The National Swimming Pool Foundation honored the organization’s Active Instructors recently for their extraordinary performance over the past year. Many individuals and three companies received awards for their commitment and excellence in keeping pools safer and open. The recipients who attended the annual instructor meeting were given their awards by NSPF representatives just before the twelfth annual World Aquatic Health Conference, which took place in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“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,” states NSPF CEO Tom Lachocki, Ph.D. “Their success is what makes us relevant at the Foundation. We are honored to serve them and love to recognize their hard work in the aquatics field.”
The following instructors were recognized for being the top in their respective fields by the NSPF:
Most Certified Individuals in their First Year as an Instructor - Rudy H. Stankowitz, Owner of Aquatic Facility Training & Consultants in Florida, was presented with the award for 211 successfully taught students. Stankowitz has been a part of the pool industry for more than 20 years. Auteen Bahrami of Sunset Pools Inc. and Robert Christopher Hayes of Leslie’s Poolmart were also recognized in this category.
Most Certified Individuals in their Second Year as an Instructor - Ruth Virginia Frederick, Owner of Perfected Solutions in Florida, achieved this award thanks to an incredible 406 newly taught students. Raymond Eric Brett of Pool Operation Management and Albert Lopez of Leslie’s Poolmart joined Frederick in this category.
Most Certified Individuals by an Instructor in the Last Year - Rick Stewart, Owner of Pool Training Academy based in Colorado, was honored in this category as he had taught an impressive 781 students in the past year. Stewart has been an NSPF Instructor since 1985. Other esteemed instructors include 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.
Most Certified Individuals Ever by an Instructor - Robert R. Freligh, Owner of Nationwide Aquatic Consulting of New York, continued his legacy; he has certified over 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.
Most Impressive Increase in Certifications - Timothy E. Auerhahn, Co-Chair of Aquatic Council, LLC located in New York, who has been an NSPF Instructor since 2010, was presented with this award. 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.
Biggest Supporter of Pool Operator Primer - Richard Deyo, Director of Training for EcoLab, Inc. headquartered in Minnesota trained the most students through the online Pool Operator Primer course in the past year. He has been using NSPF material since 2002 and has certified more than 1,000 pool operators with the CPO® Certification. In the past year 164 of those students completed the online Pool Operator Primer training. Deyo was joined by Connie Sue Centrella of Connie Centrella Consulting, LLC; Richard Ruggles of Hayward Pool Products Visalia, CA; Martyn Knowles of Hayward Canada; and Robert Estell of 1 Exam Prep Inc.
Biggest Supporter of Online Training Programs - Roy Carter, Director of Inspection & Education for Champions School of Real Estate based in Texas, has been using NSPF materials since 2007. This is Mr. Carter’s second year in a row that he has won this award which spans across all of NSPF’s online programs.
Most Certified Individuals in Spanish within the U.S. - José Torres, Owner of Paraiso Pools in Florida, has won this specific award previously; he enjoys teaching pool and spa professionals in their native tongue while they strive for their CPO Certification in America.
Most Certified Individuals in Spanish Internationally - Hugo Diaz, Owner of Area de Piscinas of Columbia, an NSPF Instructor since 2012, was presented with this Spanish International award for the second year in a row. Mr. Diaz travels across Spanish speaking countries, which gives many pool and spa operators the opportunity to learn about aquatic health and safety measures.
Most Certified Individuals Outside the U.S. - Shane Ince, General Manager of Aquatics Information & recently hired NSPF Liaison, Australia, was recognized for the most certified individuals outside the U.S. He has been using the NSPF materials since 2008. Mr. Ince travels across Australia to teach pool and spa operators about proper operation, safety, and maintenance.
Three companies were recognized by NSPF:
Most Certified Individuals by a Company – Pool Operation Management in New Jersey was recognized as the company with the most certified individuals in the past year. The organization was founded in 1980 and currently consults, trains/educates, and manages both commercial and residential pool clients.
Most Certified Individuals by a Company in Spanish Internationally - Asóciacion de Profesionales de la Piscinea (APPAC) of Mexico with their team of 25 NSPF Instructors, certified more students in Spanish than any other company outside the USA. APPAC has been using NSPF educational programs since 2011, as they continue to elevate the aquatic field in Mexico by teaching CPO® Certification courses.
Most Certified Individuals by a Company in English Internationally - Alberta Health Services of Canada received the English International award. Alberta Health Services now has 18 authorized NSPF Instructors. In 2012 the company began offering CPO® Certification courses across Alberta, Canada in response to an introduction of new pool standards from the Alberta Government.
