HE was a swimming teacher who took to inventing his own teaching aids when he couldn't find the right equipment to help youngsters develop their skills in the pool.
It led to him developing the Turtle Pack and now product creator Michael Harkins could be set to expand in American with a new range based on four green superheroes.
The 28-year-old entrepreneur and his company Turtle Pack have joined forces with entertainment brand Nickelodeon, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) and ViacomCBS Consumer Products to launch a new swimming aid.
While the new product will provide in-pool support like the award-winning original, it will also give kids the chance to play dress-up as Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello or Leonardo while swimming.
Mr Harkins created the original Turtle Pack Swimming Aid – a turtle-shell shaped float which keeps the child’s arms free to learn proper swimming technique – whilst still at university.
Turtle Pack founder Michael Harkins invented his own swim aid. Picture Jeff Holmes.
Now, a new Ninja Turtles-themed swim float is expected to be hit both in the US and UK.
Mr Harkins said: “Having become a parent for the first time earlier this year, this deal is a ‘dream come true.’
“I’ve loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles since I was a wee boy and it really feels like we’ve come full circle with this new product.
“As a swimming teacher and now a new parent, I hope the connection with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will encourage more young children to enjoy spending time in the pool and having fun while learning a lifelong skill for both their future health and safety, especially as so many children have missed out on lessons due to the pandemic.”
Read more: Glasgow's Miles Better: Is it time to bring back city's most successful slogan?
The deal will help Turtle Pack, which has already sold thousands of its original product, make a splash on both sides of the Atlantic as it taps into the growing trend of nostalgia. The appeal of Ninja Turtles spans generations, with many of the first TMNT fans now parents.
Michael Harkins hopes for success in the US with Ninja Turtles inspired swim aid. Picture Stephen Lee.
Experts have warned against a ‘lost generation’ of swimmers due to more than one million children missing out on swimming lessons throughout the past year due to COVID-19 restrictions. Designed to address the huge numbers of children in the UK unable to swim by the time they leave primary school, it’s hoped the new TMNT Turtle Pack design will encourage even more children into the pool.
Among Turtle Pack’s fans is Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, whose grandchildren learned to swim using the original Turtle Pack Swimming Aid.
Mr Harkins was supported by Heriot-Watt University’s enterprise team, including entrepreneurial training through the Santander Universities Initiative. He was awarded one of the highest cash awards of £110,000 from Scottish EDGE and was a Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellow.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel