Understand

We can achieve greater equality and diversity when we better understand how life’s experiences are for others. Read the stories of our swim community members.

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Our Stories

Anu Bedi

Anu’s journey to creating a diversity-focused swim school.

Read Anu’s Story

Lee Yinarr

Lee’s need to walk together toward a healed nation.

Read Lee’s Story

Vanessa Laidlaw

Vanessa’s story of finding belonging as a high-performance coach.

Read Vanessa’s Story

Learn

The Inclusion Program by SBS is Australia’s leading online inclusion training course. It helps organisations embrace diversity and create safe places.

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Do

There’s something we all can do. There are 6 practical steps we can take to level the deck and make swimming truly welcoming and accessible to everyone.

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Levelling the Deck is a strategic diversity initiative by SWIM Coaches and Teachers Australia.
Everyone deserves to swim

A Life’s Purpose

Anu Bedi

After experiencing biases in her own learn-to-swim journey, Anu built a swim school where everyone feels welcome.

Six years ago, I had a choice to make…continue in a successful corporate career or take a leap of faith and follow my true passion – to do something that helped people.

The idea to build a swim school in the local community was born. While I loved and immersed myself into the swimming industry, there were times I felt out of place.

One of the first interactions was arriving at my Swim Teacher course. I was the oldest trainee, the only one that wasn’t in excellent fitness condition, I had inaccurate swim technique and, being of Indian background, was the only student from a non-Anglo-Australian background.

There were looks thrown between other students and directed at me – the silent question of why was I there?

When I opened Swimz my team was largely Anglo and I often felt on the outside of jokes built around a cultural understanding outside of my own. Some staff took it upon themselves to ‘teach me’ how things were done. I was often questioned when I brought forward ideas based on new research or innovations.

I would get curious glances from students and parents who would often hesitate before approaching me or choose the Anglo instructor over me. Once a three year old asked me, ‘Why is your skin so dark?’ It was asked in total innocence, but it still took me aback.

The subtle resistance, coupled with the challenge of constantly having to prove my expertise, made the journey more arduous.

When the child asked about my skin colour I replied that, ‘people come in all shapes, sizes and colours and she will see a lot more people and swim instructors in a lot more colours if she keeps coming.’

Over time, I continued to lean into conversations about diversity, my techniques produced positive results and the community around my centre started referring to it as ‘Anu’s Swim School’.

I’m proud to say that today Swimz is a haven of inclusivity with a hugely diverse, dedicated passionate team full of members of different genders, ethnicity, language groups, sexual preferences, and abilities.

Our focus on diversity has not only nurtured confident swimmers but also seen us win several accolades including, within the industry, NSW Government and in various business and community groups.

Lee’s need to walk together toward a healed nation

Lee Yinarr

I’m an Aboriginal woman from the Gamilaroi tribe in Western NSW, Australia, currently living on Taungurong, Dhudhuroa and Waywurru Country in regional Victoria. 

I’m a Kinesiologist, Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher, Quantum Coach, Regression Therapist and Access Consciousness Facilitator, and I work intentionally towards stewardship of Country and lifelong learning, creating a legacy that seeds the path forward.

As a lighter skinned Aboriginal woman I felt my identity was never acknowledged or valued. I never saw her culture represented and rather than finding a place of belonging, it was merely a place I worked. I facilitate a therapeutic family health and wellness program for mums/dads and bubs at Reservoir Leisure Centre every Wednesday. The session is then followed by lunch and yarn.

I have a true passion for being a swim teacher and recognise the importance and connection of water for all. It’s also important for the community to connect and feel connected to their local facilities. 

With self-determination and from a place of education to encourage people to walk the journey of inclusivity, I continue to advocate for the people in my community. 

While I see improvement, it has not yet allowed me to feel true belonging.

I believe that creating true diversity requires both education, but also more action. I also encourage members of swim communities to walk alongside Aboriginal people toward a healed nation.

Finding belonging after heartbreak

Vanessa Laidlaw – High Performance Coach

I was happy and felt connected in my club environment. I had a strong sense of belonging, which I really appreciated as I’d just moved from the city to the regions and COVID made it hard to connect with my own family.

In my coaching role I was passionate about empowering athletes and encouraging them to be curious in their training. I made space for them to process the mental challenges of the sport and their position as role models. 

As our coaching numbers grew, management decided to allocate a primary coach for high-performance athletes. Despite my qualifications and experience, the high-performance squad was assigned to a male coach.

Such decisions can make it difficult for women to feel they belong in high-performance coaching roles. 

I was fortunate enough to find an opportunity with another club led by some amazing female leaders where I’m back to feeling part of the team and am able to focus on my coaching.

Vanessa’s call to action:

It’s vital we approach decision-making in swimming with empathy and care and always consider the possibility of unintentional bias. I would love to see clubs have their culture and leaders assessed prior to being awarded accolades or funding to help make sure we continue to level the deck and make the journey easier for others to follow and join.

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