we have taught 100’s of families water safety and how to swim. It has been a delight to have taught the children whose parents I also taught when they were young.

I’m proud of all we have accomplished over the 54 years and especially in the later years before the COVID pandemic when at the time, we had over 40 staff and volunteers and we created and ran the swim for Syria campaign.

Thank you all for your support over the years! I will miss all of this. I hope to stay in contact with many of you in the coming years.

It has been a blast!

Janet