Who would have thought that by the end of taking your highly energetic twins through Water Babies, you’d have the energy to go and set up your own classes. But that’s exactly what Nayna and Kash Patel did, and in January 2006 they relocated from Bristol to Bolton to set up Water Babies in Lancashire.

‘The twins were premature and I’m convinced that swimming helped them develop as well as they did,’ Nayna recalls. ‘So that’s one reason why I feel so passionate about doing what I do. I adored my previous job (as an arts administrator) so it was going to take something pretty special to tempt me away.’

Although a great help in the office, with the twins now happily swimming, Kash only occasionally finds the time to don his trunks. Despite his equal enthusiasm for Water Babies, he’s not quite ready yet to leave life as a civil engineer and join his wife full-time in the pool! However, Nayna is more than delighted to now have a team of lovely instructors on board. Emma Walsh is the newest recruit to the Lancashire team and is the friendly voice on the end of the phone in the office.

7th Nov 2010