Teaching children to swim and be safe in the water is a skill that needs mastering, which is why two
experienced swim teachers and tutors – Adam Knight and Camilla Golledge – have recently been out to
Jamaica.
The pair have been volunteering with our partner project based at Treasure Beach – Likkle
Swimmers – to upskill their swim instructors and train aquatic helpers, so the children have an even
better level of swimming and safety skills.
Adam became a lifeguard and swimming teacher at 16, inspired by Baywatch (sadly, lifeguarding in
the UK it’s a little different to LA), and now he runs Angel Swim London. He teaches babies, children,
adults and children with special needs.
Camilla also started lifeguarding at 16, and now runs a swim school, Swim Fusion, in Kent, teaching
mainly primary school children. She is also a tutor for the Swimming Teachers’ Association (STA).
Camilla met the team here at SwimTayka through Henley Swim Festival and after some persuasion
she signed up to be a Channel Relay swimmer. She’s now part of the all-female Team Peru, and will
be swimming in July. Training is well underway and she has already smashed her fundraising target.
Coincidentally, Camilla is also a trustee with Likkle Swimmers, and trained its founder Charlotte Holt
to be a swim teacher and lifesaver. She’s already been out once to Jamaica, in 2017, when she
supported the launch of the swim programme.
Adam has a long-standing association with SwimTayka. He was instrumental in introducing us to our
partner programme in Mozambique – marine conservation charity Love the Oceans – where he had
developed their swim programme.
During two visits, in 2018 and 2019, Adam ran swim teacher courses for Love the Oceans founder
and university friend, Francesca Trotman, and her team, one of whom was Pascoal, who became
Mozambique’s first STA qualified instructor! Adam also taught hundreds of children to swim, and
trained some of the older children to become aquatic swim helpers.
Since then, SwimTayka has been involved in helping recruit volunteers to support the swim
programme.
Adam is also one of our Channel Relay swimmers, which combined his two favourite activities – a
swimming challenge and raising funds for charity at the same time.
Earlier this year, Adam and Camilla teamed up to visit Likkle Swimmers. Here, they spent ten days
training swim teachers to STA standards; teaching older teenagers to become aquatic helpers; and
running lifesaving CPR and aquatic rescue courses, so teachers are better equipped to deal with an
emergency.
Adam said: “They have a team of eight teachers there, but they aren’t formally qualified. In the
water they were incredible at having fun and playing with the kids, but they needed some structure
to their lessons. We also did a lot around water safety.
“Only one of the teachers was female, who was only 17, and she was quite nervous at the start. But
she worked hard, focused, listened and at the end was so confident in delivering lessons, it was
really wonderful.”
So how did they find their experience, and would they recommend volunteering at one of the
SwimTayka projects? The answer is a resounding yes!
Adam said: “I was absolutely blown away by the warmth, the kindness and the generosity of the
community. They were the most welcoming, incredible, funny group of people and I am very blessed
to have spent time with them. Anyone who has any reservations, really shouldn’t worry. Just book
the trip, raise some money and get out there.”
Camilla added: “It was amazing. I didn’t know how well we would be received but it was just
fabulous. I would love to go out again, and may get a chance to do so because all the aquatic helpers
would love to go on to become swim teacher.”
If you are interested in volunteering for one of our projects, or – like Camilla and Adam – you’d like
to join a Channel Relay team, then get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
