Mark Charke
Mark Charke was a Lifeguard/Instructor for the City of Richmond for 16 years but had to quit due to an unknown illness which, much later, turned out to be a severe allergy to a "green" line of cleaning products adopted by the city. He returned to lifeguarding and, after covid, landed in Nanaimo where, restrictions meant there weren't enough hours to go around. He asked if he could rent the pool and teach privately and, on July 4th 2022, Charke Swim was started with a humble 3 classes one early morning at Beban Park Pool.
Finding the Stephenson Point pool was a stroke of luck and the business exploded and he had to hire five staff, until Sept 20 2023 when roofers renovating the building set fire to the roof right above the pool. An ex-firefighter, Charke pulled the fire alarm, assisted with evacuating the building and getting 911 called and then fought the fire, from a point of relative saftey, preventing it from spreading. He was later checked out for smoke inhalation.
The City of Nanaimo was kind enough to let Charke Swim function at Beban Park Pool for the fall of 2023. After that Pacific Shores Resort offered him rental space, although the company shrank to just one person. It has taken 2 years to get the permit required to start the repairs on Stephenson Point from the City of Nanaimo and Charke Swim hopes to return there as early as January 2026 but construction times are always a variable.
Mark Charke became a lifeguard in 1993. He taught about 1000 students every year while working at Richmond for 16 years. He attended over 400 fire calls with Surrey Fire Hall 12. Charke holds a brown belt in Judo and credits much of his teaching skills to his Sensi Richard Clemas of the White Rock Judo Club. A writer/publisher on the side he continues to work on a book on swimming lessons; Kick Kick Swim.
What's next? Charke hopes to return to Stephenson Point Pool when the repairs are done. He's like to finish his book on swimming lessons and then create a video serries on teaching swimming.
