Two West Wave staff win leisure awards

Cindy Stewart and Romina Veseli from West Wave Pool and Leisure Centre have scooped prizes at the 2014 New Zealand Fitness Awards held in Auckland on Saturday night.

Cindy won the Community Excellence Award while her colleague Romina took out the Outstanding Club Support Person title.

The West Wave pair were among four Auckland Council staff who were recognised at the annual awards. The other two were Matt Nash (Marina Fitness) and Barbara Joseph (Otara Pool and Leisure Centre), who were both finalists in the Gym Instructor of the Year category.

Auckland Council Pools and Leisure Manager Rob McGee says to have two winners and two finalists is a superb achievement for the council’s network of leisure centres, and shows that they are delivering not only top quality programmes but some ground-breaking initiatives.

One of those initiatives is the West Wave Wellness Long-Term Programme, driven by Cindy.

The senior fitness instructor has been at the Henderson-based centre for 12 years, and for the past eight has worked closely with Health West and the Green Prescription programme opening doors to referrals from the community.

“To achieve our vision of getting people into exercise we needed to illustrate the benefits of physical activity, which has improved our clients’ motivation and self-belief,” says Cindy.

Recently she has also been able to deliver hydrotherapy and aqua aerobic classes to help people with health issues such as stroke, arthritis and cardiac problems.

Her colleague Romina has worked at West Wave since 2009 and is currently the Fitness Team Leader. She helps run the club’s events and special initiatives such as the weight loss club, running club and the wellness programme.

Auckland Council is committed to increasing individual and community wellbeing through participation in recreation and sport.

Now in their 10th year and coordinated by industry association Fitness New Zealand, the awards celebrate the dedication and success of the country’s world-class fitness leaders and the important role they play in the health of our society.

Ends

© Scoop Media