Swimming Is A Family Value For This Displaced Montanan

FROM VALLEY VOICE Thursday, September 5, 1996: Correction Carol Christnacht does corporate team-building for the Big Brothers and sisters Bowl for Kids fund-raiser. A story in Saturday’s Valley Voice misstated her connection to the agency.

Carol Christnacht is a Montanan.

A Montanan with four brothers.

Make that four brothers, three sons, a job administering grants for Big Brothers and Sisters - and a thriving family-oriented business, teaching swimming.

And that’s only half of it.

Those three sons? They’re all under 5. And those swim lessons? They don’t just happen in July and August; they run year-round.

“We have, what did Tonya (Ota, her business partner) say, 350 students on our roster,” said Christnacht.

Christnacht was a competitive swimmer growing up in Helena - “What else is there to do in the winter?” And she believes swimming is a great family sport, be it for water babies as young as six months or even adult beginners. She, and the others who teach with her, keep their classes small, maybe five or six swimmers.

But in January? In a backyard pool?

You bet. Christnacht has a heavy duty plastic bubble that covers the pool, with water heated to 96 degrees and plenty of room for parents to watch their little ones progress.

Christnacht also coaches a swim team. But there’s more to her swimming than the competitive side.

“It’s a wonderful family activity. I believe in the family unit. God, I sound like a Democrat,” she said, with a laugh.

Christnacht counts on the women in her life - her partner Ota and other close friends.

Christnacht also credits her mother with teaching her some bittersweet lessons. One year in high school, for instance, “I was asked to prom and I turned the guy down. I was waiting for a better offer,” Christnacht said. “My mother said, ‘Young lady, you aren’t going to prom. You can’t treat people like that.’ “

Learning those lessons has helped Christnacht become a coach who wants her students learn how to win and how to lose.

“Mom always gave me the chance to fall on my face. And she was always there for me.”

But Christnacht also banks on her own prodigious supply of energy.

She’s up at 6, working out; she vacuums and cleans while her three boys are eating breakfast. “And voila, the day is started,” she said, as though it’s the most ordinary thing in the world.

“She always has a huge amount on her plate,” said her husband, attorney Brad Smith. “And you could say she gets plenty of help from her warm, supportive husband,” he adds, with mock modesty.

Believe it. He does all the getting up at night to tend to the children. Meanwhile, the petite Montanan sleeps like there’s no tomorrow.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo