Citizen of the Week: Beverly Conley, Finding Freedom—and a Calling—in the Water

At Kedron Pool, Beverly Conley has created more than a fitness class. She has built a joyful community where movement feels possible—and exercise occasionally arrives disguised as a party.

     For Beverly Conley, Kedron Pool has never been just a place to swim laps. It has been part family gathering place, part fitness center, part neighborhood clubhouse and, when life demanded it, a place of healing.

     Beverly has called Peachtree City home since July 2002. She and her husband, Peter, raised their three children here: David, now 36; Emily, 33; and Daniel, 24. The family’s connection to Kedron spans generations. One son worked as a lifeguard; Emily swam for SCAT; the youngest learned to swim there; Peter has trained there for Peachtree City triathlons; and granddaughters Eleanor, 5, and Eliza, 3, took swim lessons there this past summer. At this point, the Conleys may be only a few relatives shy of fielding their own swim team.

     But Beverly’s relationship with the water is also deeply personal. After a childbirth injury left her with chronic pain and limited mobility, traditional exercise—even walking—was difficult. In 2008, she discovered Kedron’s water aerobics program and found something she had been missing.

“In the water, I found joy and freedom,” she says.

     She also found a welcoming group of people who understood that exercise can be challenging without feeling punitive. When one of Kedron’s beloved instructors retired, Beverly was inspired to step forward. She became a certified water fitness instructor in 2018 and began teaching classes on Tuesday and Thursday.

     Beverly is an Aquatic Exercise Association Aquatic Fitness Professional and an AEA Arthritis Foundation Aquatic Program Leader. She also holds American Red Cross First Aid, CPR, and AED certifications. These are not certificates that simply get tucked into a drawer and forgotten. Her AEA credentials require 15 continuing education credits every two years, completed through online and in-person courses and aquatic fitness conferences. She also renews her Red Cross training every two years through coursework and an in-person skills demonstration.

      She is a member of the Aquatic Exercise Association and subscribes to Fitmotivation Aqua Fitness Online, along with other professional fitness and exercise-music resources. In other words, Beverly does her homework so her students can have serious fun—and so no one has to do another uninspired jumping jack to a song they have heard 900 times.

     In 2022, Beverly brought the Arthritis Foundation Aquatic Program to Kedron. The low-impact, lower-intensity class helps participants improve joint range of motion, strength, balance, coordination and endurance while addressing pain, stiffness and fatigue. It serves people living with arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions, as well as those recovering from surgery, joint replacement or cancer. It also offers a safe starting point for anyone who has been away from exercise and is not quite ready to make friends with a treadmill.

     Beverly follows the 9 a.m. Arthritis Foundation class on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a higher-intensity class at 10 a.m. Kedron also offers mid-level 55+ water exercise classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, along with evening classes. Together, three instructors and three substitutes serve approximately 75 to 80 participants.

     The growth has been remarkable. When Beverly began teaching, the high-intensity class had four participants. It now fills its 25 spaces and often has a waiting list. Her Arthritis Foundation classes generally welcome 10 to 15 participants, and many members attend classes five days a week.

Beverly plans each class with music, themes, specialized equipment, and holiday celebrations. Her goal is to make the experience feel more like a party while everyone secretly gets a good workout. Participants—ranging in age from 18 to their 90s—do the rest, creating a community that welcomes newcomers and supports people at every fitness level.

“What we have at Kedron does not exist everywhere,” Beverly says.

     As Kedron prepares for renovation, Beverly is working to secure an interim pool so the program and its community can continue. She has also shared thoughtful suggestions for the renovated facility, drawing on her professional training and years of experience as an instructor, swimmer, and swim-team parent.

Beverly never expected to discover a new calling in her 50s, but teaching water fitness has given her a renewed sense of purpose—and she wants others to experience the same freedom she found.

For helping her neighbors move with greater confidence, laugh through the lunges, and find friendship in the water, Beverly Conley is our Citizen of the Week. As she often says in class, “Don’t forget to breathe and smile!”