I learned a lot about aquatics programming this morning when I interviewed John Spannuth, CEO and president of the U.S. Water Fitness Association in Boynton Beach, FL (www.uswfa.com). He was a wealth of information about aquatic trends. According to John, aquatic personal training is the hottest thing going. Some places are offering 200 or more aquatic personal training sessions each week. That's a lot of revenue when you consider a facility can charge $35 to $150 per hour for aquatic personal training. He sees it as a growing revenue source for fitness facility owners just as land-based personal training has been.
"It's just starting to build, but in five years, it could be the number one revenue-producing program for aquatics facilities," he told me.
He is also pushing aquatics training for athletes at colleges and universities. Mississippi College in Clinton, MS, is one college that has made aquatics a part of athletic training for its track, basketball, football, tennis and other programs.
I'll be sharing more of what he said in the February story on aquatics. Look for it soon! - Pam