Georgina’s story: “The best thing about teaching swimming is knowing that each individual within the lesson is enabled with an essential life saving skill.”
Georgina’s story: “The best thing about teaching swimming is knowing that each individual within the lesson is enabled with an essential life-saving skill.”
Georgina has always enjoyed being in the water and had a love for swimming from a young age. After progressing through swimming lessons she joined a club, and with the help of great coaches from Ashford and Canterbury, she achieved county, southern and nationals at Tonbridge, Crystal Palace and Ponds Forge.
Before deciding to become a swim teacher Georgina used her swimming skills and experience to coach her friends through swimming events and assisted coaches at local triathlon groups. Also, whilst teaching English abroad in various countries, Hungary, Malta and Poland, she used swimming lessons as a way to teach her students English.
“My pupils were able to develop questions in English, in order to improve their strokes. They became less nervous about using English as a second language, and more involved in asking questions to improve their understanding of a game or activity.”
Deciding to become a swimming teacher…
Georgina has recently qualified and below she explains why she decided to embark on her teaching qualifications and how she did this…
“Not too long ago (well a little over a year and a half ago) I sat down and asked myself, ‘What do I naturally enjoy sharing with other people?’ I thought about cake, and then creativity but then I truly focused on what I can bring to the community that is tangible, inclusive and fun. It was at that point that I began to pursue a career in aquatics and share the enjoyment that can be created from such a vitally important life skill such as swimming.”
Georgina found out about the Combined SEQ Level 1 and Level 2 Teaching Swimming course via an old ‘Swimming Times’ magazine that she had kept from her competitive swimming days (please note this magazine is no longer in circulation). She then went onto the Institute of Swimming website to find out more about the course and she booked herself on.
She was guided through virtual interactive lessons on Zoom with Swim England tutors and was able to complete all the theory elements of the combined course online. She also attended the Swim England Learn to Swim webinars during this time and found the content really useful and it was also a great way to network with other teachers and access lots of useful teaching resources. She then booked onto the Institute of Swimming Combined SEQ Level 1 and Level 2 Teaching Swimming – Additional Practical course and is now a qualified swimming teacher.
Teaching swimming is an important and fulfilling career
Georgina shares her favourite thing about teaching others to swim…
“The best thing about teaching swimming is knowing that each individual within the lesson is enabled with an essential life saving skill. Whether it’s to support another person to get to safety, or keep themselves safe and buoyant, water will always be around us and it’s a priority that everyone knows the essentials of surviving in water.”
Although she hasn’t been a swimming teacher for long she can see how valuable and rewarding the career will be,
“As I’m only just starting out officially in the career…but judging from what other people have said, it really keeps you healthy and active. It keeps you up to date with worldwide innovations/topics (CPDs – Mobile Devices in Swimming Lessons for example) and allows you to give reflections of societal shifts through a sports perspective. Plus, I always remember an old coach mentioning how much his grandchildren loved lessons, so I can imagine it will be something that I’ll be doing beyond my retirement days.”
Inspired by Georgina’s journey? Want to start your journey to become a swimming teacher …
ℹ️ Get more information on becoming a swimming teacher
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