When you think about a job as a swim instructor you might think you would end up working at the local public pool. But for those with an adventurous spirit being a swim instructor can lead to some great opportunities to travel across the most remote parts of Western Australia!
For Zoe Ross, being a swim instructor with Royal Life Saving WA over the past two years has seen her travel to the mid-west and northern parts of our state a number of times already. Over recent months she has travelled to Fitzroy Crossing, Paraburdoo, Moora and Wiluna, teaching swimming and water safety classes for a range of different age groups.
Zoe says there are a number of reasons why she enjoys working in regional communities. “I love doing regional and remote jobs because the communities and supervisors at the pool are so supportive and understanding. Everyone is so inviting and that really makes the time away worthwhile. All the students are extremely grateful for the lessons and time they get to spend in the water and that’s the most rewarding part of being a swimming teacher.”
Although Zoe has worked with a variety of different age groups, teaching the younger children is her favourite part of the job. “I love teaching submersion as I am able to sing songs and interact with the kids building confidence and massive life skills required for water survival.”
During her most recent trip to Wiluna, which was made possible through support from Principal Community Partner BHP, Zoe didn’t only teach Swim and Survive lessons for children, she was also able to give some water safety talks and teach an Extended Bronze Medallion course for older students. She says her time there was amazing. “Wiluna was an eye opener and an experience I will never forget. Everyone was so supportive and there were so many opportunities to develop my skills and the community’s skills further.”
Teaching the Extended Bronze Medallion course involved a lot of CPR practise for the participants, and Zoe made sure she made that learning memorable by incorporating her favourite songs to keep the CPR beat to! “The song I use for teaching CPR is Staying Alive or Baby Shark. I use these as I learnt with Staying Alive and I use Baby Shark because people remember it and it’s catchy so they will find it easier to remember when performing CPR.”
If you’re a qualified Swim Instructor who would like to take on the challenge of teaching swimming and water safety skills in regional areas of WA we’d love for you to register your interest at the link below!
If you'd like to start your journey to become a swim instructor like Zoe, learn more about our Swim Teacher by Royal Life Saving course here.