Community laps up VacSwim lessons in Warburton
Warburton is a remote Aboriginal community located in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of central Western Australia; about 1500kms north-east of Perth and 900kms from Kalgoorlie. It has a population of around 600 Aboriginal people who maintain their own language and culture.
From the 15th-25th of January VacSwim was run in the community for the first time in a number of years, however this program very nearly didn’t go ahead. The Department of Education had planned VacSwim for Warburton, but by mid-December no swim instructor could be found to take it on. Royal Life Saving Society WA teamed up with Education Department staff to find an instructor willing to head out to this regional community, and Janine Rowe put her hand up to take on the job.
Janine has 30 years of swim teaching experience, with much of that happening in her home town of Albany. She’d run a Royal Life Saving Endorsed Swim School, in-term programs, VacSwim programs and worked as a supervisor and regional advisor for the south-coast from Bremer Bay to Windy Harbour.
Janine explains that the Warburton role just happened to fit in with her travel plans. “My partner and I have been travelling around for nearly 12 months now and working wherever our travels take us. I taught in Leonora early last year so had some experience running a remote area program on my own. I also ran programs in Kalgoorlie, Leinster, Coorow and Menzies over the past few months. So when the opportunity at Warburton came up it was one I really couldn’t knock back. Fran Wood from the Department of Education discussed it with Royal Life Saving, and between the two organisations they got me out there, and it was awesome!”
Warburton swimming pool has been in use for 28 years, and was built using profits from the community store, with no financial assistance from the state or federal governments. The location of Warburton, in the Gibson desert, means that summer time temperatures are frequently above 40 degrees for weeks on end, so the swimming pool is an incredibly important recreational and health resource, which is open annually from October until April.
Pool Manager Steve Girschik says it’s a vital part of the community. “It makes a huge positive impact to the mental and physical health, well-being and happiness of local children. It assists in keeping children clean and occupied, as well as reducing anti-social behaviour and youth.”
Mr Girschik says despite spending a considerable amount of time at the pool each day local children have poor swimming technique, a limited range of swimming strokes and poor swimming stamina. “In their normal play at the pool they don’t practice these things. They also don’t normally have any formal swimming instruction, and therefore never develop correct swimming strokes or lifesaving skills. This is the primary reason that swimming lessons were so necessary in Warburton, and made such a difference in a short space of time.”
During the 10 days of VacSwim lessons 50 children from all ages participated in the program, with 35 of them going on to be awarded swimming certificates. “ The children who attended every day made significant progress in improving their swimming technique and stamina, as well as adding to the number of strokes they have proficiency in - many children, for example, who had never even thought about backstroke (let alone survival backstroke) were introduced to it for the first time. The program was a huge success!” says Mr Gerschik.
Janine Rowe says her time in Warburton was an amazing experience that showed the real value of teamwork and community participation. “Having worked in Leonora and knowing kids were there one day and not the next I knew this program would be similar, so I had to be prepared to work with whoever came through the door on a given day. If it hadn’t have been for Steve Gerschik the pool manager, the youth workers Rochelle and Maz, Deborah the Truancy Officer from the school and Angela the Health Nurse I don’t think it would have gone so well. Rochelle, Maz and Deb would go knocking on the doors in the morning reminding kids they had lessons, Angela made up sandwiches and fruit every day to make sure that when the children came to their lesson they had something to eat, she also ensured there were towels for the children to use. It was just a really good positive experience.”
Janine says the biggest highlight was seeing the incredible development in the children. “They could all swim to a degree - flat out, head up, no style - but to see them actually doing laps of the pool face down, regular breathing, breaststroke with timing, teaching the little ones how to reach out with a kickboard, and seeing the looks on their faces when they achieved something new was awesome.”
For Mr Girschik the VacSwim program was invaluable for the community. “Warburton is extremely grateful to the Education Department and Royal Life Saving WA for making the VacSwim lessons possible. We’re also very thankful to Janine Rowe as the success of the program hinged on her amazing efforts and 30 years of experience. She took every challenge the children presented her with in her stride, and demonstrated amazing patience and flexibility. I really hope that this will be the start of something that happens each year.”
For Janine, although the experience was amazing she says it highlights the need for more swim instructors across regional WA. “During my travels the idea was that if I could pick up work occasionally I would do it. As it’s turned out I seem to be working more than I’m not because there’s so many places needing swim instructors.”
For those considering swim teaching as a career Janine has this advice. “It’s a challenge so if you’re open for a challenge, you’re willing to be flexible and you want to learn it’s a golden opportunity. If a chance to work in one of these communities comes your way, take it. I absolutely loved the experience, loved the kids - it was really amazing.”
Learn more about becoming a swim instructor at the link below.