Becoming a Swimming Teacher during COVID-19: Henry’s story

Henry, 16, has contributed to the aquatics community in more ways than one! He’s been an active club swimmer since he was 8 years old, then in 2019, he won Swim England’s Youth Volunteer of the Year Award becoming the youngest Level 1 Judge in South East England.

During lockdown, Henry has embarked on his next journey – with the Institute of Swimming – to become a swimming teacher and in doing so has discovered a different part of the swimming community.

Learning through lockdown…

The disruption caused by COVID-19 has not stopped Henry from being able to complete both his SEQ Level 1 and Level 2 Swimming Teaching Theory online. The Institute of Swimming quickly responded to the pandemic by adapting their courses to give people the opportunity to train in a safe environment.

“I could complete my course from my bedroom!”

It’s clear that Henry found the flexibility of completing the courses remotely a positive and convenient experience. He also added that he found the Institute of Swimming website, “very easy to use and the courses were well laid out and very interesting.” He found the webinars to be especially helpful as he was able to discuss more complex sections directly with his tutor.

Henry was able to work as a Swimming Assistant at Holmewood House Swim School in between the two national lockdowns and stated that he, “thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people, learning new skills and improving my knowledge of swimming.” With this experience under his belt, he has wasted no time and completed his SEQ Level 2 Theory online over October half-term to enable his swim teaching journey to continue!

Henry encourages others to sign up to the online Institute of Swimming Teaching courses, “I really enjoyed completing the courses and now working as a swim teacher would highly recommend it to anybody thinking of becoming more involved with the world of swimming teaching.”

Inspired by Henry’s journey? Why not start your swimming teacher journey today? Click here to find a course.

Looking to the future

As well as pursuing a career in swim teaching, Henry is also an active swimmer and volunteer at the Beacon Swimming Club, below he reflects on how these roles and environments compare.

“The two environments are very different, being a club volunteer was mainly officiating and helping out with older, more experienced swimmers whereas being a swimming teacher has exposed me to a wide range of abilities of swimmers and to the learn to swim programme.”

Henry has shown that the swimming community offers a variety of environments and opportunities that anybody can get involved with, and with the Institute of Swimming offering swimming teaching courses via an online platform, this also allows for greater accessibility and convenience when starting your qualification.

Lastly, Henry shares his long term aspirations for his continued involvement in the aquatics community,

“I hope to soon pass my level 2 swimming teacher qualification and be able to continue teaching whilst I complete my A-levels. I also want to be involved with competitive swimming for as long as possible (swimming and volunteering) and the huge impact swimming has had on me will surely inspire me to keep swimming and remain part of the swimming community my entire life.”

We wish Henry the best of luck in passing his SEQ Level 2 Teaching Swimming qualification!

Feeling inspired to share your story about how you became a swimming teacher? Click here to get in touch.