Citizen asks for a complete review of the swimming club decisions

By Pam Pitz

September 5th, 2025

BURLINGTON, ON

I am writing in the spirit of goodwill, responsibility, and respect for the City of Burlington. I ask that you carefully review this complaint and take appropriate action to address the concerns raised.

This note relates to the recent developments involving the Burlington Aquatic Devilrays (BAD) and the Golden Horseshoe Aquatic Club (GHAC).

Pam Pitz

I am a Burlington resident and a 73-year-old grandmother with a lifelong love of sport, particularly swimming. Four of my grandchildren have swum with BAD, three of them quite recently. While I am not a BAD parent, I feel compelled to speak out due to the impact these developments have had on my family and Burlington’s broader swimming community.

BAD has operated successfully in Burlington for more than 40 years as a not-for-profit club, supported by skilled coaches, committed volunteers, and strong community partnerships. Traditionally, the City allocated pool time sufficient for approximately 400 swimmers, with a residency requirement to ensure the vast majority were Burlington families. BAD has long been recognized as a trusted, well-run program dedicated to swimmer development and competitive opportunity.

This year, when pool contracts were renewed, GHAC was allocated Burlington pool time. While competition between clubs can be healthy, I believe GHAC’s actions—and the City’s handling of the matter—raise serious concerns that require investigation.

Elements of a Successful Swim Program

• Building a quality club takes years. Success depends on a broad base of swimmers across age groups, a long-term development model, and resources to attract strong coaches to sustain operations.
• Team Spirit and Trust: Swimmers, coaches, and families build deep bonds over time, and continuity is essential for growth and wellbeing.
• Volunteers: BAD relies on hundreds of volunteers who dedicate time and resources. Their efforts are sustainable only in a stable, reliable environment. Families cannot be expected to rebuild these bonds in another club, especially under duress. Many swimmers enter clubs at 7 or 8 years of age and continue until their late teens.

Concerns Regarding GHAC and Current Arrangements

Some of the following issues fall within Swim Ontario’s jurisdiction and unique interests. However, the comments and nuances contained in my separate communication to Swim Ontario, ]which are shared below, are important for the City to consider, since municipal pool allocation decisions directly affect fairness, community impact, and the long-term viability of Burlington based programs.  GHAC’s actions may be inconsistent with the usual Swim Ontario sanctioning protocols for regional expansion and for hosting meets outside a club’s traditional home base.

1. Expansion into Burlington: GHAC, traditionally a regional club, has actively recruited Burlington swimmers for years, well before securing pool access. GHAC’s website was recently amended to move Burlington to second place among its service areas, despite its official address being in Dundas. There appears to have been a calculated approach to building a base of Burlington swimmers in advance of their bid for Burlington pool access. While families are free to choose where they swim, this strategy seems questionable when measured against Swim Ontario’s expectations/protocols regarding expansion and the well understood and accepted swim club etiquette of respecting other established clubs and communities.  There is no benefit for the swimmers to move to GHAC — not from a coaching, reputation, or cost point of view.
2. Club Structure and Governance: BAD operates under a traditional not-for-profit model with independent volunteer oversight. By contrast, GHAC appears to follow a more fee-based, volume-driven model, with administrative and coaching roles concentrated within a single family. While families are entitled to choose programs that suit them, this approach—combined with aggressive expansion—raises questions about governance, transparency, and whether growth is being pursued in a manner aligned with community values and not-for-profit principles.
3. Residency Requirement: At the time of renewal, 79% of BAD’s swimmers were Burlington residents—slightly under the 85% target but within historical fluctuations. Reduced pool time has since forced enrolment down from nearly 400 to 163 swimmers, although this number fluctuates, especially in the face of uncertainty. GHAC, by comparison, had only 28% Burlington residents yet was reportedly given months of flexibility to improve its numbers. Applying the residency rule unevenly disadvantaged BAD while benefiting GHAC.
4. Capacity and Costs: Burlington pool capacity is finite. For every Burlington GHAC swimmer who has been training elsewhere, and will now swim in Burlington, a Burlington BAD swimmer is displaced. The overall result is duplication of overhead, increased costs for families, and weakened stability for both programs. Many swimmers have already dropped out in the face of uncertainty and betrayal.  It’s difficult to find training in other communities who have their own residency requirements.  BAD swimmers are facing rising costs which are prohibitive for many Burlington families who previously enjoyed BAD’s lower fee structure.  Overall confidence in Burlington’s commitment to a sustainable competitive swim club that gives the City of Burlington undivided attention, pride and community support is declining. The destruction of BAD’s 40 year history does not bode well for the future as swimmers worry about a similar circumstance at the next contract renewal.  Their sense of stability and trust has been severely weakened.

