Swimming Their Way To Success

A Dorset based International School of Swimming have raised the bar for swimming schools across the UK, in becoming the very first privately run swim school to receive a STAmark (Swimming Teachers’ Association) award in the South-West — as well as achieving one of the highest marks!

Swalings International School of Swimming based in Poole Dorset — with a sister company in Antigua — has been recognised for its very high standard of swimming teaching, as well as its practice of safety and survival techniques. The STAmark is a nationally and internationally recognised quality mark that externally validates safe practices and standards in swimming schools.

Director of Swalings Caroline Swatton says, “We are absolutely over the moon with this award, its means that people wanting to learn to swim with Swalings can be assured of the very best swim teaching available to them. We have worked tirelessly over the last twelve months to achieve this award, and to gain a distinction is absolutely incredible!”

One particular area that impressed the STA assessors was Swalings’ attention to detail in the Customer Care category.

The award, which is assessed every two years, is fantastic news for the swimming industry as a whole at a time when drowning remains the third largest cause of accidental deaths to children in the UK — according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

The award will grant Swalings entry to the recently established National Federation of SwimSchools (NFS), whose aim is to license organisations who provide swimming tuition and who operate within local authority pools, swim schools, hotels and leisure centres — in turn permitting a forum for influencing swimming policy throughout the UK.

The NFS aims to improve the quality of swim teachers and reduce the number of unqualified, uninsured instructors across the UK, who are setting up and taking swimming lessons.

The STAmark will contribute towards reducing the number of preventable swimming pool accidents in UK pools and hasten the day when all swimming schools will need to be licensed.

Roger Draper, the Chief Executive of Sport England, said: “A safe environment with high standards of teaching will provide better opportunities and so encourage more people to swim.”

Swalings has already won an international reputation for the quality of its teaching and the friendly and understanding environment created by its highly motivational team of instructors. Only last year it was well reported that Caroline Swatton of Swalings was responsible for saving a drowning boy’s life in Poole. Caroline was also awarded the runner up prize in the European Women of Achievement Award 2004/2005, for her services to sport.

The school, which was established in 1987, recruits exceptionally personable staff who are qualified to teach lifesaving skills, aqua-fit classes, water-acquaintance for babies (Birthlight), and swimming to able-bodied and disabled swimmers at all levels and all age groups. (See end of release for courses).

Swalings can be contacted on 08707 101012, or via www.swimming-lessons.com

Some of the courses offered by Swalings include:

• Weekly residential and non-residential courses for beginners to improvers.
• Intensive kids’ courses during the holidays
• WATSU sessions (Worldwide Aquatic Bodywork Association) incorporating gentle movement and acupressure.
• The Shaw method, (applying the Alexander Technique and improving swimming proficiency by eliminating bad habits).
• Residential swimming holidays in exotic locations. (Also offers three star hotel stays in Bournemouth).
• Swimming teacher courses.
• Lifeguard courses.
• Ai Chi classes.
• Aqua-fit classes for rehabilitation and fitness.
• Parents and tiny tots.
• Adult residential and non-residential courses for beginners and improvers.
• Children’s intensive courses.
• Progressive learning courses.
• Lessons for disabled.

By Darren Northeast, Spiral PR, Tel: 01202 676762, E-mail: darren@spiralpr.co.uk