The National Swimming Pool Foundation® (NSPF®) recently honoured the organization’s active instructors for their extraordinary performance over the past year.
Several individuals and four companies, including Alberta Health Services of Canada, also received awards for their commitment to excellence in keeping pools safer and open. Those who attended the annual instructor meeting were presented with their awards by NSPF representatives prior to the 13th annual World Aquatic Health™ Conference (WAHC), which took place in Nashville, Tenn.
The following instructors were recognized for being the top in their respective fields:
- Most certified individuals in their first year as an instructor—Jordan Garrett DiGuardi (Pool Operation Management) taught 221 students.
- Most certified individuals in their second year as an instructor—Rudy H. Stankowitz (Aquatic Facility Training & Consultants) taught 588 students. Raymond Brett (Pool Operation Management); Robert C. Hayes (Leslie’s Poolmart Inc.); and Auteen Bahrami (Sunset Pool Management Inc.) also received this award.
- Most certified individuals by an instructor in the last year—Scott W. Ford (Tropical Aquatics Pool Education Inc.) was honoured in this category with an impressive 772 students taught in the past year. He has been an NSPF instructor since 2001.
- Most certified individuals ever by an instructor— Robert Freligh (Nationwide Aquatic Consulting) has certified more than 10,800 students since becoming an NSPF instructor in 1995.
- Most impressive increase in certifications—Emosi Vodo (Continental Pools Inc.), who has been an NSPF instructor since 2010, had an increase of 240 CPO students in comparison to 2015.
- Most certified individuals internationally—Vodo was also honoured for certifying the most international individuals (147 in total). Robert Braid (CPO Durham); Bradley Bryson (Advanced Commercial Pool & Spa); Jean-Pierre Lajoie (ASI Distributions Inc.); and Keara Shaw of Alberta Health Services received the award as well.
- Biggest supporter of Pool Operator Primer™—Richard Deyo (EcoLab Inc.) trained the most students (130) through the online Pool Operator Primer™ course in the past year.
- Biggest supporter of online training programs—Roy Carter (Champions School of Real Estate) has been using NSPF materials since 2007. This is the third year in a row he has won this award, which spans across all of NSPF’s online programs.
- Most certified individuals by a company—Leslie’s Poolmart Inc., had the most certified individuals (2,070) in the past year.
- Most certified individuals by a company internationally—Alberta Health Services of Canada received the international award. It now has 18 authorized NSPF instructors. In 2012, the company began offering CPO® Certification courses across Alberta in response to an introduction of new pool standards from the provincial government.
- Most certified individuals by a company in Spanish internationally—Asociación de Profesionales de la Piscina (APPAC) of México, with their team of 24 NSPF instructors, certified more students (372) in Spanish than any other company outside the United States. APPAC has been using NSPF educational programs since 2011.
- Most certified individuals by a company in Spanish U.S.—Paraiso Pools in Debary, Fla., certified 347 students. José Miguel Torres, the company’s owner, has been an NSPF instructor since 2008, teaching a total of 1671 students.
“These teachers are creating the world we all want where healthier people have great experiences in and around the water,” says NSPF CEO Thomas Lachocki, Ph.D.
