Swim Family backs swimming and water safety teaching qualification

Mother-daughter 'swim team' Karen and Emily Seebohm, have volunteered their services to promote Swim Australia Teacher, the swimming and water safety teaching qualification.

As Karen Seebohm explains "I've been teaching swimming now for too many years than I care to mention. I have enjoyed every minute of it. It is still a thrill to see the littlies achieve various milestones and feel good about themselves. As a parent, too, I am very conscious of the need for children to be safer around water."

Karen explains that swim teaching is a lifestyle choice, noting "I want part-time work and the range of available teaching sessions was perfect for me."

Karen also believes prospective teachers should not "be put off by your own swimming ability - in many workplaces it is virtually irrelevant; you will learn what and how to teach. The important thing is that you love being with kids."

For Olympian and World Champion Emily, teaching swimming and water safety was a natural progression.

She advises "being around the pool a lot for my own training, I got to watch plenty of classes. I saw the kids enjoying their lessons and trying hard to master a new skill (and) I wanted to be part of that. And it has been a real buzz taking classes. Mum has always been saying how good she feels about teaching - now I know where she is coming from."

The mother and daughter spoke in unison when they relayed their dismay at the all too frequent accounts of drowning and near drowning, adding "you get a special sense of satisfaction knowing what you do can make a real difference."

Swim Australia Chief Executive Ross Gage is delighted that "the Seebohm's will be the first Ambassadors for the world-leading Swim Australia Teacher program", commenting "having Karen and Emily come onboard to promote swimming and water safety teaching in general and being a Swim Australia Teacher in particular is a wonderful coup. I approached Karen and Emily while they were attending one our Courses â to sound out their interest in helping ... (and) without hesitation, they were in.

"Karen and Emily were across the horrific drowning stats - 302 in 2008/09 with 32 being under five - they shared the sadness of it all. They also knew, from their own experiences, that being able to swim also opened up a lifetime of healthy, fun opportunities.

"If we can further help make a difference by getting more people to become Swim Australia Teachers, than that is additional fulfilment."

The Swim Australia Teacher program was recently commenced by the Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association (ASCTA) in response to an industry wide shortage of teachers. The opportunity was taken to design an international best practice accreditation scheme, formulated by experts.

After a year of piloting various aspects of the program, the Course is now set for expansion. David Speechley, Manager of ASCTA's SwimEd division, which administers the various accreditation programs, states "nearly 200 courses have now been successfully conducted. We will shortly have accredited 2000 people into the Swim Australia Teacher program. The time has come to equip many more swimming and water safety teachers to go out into the community and help address the alarming drowning statistics and get more kids physically active."

However, Gage cautions that "swimming and water safety skills are not a substitute for constant supervision and proper barriers", concluding that "such skills do provide another layer of protection - they help make the child safer."

To find out more about the Swim Australia Teacher accreditation program call 07 3202 8453 or go to www.swimed.com