The Peaceful Swim Teacher

The Peaceful Swim Teacher Advocacy for the rights of all ages and abilities, to have access to respectful swim instruction. Hi, I'm Alex!

I am passionate about respectful, non coercive, connected, peaceful, aquatic education for all ages. I believe that we all learn best when we feel respected, calm, and connected to others. I strive to deliver a water education that counteracts mainstream assumptions about teaching. I challenge how our society treats children and families. Children deserve nurturing and care including in swimming l

essons. Understanding the holistic nature of learning and development also provides the best foundation upon which to thrive in the water. I use my own programs which focus on strong foundational skills; over 20 years of experience as a swimming teacher; and 15 years peacefully parenting my own children - to deliver a unique experience for families and swimmers.

05/10/2024

As the warmer weather returns, I am already seeing a lot of children and families enjoying the water in many places.

Here is your reminder to show peace and respect to every child in the water. Or, if you are a parent or carer, to facilitate that. It does not matter if your child's swim teacher or other families around you agree. We can all make our own choices even if we have to fight sometimes. Children deserve respected lives in every area.

You, as a parent or carer, get to set the expectations for how your child and children are treated. We have so much power. As times change socially, children have ever more chances for respectful experiences in water.

You can change swim school, teacher, or learn to teach your own child - if you are unhappy with the level of care or the quality of instruction, your children are receiving.

We get to drive social change and if other people won't accept respecting our kids, we can remove our business at any time.

This page is mostly about advocacy and the sharing of information around swim skills. This is based on my over 20 years experience as a teacher and coach and my intersecting knowledge base around the human rights of children, as well as a background of swimming as my main sport . I will continue to share things now that the weather has warmed up 🥰

(Video is my child jumping off a diving platform. A reminder that respect maximises results as well as being just the right thing to do.)

01/05/2024

A friend filmed me for a little part of a long birthday swim I swum on Monday, in celebration of my new age. I loved this footage for now nice the sun looks. I think it captures the joy of swimming skilfully also, how fun it becomes to move through the water in playful ways. I felt peaceful at this time.

The water and moving within it, can be such a gift to become skilled at.

As a mother of five, this beautiful sport has nurtured my body at every step of my adult life as well as throughout childhood. Peacefulness at swimming is about so much more than results but about beauty and joy within peoples' complex lives. The gift of calm journeys in water, should not be underestimated. We have whole lives to live - remaining in love with swimming has so much to offer.

What are you offering your child or yourself, in the water? What is it comprised of? Does it have connection and freedom within it? Is it something which will stand the scrutiny of time? Will it support their holistic wellbeing? Will they tell stories of their happiness and connection in water, or their fear and trauma? It is never too late to begin redesigning either. Connection and genuine care, can support in healing.

23/04/2024

Social Tuesday Swim School/Club 🥰

Sports in Australia are often unhealthy places for children to be. Perhaps their bodies are healthy (also arguable because rest is often not supported), but the environment isn't healthy. Pitting children against each other for performance, is certainly not aligned with their optimal development in many ways. Children need acceptance into communities rather than highly conditional admittance into community.

I've kept my children out of traditional sports groups and have closely assessed those we are involved with, to provide loving and safe places for them to be.

Access to play without adult interference, has gifted my children with strong bodies and the ability to assess risk; to set them up for the sports they have chosen later. It was not organised sports which provided my children a sporting education foundation. It was the freedom to move their bodies in diverse ways and swimming and being otherwise active, with their family. It was being free, with loving guidance and genuine care for their wellbeing. Their bodies were never seen as things to mould with forced "grit" but as deserving of respect and tender care. This was the foundation upon which all their skills have since been built.

This video is teamwork at weekly social swim club with a group of friends 🥰 We will race with laughter and joy at the centre of our experience as well, if we do race or time ourselves over a distance.

08/03/2024

Practicing K*k Sool after swimming this morning 🥰

K*k Sool Won of South Eastern Perth

"The expert in anything was once a beginner.Helen Hayes."
05/03/2024

"The expert in anything was once a beginner.

Helen Hayes."

More than the potential we are often able to work toward in the swimmers we work closely with, I believe this industry a...
13/02/2024

More than the potential we are often able to work toward in the swimmers we work closely with, I believe this industry as a whole needs to understand the unrealised potential in swimmers all around us.

