By Pepper Parr
July 25th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
You can identify the BAD swimmers – they are the ones wearing the blue swimming caps.
Valeria Latkovic:
We learned earlier today that there is a Golden Horseshoe Aquatic Club (GHAC) member lurking around the BAD swimmers when they are on the swimming pool deck and actively trying to persuade them to join the GHAC – and that he can take care of all the details.
That is foul. The swimmers are going through enough exasperation.
It gets worse. An individual sent a comment to the Gazette on the Valeria Latkovic story we published. As Publisher, I am legally liable for what we publish. While I personally know many of the people who send in a comments – there are new people every day.
Hi Valeria,
I hope you’ll consider joining GHAC. You’d be training right here in Burlington with a senior group that’s supportive, focused, and led by coaches who genuinely care about helping swimmers grow. I guarantee you’ll spot some familiar goggles in your lane.
With many senior GHAC swimmers living in Burlington, I’m confident carpooling to McMaster for long course practices won’t be a problem if you choose to swim those sessions. You’ll also have access to professional dryland training that will help take your performance to the next level.
You deserve that kind of support—and so does your mom, who has always stood for fairness and accountability in trying to work with the BAD board, even if it wasn’t always met with success.
Your backstroke is strong. In the right environment, I have no doubt you’ll not only qualify for OSC next year—but stand on the podium.
Rooting for you,
A friend who believes in your potential
This particular comment didn’t pass the smell test. When I’m suspicious, I test the email address to see if it’s authentic. And of course this one wasn’t. This is what GHAC is doing – it is despicable.
Then there is Caleb – that’s the name a writer uses. He is really a foul individual. He capacity is limited to negative comments. There are three comments in the queue- they won’t be published.
What happened to the concept of sportsmanship.?
This is what the sport is about.
What happened to the seven members of Council who could put a halt to this in minutes.
A reader reported to us that he called one of the “older” Councillors, asking what he the Councillor thought about how the issue would be resolved. “We have to let the two clubs work it out”.
Leadership?
One more bit of news. The Competitive Swimming Club had a difference of opinion with the city a number of years ago and sued – and, according to our source, they won the Court and were awarded a sum of money.
There is a lot about how swimming pool space has been allocated in the past that is not as public as it should be. Something is seriously wrong somewhere in the administration.
Parks and Recreation would be a good place to start digging around.
said it a couple of times already …. “this is going to be fun to watch”.
There’s lot’s wrong here and changes need to be made internally around this process but in the meantime here’s some ideas that show good faith, allows both GHAC and BAD to be heard without political bias and gives council cover for a possible course correction.
– Council and staff must publicly acknowledge that the process was flawed. Pretending everything was done “by the book” when serious questions remain only deepens distrust.
– Without invalidating the RFP yet, bring in an outside municipal procurement expert to conduct a fast-tracked audit of how the RFP was handled. Not internal staff, not council — independent and credible
– While the audit happens, proactively broker a temporary, interim use agreement between GHAC and BAD that ensures continued community access.
– Set a firm 30- to 45-day window to receive the audit results and act.
– If the audit confirms material irregularities — such as misapplied rules or unfair advantages — then council must be willing to cancel or renegotiate the GHAC RFP, even if it’s awkward or expensive.
Council can’t hide behind a bad process. It should admit mistakes, bring in an independent review, and fix this — even if it means tearing up the deal.