Swim coach leaves lasting legacy

For more than five decades, Papakura swimming coach Jane Logan has shaped generations of young swimmers, new instructors, and future leaders, all without seeking the spotlight.

Logan, who grew up in Hastings, first entered the pool as a reluctant five-year-old.

“My mum took me to learn to swim lessons, and I wouldn’t take my feet off the ground. It took me three summers to learn to swim,” she said.

On the third summer, everything changed.

“Within four days, I had done my eight hundred metres. I was probably the only kid not swimming, until suddenly, I was.”

After leaving school, Logan worked at the American Embassy in Wellington before moving to Manurewa in the late 1970s. With six children of her own and a love of the water, she found herself drawn into coaching.

“I guess I was doing a lot of swimming myself and it just sort of happened,” she said.

What followed was a lifetime of service to the community: 23 years coaching at the former Manurewa Recreation Centre on Russell Road, and 22 more at Massey Park Pool in Papakura. Alongside that, she volunteered for about 50 years, teaching countless children and adults to swim safely.

Logan retired from coaching in 2020, though the family legacy continues as her grandson now works as a lifeguard at Massey Park Pool.

Massey Park Pool facility manager Sam Holland said Logan has been “a genuine pillar of the swimming community”.

“We love her enthusiasm and passion for water safety and engagement in the water. We count ourselves very lucky to have her as a member of Massey Park Pool. Her grandson even works for us. It’s incredible just how many of our team trained under her as youngsters, and a fair number of our regular adult swimmers too. She’s been instrumental in teaching a generation to get in the water and be safe and waterwise.”

Senior Swim Instructor Kirstie Nash, who has worked alongside Logan for years, remembered her as a mentor with a rare ability to make lessons memorable.

“No question has been too big for Jane, and you normally don’t get a quick answer, so you’d make sure to have time to hear it all,” Nash said.

She recalls Logan treading water for eight hours straight to raise money for Water Safety, telling stories of her time teaching overseas, including lessons in Samoa using pontoons as resting platforms.

“Jane’s poems were a fun way to share messages or put across a ‘grib’, like taking equipment out of ‘her’ cage and not returning it,” she said.

Logan also championed Doo Daa Days, a much-loved fun carnival encouraging swimmers of all ages to race, try new distances, and build confidence.

Swim instructor Susannah Peverley says she returned to Manurewa Swim Club purely to keep Logan as her coach.

“Jane would go above and beyond what she was required to do. I credit quite a lot of my growth as a swimmer and as a newbie swim coach to her. I was grateful I was able to shadow her teaching lessons just before she retired.”

For Aquatics Coordinator Luisa Denton, Logan’s influence stretches from childhood to adulthood.

“There are people who step into our lives and change the direction of our story without ever asking for recognition. For me, that person was Jane,” Denton said.

She recalled Logan cheering with unrestrained pride when she broke a relay personal best and later helping her into her first job as a swim instructor at 16, a step that eventually became her career.

“From eight years old to 16, from 16 to 40, Jane has been a constant presence,” Denton said. “I am who I am today because of Jane Logan.”

Among Logan’s many memories is the honour of taking two disabled swimmers to the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta.

“That’s where I wrote my first poem,” she said.

“By the end of the first day, the swim meet director had printed 3,000 copies for the evening session.”

Poetry became her outlet whenever frustration struck. “Rather than jump up and down, I wrote it down.”

Ultimately, it was the children who kept her returning to the pool deck for half a century, Logan said.

“In Manurewa, everybody was friends with our kids, and it was just a very friendly club. The kids were the reason.”