Nepean Aquatic Centre and Eva Borys

We have been providing professional Learn To Swim and coaching services to Penrith, Emu Plains and surrounding regions for more than two decades, with the owners - Karen and Alan Bentley – heavily involved in swimming in the district for over 30 years. The company has proudly gone from strength to strength over the past 3 decades, whilst retaining a family friendly outlook and above all a passion for swimming excellence and water safety. Take advantage of their experience and come share their love for swimming - an important skill for life - at one of the two local centres Nepean Swim and Fitness currently operate - Eva Bory’s Swim School in Emu Plains and Nepean Aquatic Centre in Penrith.

Eva Bory’s Swim School is an iconic name in swimming, with a long and rich local history. Eva Bory was born in Hungary, and taught herself to swim at age 9. By age 18 she was selected to compete at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, after breaking the 100m backstroke record in 1955. After competing in the Olympics, in which the Hungarian swim team broke the 4 x 100m Medley Relay World Record, Eva was granted political asylum and brought her swimming talents to Australia. Eva started out teaching swimming in Bondi, and helped to establish the now famous Carlile swimming program, then built her first pool in the Western Suburbs in 1967. In 1973, following the publication in 1971 of a very successful book on swimming teaching which was published in all English speaking countries, Eva Bory built the Emu Plains pool.
Later in life Eva Bory was inducted into the Australian Swimming Hall of Fame as recognition of all she achieved in swimming in our local area and Australia wide. She moved to the USA and married in 1984, but remains a much loved and respected figure within the local swimming community, and travels back to Australia regularly to visit friends and colleagues. The local tradition of learning to swim at Eva Bory’s Swim School continues into the next generation, with past swimming students now bringing their children to the Emu Plains venue to learn aquatic skills and safety.
Karen and Alan Bentley have a strong personal history with Eva Bory Swim School, with Karen learning to swim at the facility as a child in the 70’s, and Alan swimming in squads there from 1980 to the mid 90’s. Karen became a swimming instructor at Eva Bory’s in 1986, and a level 2 performance coach in 1994, with the Bentleys managing Eva Bory’s Swim School from 1992 -1994, then again from March 2002 to the present day.

Nepean Aquatic Centre was conceived by the Bentley’s after recognising the need for a first class Aquatic facility in Penrith. Nepean Aquatic Centre opened in March 2011, and is the newest and largest private facility of its kind in the region, featuring a 6 lane 25 metre lap pool (with 2 lanes extending to 50 metres), a separate Learn To Swim pool heated to 31 degrees with separate air conditioned observation room for parents, gym room, well appointed change rooms with hot showers, family change room and ample off street parking. In designing Nepean Aquatic Centre they set out to create a venue that was modern and energy efficient, making best use of the ample natural light and ventilation available. Nepean Aquatic Centre use only the best possible filtration systems to ensure the water in both pools is of excellent quality at all times.
Nepean Aquatic Centre was the first venue built in the development of a long awaited leisure precinct for Penrith. The location now also has a children’s long day care centre and a café, with a Health and Fitness Club currently in construction and set to open in early 2015.
The Bentleys have had a huge influence on local swimming in addition to the 2 venues currently under their operation. From 1994 – 1997 Karen Bentley set up and managed the swimming program at Ripples in St Marys, and in 1997 opened Fitness World Swimming in Peachtree Rd Penrith, a venue that operated strongly for 13 years until November 2010 when a change in venue ownership forced a cease in NSF operations.

Teaching your child to swim is giving them an important gift for life. Swimming Australia advocate that every Australian should be taught acceptable aquatic skills in a safe and friendly environment. Swimming skills – particularly for children – are fundamental to every individual’s safety and overall development. And it’s great fun!
Swimming offers one of the best physical exercise activities for good health with minimal risk of injury, which can be continued throughout all stages of life. Physical activity has been proven to improve child development including academic performance, language and maths, fine and gross motor skills, coordination, socialisation and confidence. In the US, studies have shown that the highest academic achievement tended to be attained by members of the swimming and water polo teams.
For infants, swimming has the additional benefit of enhancing and stimulating their general development, and providing a strong bonding experience for infant and carer as they share quality time in the water.
For older children, swimming lessons are often the first structured learning environment they experience, with the social interactions with the teacher and classmates setting an important foundation for future learning. It’s has also been recently suggested by an Australian study out of Griffith University that children who swim often display advanced literacy and numeracy skills.
We are registered with both Swim Australia and AUSTSWIM, and provide Learn To Swim and Aquatic Fitness activities for all ages, from babies to retirees. Swimming truly is an activity for life, for every individual regardless of age or ability, and we cater for all groups providing Aquanatal Aquarobics to Seniors Heartmoves classes and everything in between! We provide Learn To Swim classes from approximately 6 months, and every child is an individual and learns at their own pace, which is why our program is based on the achievement of skills within each level.

www.nepeanaquaticcentre.com.au
www.evaboryswimschool.com.au