Alberta Health Services was one of three companies recently recognized by the National Swimming Pool Foundation® (NSPF®) with an award for exceptional performance during the annual instructor meeting held prior to the 12th annual World Aquatic Health™ Conference (WAHC), which took place in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The provincial health authority was recognized with the ‘English International Award’ for the ‘Most Certified Individuals by a Company in English Internationally.’ In 2012, it started offering Certified Pool/Spa Operator® (CPO®) certification courses across Alberta in response to the introduction of new pool standards by the provincial government. As a result, it now has 18 authorized instructors.
The two other companies honoured in this category included: Pool Operation Management in New Jersey for the most certified individuals in the past year, and Asóciacion de Profesionales de la Piscinea (APPAC) in Mexico for most certified individuals by a company in Spanish internationally.
“The NSPF Instructors are the experts who teach professionals how to keep pools and spas safer and working more efficiently, thus helping more people live healthier lives,” says NSPF CEO and Tom Lachocki, Ph.D. “Their success is what makes us relevant. We are honoured to serve them and love to recognize their hard work in the aquatics field.”
Other award recipients included:
- Rudy H. Stankowitz, owner of Aquatic Facility Training & Consultants in Florida, for most certified individuals in their first year as an instructor (211 students). Auteen Bahrami of Sunset Pools Inc., and Robert Christopher Hayes of Leslie’s Poolmart were also recognized in this category.
- Ruth Virginia Frederick, owner of Perfected Solutions in Florida, for most certified individuals in their second year as an instructor (406 students). Raymond Eric Brett of Pool Operation Management and Albert Lopez of Leslie’s Poolmart Inc., joined Frederick in this category.
- Rick Stewart, owner of Pool Training Academy in Colorado, for most certified individuals by an instructor in the last year (781 students). Others recognized in this category were Steve Scheuer of Certified Pool Trainers Inc., Trevor Sherwood, II of Pool Operation Management, Robert Freligh of Nationwide Aquatic Consulting, and Armando Esparza of Aquatics by Armando.
- Robert R. Freligh, owner of Nationwide Aquatic Consulting in New York for most certified individuals ever by an instructor (more than 10,000 students) since becoming an NSPF Instructor in 1995. Trevor Sherwood, II of Pool Operation Management, Kurt Carmen of Aquatic Council LLC, Bob Buettner of Pool Pros CPO Training, and Joan Navratil of Horizon CPO Seminars, were also recognized in this category.
- Timothy E. Auerhahn, co-chair of Aquatic Council LLC in New York for most impressive increase in certifications. Other instructors in this category were Raymond Brett of Pool Operation Management, Rudy Stankowitz of Aquatic Facility Training and Consultants, and Ruth Frederick of Perfected Solutions.
- Richard Deyo, director of training for EcoLab Inc., in Minnesota for biggest supporter of the Pool Operator Primer.™ He trained the most students through the online course in the past year. Deyo was joined by Connie Sue Centrella of Connie Centrella Consulting LLC, Richard Ruggles of Hayward Pool Products in Visalia, Calif., Martyn Knowles of Hayward Canada in Oakville, Ont., and Robert Estell of 1 Exam Prep Inc., in Florida.
- Roy Carter, director of inspection and education for Champions School of Real Estate based in Texas, for biggest supporter of online training programs. This marks the second consecutive year that he has won this award which spans across all NSPF online programs.
- José Torres, owner of Paraiso Pools in Florida for most certified individuals in Spanish with the U.S. He is a past recipient of this award.
- Hugo Diaz, owner of Area de Piscinas in Columbia for most certified individuals in Spanish internationally. This marks the second consecutive year that he has won this award.
- Shane Ince, general manager of Aquatics Information and recently hired NSPF liaison, Australia, for the most certified individuals outside the U.S.
