Australian Swim Schools National Award Winners announced at Adelaide conference

Over 250 attendees from swim schools across the country gathered at Glenelg’s Stamford Grand on Wednesday night to celebrate The Australian Swim Schools National Excellence Awards.

Hosted by the Australian Swim Schools Association (ASSA), the awards recognise the outstanding achievements of ASSA member swim schools across nine categories including inclusivity, sustainability, growth and talent.

The awards also saw four recipients inducted into the ASSA Hall of Fame for outstanding lifelong contribution to the industry.

John and Barbara Carew were inducted into the Hall of Fame with a Pioneer award for their work in grassroots through to high performance swimming in Queensland.

Barbara continues to teach at the age of 81 and has not missed a single swim term in 50 years, while their son David has taken over the running of John Carew Swim School in Indooroopilly, Queensland.

Upon accepting the award on behalf of herself and late husband John, Barbara admitted to being “utterly shocked” and left “speechless for the first time in my life”.

Geoff and Debbie Gill were also inducted into ASSA’s Hall of Fame with an award for outstanding contribution to the industry in recognition of their role in launching Geelong’s most prominent swim school.

Other notable award winners for the night included Rebecca Ross who received the Emerging Talent Award in recognition of her ‘lead from behind’ approach which has seen the swim school achieve a record number of enrolments.

Parafield Gardens Swim School in Adelaide received the Inclusive Swimming Award for its Angelfish program - designed to teach children with physical, developmental or behavioural difficulties and its Afghan Women’s swimming program - one of South Australia’s only Muslim Women’s learn to swim programs, dedicated to teaching vital swimming skills to the growing refugee community.

Commenting on the Awards, ASSA General Manager, Emily McNeill stated "the strength of this year's nominations is a testament to the amazing work of our member schools across all categories, and is indicative of the continual improvement and maturity of our industry."

The full list of award recipients is as follows:

Inclusive Swimming Award - Parafield Gardens Swim School, South Australia
SAFER Swimming Award - Berrydale Swim School, Victoria
Community Service Award - Blue Dolphin Swim School, South Australia
Outstanding Growth Award - Little Snappers Swim School, Queenslands
Emerging Talent Award - Rebecca Ross, Western Australia
International Swim School Award - D Swim Academy, Malaysia 
Sustainability Award - SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre, South Australia/Paul Sadler Carrum Downs & Paul Sadler Swimland Westgate, both Victoria
Swim School Award - Swim ARCademy, Western Australia

The awards ceremony formed part of ASSA’s annual national conference which concluded yesterday at the Stamford Grand.

One of the largest swim school events across the southern hemisphere this year, the conference welcomed over 350 delegates and industry stakeholders from across the nation all coming together to discuss strategy, innovation and sustainability.

Image: Afghan women's swim program.