While GHAC may suggest it can satisfy Burlington’s expectations by keeping Burlington-addressed swimmers in Burlington pools and directing swimmers from other communities elsewhere, this is unrealistic. Their recruitment has taken the total number of Burlington swimmers, between BAD and GHAC, to well beyond  Burlington City capacity. Obviously, some will be displaced or be unfairly forced to swim outside of Burlington.   In addition, as swimmers progress, they require higher-calibre coaching, stronger peer support, and access to the best facilities. Just as importantly, for a club to operate efficiently and effectively, senior swimmers must be consolidated under the highest-level coaches in the strongest facilities. Naturally, senior swimmers from both Burlington and beyond will migrate to train together at the City’s premier venues—particularly Centennial Pool. This pattern is consistent across all clubs: senior swimmers with similar needs inevitably come together at the strongest facility available. It will be impossible for the City to monitor or restrict this, yet the effect is clear: for every non-Burlington swimmer  training here, a Burlington swimmer is also displaced.  If GHAC truly had the swimmers best interests in mind, any Burlington resident expressing interest in competitive swimming over the last several years should have been referred to BAD in the first place — rather than bringing into the GHAC program and having them and their families endure inconvenient travel to training facilities outside of Burlington.

Swim Meet Sanctioning: Nelson Pool has been awarded to GHAC for an outdoor swim meet— historically a BAD signature event (14+ years), drawing clubs from across Ontario and beyond (e.g. Newfoundland and Mexico).  It serves as a key fundraiser supported by hundreds of Burlington volunteers and is a source of tourism for the City.  GHAC’s efforts to secure this event, despite Burlington not being its traditional home base, appear to be a further calculated step in consolidating its presence in the City. If sanctioned by Swim Ontario, this would severely undermine BAD’s ability to sustain its operations.

Community Impact: BAD, a community pillar for over four decades, is now at risk. Families are disheartened, children are leaving the sport, and Burlington’s swim culture is being eroded. This outcome serves no one—not the athletes, not the families, and not the City.

Requested Action

I respectfully ask the City of Burlington to conduct a thorough review/audit of this matter to ensure:

• GMAC, and all Swim Ontario sanctioned clubs, are required to confirm they are in full alignment with Swim Ontario’s rules, sanctioning protocols and codes of conduct. It’s important that communities and Swim Ontario encourage and embrace a spirit of cooperation for their mutual benefit.
• Residency requirements are enforced fairly and equally.
• Not-for-profit governance remains transparent and accountable.
• Longstanding community-based clubs like BAD are protected and supported.
• Burlington families are provided a sustainable, cost-effective environment for swimming.
• Traditional commercial RFP processes/documents are no longer utilized for children’s sports facility allotments. Contracts should be extendable to ensure stability and sustainability unless, of course, there are breaches in contract requirements such as proper facility treatment, etc.

Closing

This is not simply about pool time or BAD —it is about fairness, community, and the future of sport in Burlington. I strongly believe GHAC’s tactics, combined with the City’s approach, warrant a complete and independent review.  The BAD contract, and I assume the GHAC one, has a clause that allows either party to cancel subject to a 90 day notice period.  With this in mind, and the strength to do what is right, a reinstatement of BAD’s previous allotment of pool time is necessary to restore and preserve its longstanding position within Burlington and the overall swim community, and to give the swimmers confidence that they will have the protection and stability they deserve.  GHAC’s approach and eventual encroachment into Burlington facilities is simply not acceptable.

Burlington needs an Olympic-level pool

For transparency, in addition to filling a complaint to Swim Ontario based on their unique interests, I have copied this email to City Council, the Integrity Commissioner, the Burlington Sports Alliance, and other relevant stakeholders. There is concern among many sports clubs in Burlington and beyond that the current situation, if not remedied, will set a precedent detrimental to their sustainability.

While I am reluctant to involve myself in controversial matters, there comes a time when one must act in the best interest of children, families, and the community. Therefore, I respectfully repeat my request that this matter receive the scrutiny it deserves.

Thank you in advance for your attention.  I trust you will act in the best interest of our athletes, families, and the sport of swimming.