Imagine teaching life-saving swimming skills in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Interested? Then you’ll want to know more about our new partnership with Swim Vietnam.
While Swim Vietnam’s life-saving work spans the entire country, our exciting new partnership – due to launch in spring 2026 – will be based in Hoi An, a breathtaking UNESCO World Heritage site on the coast of the South China Sea, and the perfect backdrop for our mission to teach the next generation of swimmers and to save lives.
More about Swim Vietnam
Swim Vietnam was set up 18 years ago, co-founded by Joanne Stewart, who at the time was working in investment management, based in Singapore, and also a member of a triathlon club.
The triathlon club decided to stage an event in Vietnam where they discovered the appalling incidents of drowning among children. There are currently five drownings per day among children in Vietnam – 18 years ago this was even higher!
At the time, Joanne was looking for a more meaningful path, so with the $9,000 raised from the triathlon, she resigned from her job in finance, went to Vietnam and set up the charity.
“I had never been to Vietnam, didn’t speak the language and I wasn’t at the time a swim teacher, but I knew we needed pools, money and kids, so I started to pull those components together.”
Supported by the Vietnamese government, what was supposed to be a year’s programme was then extended to a second year and, 18 years on, some 35,000 children have been through the programme.
To extend their reach, Swim Vietnam also trains local sports teachers to deliver a water safety education programme through the schools, which has reached another 250,000+ children so far. Over 6,000 teachers have been trained – 2,500 swim teachers and 3,500 water safety educators.
Plus, Swim Vietnam runs a social enterprise which delivers paid swimming lessons and the profits from these go to help support the charity’s free lessons.
SwimTayka’s partnership with Swim Vietnam
There are plans for our first SwimTayka/Swim Vietnam partnership project to launch in May/June 2026.
SwimTayka’s primary role will involve sourcing and deploying qualified volunteer swim instructors to Hoi An. Rather than simply providing lessons, these volunteers will work directly with Swim Vietnam’s local instructors.
This collaborative approach is designed to support local teachers in delivering high-quality swimming and water safety lessons. Visiting volunteers will work alongside Vietnamese instructors, following Swim Vietnam’s lesson plans and sharing ideas and techniques.
Are you a qualified swim instructor ready to make a difference? Would you like to know more about the 2026 Hoi An programme?
