YMCA snares three AUSTSWIM awards

YMCA South Australia (The Y) has been recognised for the outstanding quality of its swimming lessons program, winning in three major categories at the annual AUSTSWIM South Australia awards, two of those going to The Parks Recreation and Sports Centre.

AUSTSWIM is nationally recognised as the peak organisation for the teaching of swimming and water safety. Since its inception in 1979, over 360,000 teachers of swimming and water safety have been trained with about 13,000 candidates trained annually. The AUSTSWIM Licence is the industry-standard for swimming and water safety teachers.

The Parks Recreation and Sports Centre was recognised in the Small Swim Centre category, while individual aquatics staff member Effie Carey won the Best New Teacher award.

The success of The Parks underlines the Y’s continual commitment to ensuring its swimming and water safety program is delivered at the highest standard possible and includes the best and most relevant content. The uncompromised aim is to promote safety of children in and around water.

Best New Teacher recipient, Effie Carey, is a young mother of two boys – Levi (4) and Ethan (9) – who was a gym member at The Parks and joined the swimming lessons team over a year ago. She is always cheerful and brings a positive vibe and attitude, making everyone around her feel engaged and welcome.

She has a great passion for swimming and loves working with children of all ages and abilities. Effie stands out due to her team spirit and ability to engage with others. She is self-motivated and seeks all potential learning opportunities, sharing her experiences and discussing techniques, teaching methods and strategies with senior staff daily. She is always interested in constructive feedback and evaluation from her peers and managers.

In her short tenure to date, she has connected with and built relationships with many students across all swimming lessons classes. She is always eager to help others, jump in the water with her students and actively participate in the classes.

Port Lincoln Leisure Centre swimming teacher Chloe Howe was also successful in the Teacher of Swimming and Water Safety category and YMCA Regional Development Manager, Craig Hortin, said that the AUSTWIM awards were great acknowledgement for the recipients’ dedication and effort.

“AUSTSWIM is recognised as one of the industry’s leading qualifications for those wishing to enter the aquatics industry, so it is extremely pleasing to be judged as the best in these important categories,” he said. “The Y invests a great deal in our swimming and water safety programs to ensure it is at the very top in quality, while also focusing on accessibility to all. We are thrilled with these awards and congratulate Effie, Chloe and the entire team at The Parks.”

Learn more about becoming a swimming teacher and see our vacancies below.