This has personal relevance for me because I spent many years as a child in high quality coached and prepared training sessions. Yet the wider story of my life was a huge barrier that was invisible to my coaches. To me, certain things were normal but I lacked the social connections to be supported and to thrive. I lacked the knowledge to support myself out of the barriers I faced.

I had situations ocurring in my Out Of The Pool life, which impacted severely upon my time in the pool. Things such as sexual violence, sleep deprivation, inadequate nutrition, mental health distress, family conflicts, and neglect.

It is hard for me to talk to other ex competitive swimmers sometimes because we often immediately ask about one another's achievements to understand the commonalities we had and what kind of training we went through. For me, I feel I was chronically undersupported outside of the pool and in my wider life. My achievements are less than that of my peers with similar ability and experience. I find it embarrassing and sad to say to other swimmers, well I didn't achieve much as a swimmer actually. I know I should have and could have done more. The results at competitions don't mean as much as my barriers.

I had less access to equipment, competitions, social connections, food, rest, travel, emotional support, and wider opportunities; than my training peers. I don't believe my potential and ability is any less but the circumstances of my wider life had impacts upon my swimming.

My own background is one of the reasons I am so passionate about holistic, respectful swim access for everyone. Athletes know themselves and it is only through caring communication and relationships with them that we can support them and understand their swimming. It also is just the right thing to do to nurture and support people. Our life is far more than swimming and if we don't know this then our swimming will also suffer. We need to be in alignment to have success. We also need to be cared for holistically to be at our best.

We don't know what someone is going through or what else might be impacting upon them and we would all do well to remember this. Respect and care is always the right choice.

(Image is Fable at an aquathlon event).

02/02/2024

Day One of using the new lane rope to guide my ducklings in the open water 💛💛💛💛💛

No more constant sighting (which interferes in technique development and is annoying), and I can pace everyone with it too. I'm wearing fins so I can keep an eye on everything from the front there. We began with dodging everyone inside the shark net (it worked well in there too) and later on moved here for more peace and space.

There is capacity for multiple people to be using this rope. I am looking forward to doing it with more people next. More videos of the experimenting with it, to come in following weeks! 🥰

Many people understand the idea of gentleness and peacefulness for kids. Something harder though, is the underlying soci...
01/02/2024

Many people understand the idea of gentleness and peacefulness for kids. Something harder though, is the underlying social systems which took those things away in the first place.

Why is respect for children and an honouring of their human rights, not the default? Why do we have to search (like a needle in a haystack) for the educators who will respect the personhood of our kids in the water? Who won't gaslight us if our kids don't thrive with their offerings?

The answer, is Childism. Sometimes called Adultism, this is systemic discrimination against children. Like other kinds of social violence, it is everywhere.

This intersects with swimming because everything we have been shown and taught about interacting with children, is violent and has childism embedded within it. Including swimming.

Wellbeing for children (which then also allows their success in other ways), involves protection from childism to allow them to thrive, just as much (maybe more?) as it involves someone who is skilled in the thing they are teaching. Addressing childism, is the only way to support children holistically at present time.

I believe children everywhere are being prevented from reaching their potential, by lack of understanding of Childism. I believe the future of sport and educating; will involve addressing it. This little movement of peace in swimming instruction, is just the beginning.

Image is myself with one of my children.

Here is Evie working on her dives at HBF 🥰Swimming tends to be something that people take seriously in Australia. It has...
25/01/2024

Here is Evie working on her dives at HBF 🥰

Swimming tends to be something that people take seriously in Australia. It has come to be seen as important for drowning prevention and is embedded into life and early childhood for many families now.

Using my skills not primarily for money (meaning - not as the goal itself but seeing it a byproduct when you become skilled at something and approach your skills with passion and authenticity) but to support my children through their complex and individualised aquatic educations; has been one of the best choices I ever made. Imagine not needing to use swim schools or swim clubs unless they seemed the right fit- that is my life with my kids and I take protecting them seriously. There is no window for learning something that closes, no arbitrary levels, and no way something "has to" be.

This industry is still my business but I'm driven by heart.

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Perth, WA

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+61460845204

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