Zoë Swatton
West Indies Director
NaRS Tutor, STA Tutor, FAW Tutor, Aquacise Tutor

Zoë remembers that Swalings swimming school was started for her and brother Graeme as there were no suitable facilities for them at the time. She is a natural water baby and could literally swim before she could walk. At the age of 2 she could swim 200m! Her talents were also used by East Dorset and Millfield for whom she swam competitively before turning her focus to the teaching and lifesaving aspects of swimming becoming qualified in both at a young age.

Zoë played netball for the county winner the championships two years running and completed her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. She has always been a keen advocate of fitness, health and nutrition which go hand in hand with her chosen lifestyle. She worked for a Charity in Antigua during her Gap Year and soon decided she wanted to stay and started the Swalings Branch there a year later.

Zoë also started a Babysitting and Nanny Agency and will be heading up the Caribbean franchise operation. For good measure she is also a Snowboard Instructor. Her Passion for vitality, keeping fit and living a healthy lifestyle drives her to see the business succeed and reach as many children and adults the globe over.

Graeme Swatton
Development Director
STA Tutor, NaRS Tutor, FAW Tutor, Aquacise Tutor, 1^st4sport level 1 Football, 1^st4sport level 1 Rugby

Graeme learnt to swim at the age of 6 months and represented East Dorset and Millfield with distinction. He went on to win the Speedo League Improver of the Year before turning his hand to rugby and touring South Africa becoming a member of the only team to come back undefeated from the rainbow state in the World Cup year. That same year he was also selected for county football trials with Somerset. Some years on he is now Managing Director of developments in Antigua and is looking to build the Swalings Sports Shack on the Island. Plans are being drawn up which will enable a number of different sports to take place and this new business arm will be under his wing. As well as the impressive array of qualifications already listed he is a qualified Snowboard Instructor level 2, a First Aid Tutor and in charge of the family’s expanding property portfolio. His boundless energy and desire to succeed is sometimes at odds with the pace of Island Life!

Duncan Swatton
Director Swalings Soccer
FAW Tutor, Aquacise Tutor, 1^st4sport level 1 Football, 1^st4sport level 1 Rugby, Volleyball 1

Duncan is another who has been swimming since 6 months old and has proved himself to be proficient in many other sports. He coaches in Football, Rugby, Volleyball and Snowboarding as well as Swimming. He is in charge of the First Aid training in Antigua and teaches Water Aerobics. He has helped teach at Swalings in the UK since he was 10 and always felt destined to play a part in the business. With his brother William he is heading up a snowboarding programme where clients are taken to the snow and some sponsorship of underprivileged children will allow them to take part. He is also involved in a gap scheme bringing students to the Island to qualify in teaching. They spend one month qualifying and then have two months of teaching. It is this sort of enterprise that has seen the Swalings name go from strength to strength.

William Swatton
Swimming Instructor
FAW Tutor, Aquacise Tutor, 1^st4sport level 1 Football, 1^st4sport level 1 Rugby

William has a great love of the water and has played Octopush (underwater hockey) and water polo whilst at school. He is a fantastic chef and plans all the menus and does the cooking for all the franchisees and the Swalings team in Antigua. Healthy, nutritional food that he enjoys cooking is served, with the aim that no one leaves the meal feeling hungry! He has been to Switzerland almost every year since birth and was talked into trying his hand at Snowboarding. Much to the tongue in cheek annoyance of the rest of the family he has turned out to be the best at this particular sport and is a freestyle instructor, doing all those amazing tricks you may have seen on TV. With the lack of snow in Antigua, William has taken to wakeboarding, being towed behind a boat, to keep the adrenalin pumping. Rugby, Football and Cricket complete this all rounder’s portfolio.

Caroline Swatton
The Director and Principal Teacher
STA Tutor, NaRS Tutor, Birthlight Tutor, Aquacise Tutor, FAW Tutor

Caroline has nearly 40 years experience in teaching swimming and lifesaving. As a mum of four she became very adept at juggling the work/life balance long before it became fashionable to do so! It is some testimony to her achievements that all four children have joined the family business and all play key roles in its development.

Her qualifications are so vast they can’t all be listed here but some clue as to her standing can be gleaned from the fact she is the South’s coordinator for the Shaw Method of swimming and is one of only a handful of Watsu Practioner’s in the country. She specialises in one to one lessons for adults and children and has never failed to teach anyone to swim who has completed her course. Her experience covers everything from therapies, to coaching, to tutoring, to formal swimming and beyond.

She is a winner of the prestigious European Women of Achievement Award for the sports category from over 2100 nominees and has achieved “outstanding recognition for swimming” from the Amateur Swimming Association.

Gerry Swatton
Director and Team Coach

Gerry has been a Director for over 30 years and is qualified in teaching special needs children in which he specialises. His amazing results with Deaf and Blind children have earned him an enviable reputation and he has the ability to expand a child’s communication skills as well as teach them to swim. He can make a difference to their lives in a short space of time by using methods that only come with experience. He is quickly able to identify the strong points in a child and build up confidence whilst working to overcome their weaker areas as time progresses. Gerry knows all about being a franchisee, having been one for five years delivering personal coaching.

He has also coached at all levels of fitness and ability in a number of sports including Rugby, Cricket and Volleyball to name but a few and he still finds time to run the swim fit and weight loss nutrition programme.