2012 WAHC focuses on water wisdom

by MODE, ignore | December 3, 2012 9:23 pm

More than 400 people from 41 states and eight countries attended the 2012 World Aquatic Health Conference™ (WAHC™) and Aquatic Physical Therapy Summit, which was held for the first time in Norfolk, Va.This year’s event highlighted research in various fields, including the health benefits of water exercise, making pools and spas safer, and the impact of learn-to-swim initiatives. Attendee’s listened to two keynotes, one presented by Bryon Embry, a world-renowned motivational speaker and the other by National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF) CEO Thomas M. Lachocki, PhD. Both presenters reflected the conference theme and illustrated how gaining ‘WaterWisdom’ is not just about learning, but applying the knowledge to effect positive change. Lachocki also keynoted the inaugural Step Into Swim™ congress, which was held one day prior to the conference.

Attendees were also able to select from 41 high-level sessions in five diverse topic areas. Other WAHC highlights included presentations by Julie Gilchrist, MD, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), who shared current drowning and chronic illness statistics and discussed how critical swimming lessons are to reduce drowning and diseases; Michael Beach, PhD, and Robert Blake, MPH, REHS, (CDC), discussed the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC), Michele Hlavsa, RN, MPH (CDC) gave an update on Cryptosporidium (Crypto) prevention efforts, while Connie Sue Centrella, MA, Team Horner, a regular contributor to Pool & Spa Marketing, focused on how to make a facility more sustainable.

“This year’s conference was a great success, attracting many return attendees as well as new people and organizations,” said Michelle Kavanaugh, NSPF conference manager. “Our live-streaming of all five seminars on the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC) was a huge success, so we have plans to expand live-streaming offerings for 2013.”

This year marked the ninth edition of the conference, which welcomed attendees from as far away as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and the Ukraine.

The 2013 WAHC will be held Oct. 16-18 in Indianapolis, Ind., at the Hyatt Regency Downtown. For more information, contact conference@nspf.org.[1]

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