Jaime Gonek doesnB次元官网网址檛 remember what happened to the yellow jacket she had as a kid, the one adorned with sewed-on swimming badges sheB次元官网网址檇 earned from years of lessons with the Canadian Red Cross.

But the Edmonton-based fitness instructor still remembers how it made her feel B次元官网网址� and those memories flooded back this week when she heard the Canadian Red Cross was axing the program at the end of the year.

B次元官网网址淕ood grief did I wear that thing with pride,B次元官网网址� Gonek said with a laugh.

B次元官网网址淚 vividly remember grabbing the card (after testing at the end of a lesson) and feeling whether or not the badge was in there because thatB次元官网网址檚 how you knew youB次元官网网址檇 passed. And yeah, I saved them all.B次元官网网址�

The Canadian Red Cross announced earlier this month it was B次元官网网址渨inding downB次元官网网址� its swimming and lifeguard lessons through 2022, saying it would direct more of its attention to disaster relief, pandemic response, opioid harm reduction and care-giving for seniors.

The transition will mark the end of a program that taught water safety to millions of Canadians over a 75-year stretch.

Those like Gonek who took the program in the 1980s and 1990s, earned water level safety badges as they completed each lesson stage. The eight tokens were small, square patches featuring the outline of a swimmer on coloured waves with the Red Cross symbol etched on the top left.

Each colour denoted the level the swimmer had completed, beginning with yellow and progressing to orange, red, maroon, blue, green, grey and white B次元官网网址� for those who mastered rescue breathing, the sidestroke and an endurance swim of 500 metres.

The colour badge program ended in 1996, though students continued to earn patches with other designs.

Gonek began the program at age seven in the early-to-mid B次元官网网址�80s and earned all eight colour badges before progressing further through the lifeguard program. She eventually joined her high-school swim team and competed in triathlons as an adult. Now she trains swimmers in lower fitness levels for their first triathlons.

Gonek said her love of swimming began as a child with her first Red Cross lessons in Edmonton, about an hourB次元官网网址檚 drive from where she grew up in Smoky Lake, Alta.

B次元官网网址淢y parents didnB次元官网网址檛 trust the people who taught lessons out on the lake, so we used to drive every weekend into Edmonton,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 was a total water baby. They always had a hard time getting me out.B次元官网网址�

Gonek said she was B次元官网网址渘ostalgicB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渁 little sadB次元官网网址� to hear the Canadian Red Cross program was ending, but the organizationB次元官网网址檚 swimming and lifeguarding lessons will transition to other forms.

The Canadian Red Cross said it was encouraging its water safety partners to shift to swim and lifeguarding programs with Lifesaving Society Canada through the course of this year.

Red Cross swimming and lifeguard training will also continue in First Nations communities as part of the Red Cross Indigenous Peoples Framework, the organization said.

Rishona Hyman, owner of Aqua Essence Swim Academy in Winnipeg, said she was B次元官网网址渟hockedB次元官网网址� to hear of the program shuttering, calling it B次元官网网址渢he best kept secret in aquatics.B次元官网网址�

HymanB次元官网网址檚 academy had been one of the Canadian Red CrossB次元官网网址檚 training partners since opening in 2002. Her instructors will go through crossover programs this year to teach lesson plans from Lifesaving Society Canada.

B次元官网网址淎t the end of the day they both teach swimming lessons, but itB次元官网网址檚 no question itB次元官网网址檚 a different program,B次元官网网址� Hyman said B次元官网网址淏ut B次元官网网址� if youB次元官网网址檙e signing your child up for a swimming lesson, you probably wonB次元官网网址檛 notice the difference.B次元官网网址�

Hyman said the Canadian Red Cross is trying to make the transition easy for instructors, but feels ending the programs was B次元官网网址渁nother jab at aquaticsB次元官网网址� following a difficult pandemic that left many pools shuttered for long stretches of the last two years.

Canadian Red Cross CEO Conrad Sauv茅 said in a Jan. 12 statement the decision to halt the programs was driven by B次元官网网址渞egular assessmentsB次元官网网址� of the organizationB次元官网网址檚 services and B次元官网网址渆volving humanitarian needs.B次元官网网址�

The Red CrossB次元官网网址檚 swimming and lifeguard programs began in 1946, and the organization said it has offered water training and skills to more than 40 million Canadians.

Hyman took Canadian Red Cross swimming lessons as a child, adding she still has all her badges from the water safety program.

B次元官网网址淚 remember getting my red and my green and my grey and being very proud,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淓ven as a young kid I was able to recognize this was part of something bigger.

B次元官网网址淭here was a commonality B次元官网网址� everyone could talk about their Red Cross badges. It was like an identity.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址� Melissa Couto Zuber, The Canadian Press