Forward Motion

The Y has been a large part of Nicolas’ life from an early age. Having moved to Canada from Buenos Aires; Argentina with his family in the summer of 2005. Nicolas was only 3 years old at the time. By November of that year, his mom had enrolled him and his sister in the group learn to swim program with financial assistance from the Y.

Like a lot of newcomers to Canada, Nicolas and his family faced financial hardship for the first few years as they moved and adjusted to life in a new country. The subsidized membership enabled Nicolas and his sister to participate in a variety of activities until his mom was in a position to pay the full price. Nicolas was able to try out and experience the benefits of fitness and recreational pursuits at the Peter Gilgan Fitness Centre. Such as rock climbing, tennis, taekwondo, and swimming. He has always kept going with swimming practice. “Out of all the programs swimming is the one thing that’s stuck,” Nicolas said.

Nicolas has faced his own personal challenges along the way. Having been diagnosed with ADHD and adding to that he suffered severe ear infections from an early age. His teachers would often say “he doesn’t listen in class” to his mom. Until, around the age of 8 when he had surgery on his ears, which improved his hearing within a matter of weeks and alleviated the pain that he had considered normal for such a long time! Nicolas didn’t realize how much his ear infections were affecting his quality of life.

At the age of 8, we often take the words of adults literally, so when the Doctor said, “don’t get your ears wet” after surgery, Nicolas became afraid to go into the water for fear he’d get his ears wet and lose his hearing permanently.

Nadiya Ng, now the Y’s Aquatics Leader, saw that Nicolas was struggling and worked with him to overcome his fears of the water, persuading him back into the pool and swimming practice.

His mom, who has always been a positive role model in his life, has always said “if you’re not moving forward, you’re wasting your time. You’ve got to keep moving forward” and Nadiya who saw the potential in Nicolas and helped him navigate his personal challenges, have seen him grow by leaps and bounds over the last decade. He has progressed all the way through the learn to swim program, lifeguard certification and swimming instructor qualifications and on to secure his first full-time job as a valuable member of Y staff in 2019.

Three years on, Nicolas reflects on what the Y means to him, “more than anything it’s the people and the connections you make. We’re a strong team here in aquatics, and it’s a bit of an internal joke, but my loyalty is to the Y staff, and Nadiya in particular. It’s people like Nadiya that truly make a lasting impact on people’s lives, she empowers people to overcome their difficulties and grow. She’s always supported and been there for me. She’s known me since I moved here when I was a little boy and has always been a constant force, helping me work through and overcome the challenges life has thrown my way.”

Nicolas is a positive role model for other young people in our community and a shining example of the positive difference the YMCA can have on people’s lives.