Going for gold…the Pheonix's own Disabilities Editor Margaret MacDonald is celebrating as she has recently completed her Deep Water Aqua teaching qualification. Margaret has always been a keen swimmer all her life and she represented England in swimming competitions many years ago. So when she wanted to lose weight, she was inspired to take up a Deep Water Aqua Aerobics class, which she found to be really enjoyable, friendly and beneficial.

Unfortunately the teacher of the class fell ill but Margaret helped out at times and began taking the classes herself. She is now qualified in the use of equipment such as dumb-bells, noodles and woggles (long pieces of foam apparently) for the swimming routines. Margaret is also able to help with post-operative care through water exercise and classes of gentle exercises for older people. The next projects for Margaret include the establishment of the first junior Deep Water Aqua class in the South East, which she hopes will benefit overweight children. She also plans to gain her lifeguard qualification this month, a course in Water Step Aerobics and another course in Deep Water Aqua with floats attached to ankles and wrists rather than the body, which makes it much harder work. Once Margaret gets going there is no stopping her.

The Aqua Aerobics classes are very friendly and welcoming. It doesn't matter what shape or size you are. There are also shallow water based classes for anybody needing gentler classes. Give it a go yourself as you may even find Margaret is teaching your class on the day. For details of classes call the Prince Regent swimming pool on 685 692 or St Luke's swimming pool on 602 385. The Prince Regent has classes in the day and evening but at St Luke's they are only in the evening.

Written by Nicola Hogart.