A Look at Craig Stuart, founder of Hydro-Fit Inc.
Last October I attended the Arizona Fitness Fest in Tucson. Fitness Fest is a twice yearly gathering of aquatic and dry land fitness teachers and enthusiasts, and I was especially interested in seeing the new University of Arizona fitness facility, located across the street from the dorm where I stayed when I took some classes at the university many years ago.
At Fitness Fest, I signed up for classes from Craig Stuart, one of the famous names in the aquatic fitness industry. He agreed to a pool-side interview after class, and I was amazed to learn the chain of events that had brought him into the industry.
Stuart grew up in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area, and attended the University of Michigan before transferring to the University of Oregon where he completed his studies in architecture, and received a college degree in architecture. An active swimmer for most of his life, he earned money as a college student by working as a swimming pool manager. In his second year of practicing architecture, Stuart was involved in a bad car accident. He sustained severe injuries and required extensive medical care and therapy. He was severely injured, and required facial reconstruction surgery. He lost a good deal of body mobility, but fortunately most of the loss was caused by soft tissue trauma rather than irreparable damage to his bone structure or nervous system.
As he began to recover, he sought out a warm temperature swimming pool and asked the manager if he could have a stack of old broken kickboards (a buoyancy device) that was piled up for discard. When the answer was “yes,” he cut them into different sizes and shapes and used duct tape to fasten them around his ankles, arms, and waist. These early experiments proved to be the genesis of the product line of Stuart’s future company, Hydro-Fit, Inc. Stuart went on to achieve a full recovery from his injuries.
These events took place when the aquatic fitness industry was in its infancy. There was a new realization of the contribution of exercise to overall good health, and Stuart had just witnessed the role of buoyancy-assisted warm water exercise in his own recovery from near paralysis. He decided to leave his career as an architect and devote full time to the aquatic fitness industry. He founded Hydro-Fit in 1987, and the company now sells a full line of exercise equipment, clothing, and instructional materials. It also conducts workshops for water fitness teachers and enthusiasts. Craig Stuart’s life story shows how an individual can turn a personal misfortune into a livelihood and a way of helping others.
Al LeBlanc teaches water exercise classes at the Delta-Waverly Activities Program at Waverly Intermediate School East, and offers aquatic personal training at Aquatic Sports, Ltd. in Mason. Contact him at (517) 285-2215 or send e-mail to fitnessal@broadstripe.net.
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