About H2O Swimming

 WHO IS H2O? 

Some truisms on the uniqueness of swimming compared to other sports

1. Swimming is performed lying down in a weightless environment.  That on its own differentiates it from almost any other sport, but add to this that the swimmer operates in a medium which is potentially life threatening and over one thousand times denser than air, and you can gain an understanding why a great investment in time is needed in order to become competent.  In short, the learner must be taught to override all of his land based natural instincts if he is to acquire any level of competency or skill, and then spend much longer than almost any other sport (perhaps with the exception of gymnastics) to gain true mastery.
2. Benefits of swimming vs other sports. 

·         Swimming is widely regarded as the best form of exercise and growing awareness of its health benefits for an

        increasingly sedentary, overweight society makes it the only true “sports for life”.  The overweight, pregnant,

        injured; frail, elderly, asthmatics, arthritic, disabled, infirm and babies are all groups who are unable to participate in

        most other activities.  The resistance of the water is great for muscle tone and lung development, while the

        buoyancy provides a cushioning effect that is gentle on the body.  Warm water further enhances the benefits for

        those with joint and mobility problems.  It is proven to provide physical, psychological and social health benefits and

        the sport of swimming assists in the  development of self-discipline, self-esteem and comittment. 

·         Swimming is the most participated sport in Australia. It has become so popular that it is almost considered our

        national sport.  Our swimming champions continue to act as superb role models for today’s youth that projects a

        clean, positive image and healthy lifestyle.

Business History and

Structure

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H²O Swimming Works is an owner/operator business started by Anita Killmier twenty years ago and based at Lauriston Girls’ School since the pool opened in 1989.  It currenty operates from a variety of venues in and around Stonnington.  In the ten years prior to this Anita had experience coaching and teaching in a variety of programmes.  It is a registered Swim Australia Swim School and a member of the Swim School Owners Association of Australia which both set benchmarks to ensure industry standards are met.

With her Primary Teaching background, Anita has formulated an extensive and progressive swimming curriculum.  Anita is an educator and qualified course provider able to offer teacher training courses in the Australian swimming system, Austswim, as well as consult, run workshops, clinics, camps and in-service staff to update teaching methodologies.  She is also a regular lecturer at coaching accreditation courses.  Anita is a published author with numerous articles to her name in respected journals, presents at prestigious coaching conferences and her book “Mastering Swimming” was used as the reference text for the Australian Masters Coaching Course.  She is a past committee member of the Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association (ASCTA) Victorian Branch, holding the ‘Coach Education’. Portfolio.

Anita has worked closely with the following schools and understands the priorities of schools needs vs those of external users to ensure those needs are always met.CBC St Kilda; Lauriston Girls’ School; St Kevins College Toorak; Colombo Overseas School Sri Lanka; American School of Dubai; Singapore American School; Dubai American Academy.  Anita’s background as an elite competitive swimming and state representative in water polo coupled with her professional Primary Teaching training adds to her teaching and coaching capabilities.  Along with an ongoing involvement in Masters Swimming, Anita cites swimming as her lifelong passion. She has been a visionary and at the forefront of promoting and popularising swimming for fitness.  In 2000 Anita was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for her contributions to swimming. 

 H²O Mission

Live to Swim

  H²O Philosophy:

Although swimming is widely regarded as the best form of exercise, this statement should be amended to read “Swimming is the best form of exercise when performed with correct technique”.  Unfortunately most swim teaches and coaches pay lip service to technique with many swimmers (particularly the naturally talented ones) achieving competency despite the teacher, not because of the teacher.   Anita’s background in masters swimming has given her greater insight into the effects longitudinally of poor technique and its cumulative effects over a lifetime.  Swimming badly, or even well, but with slight technical flaws can result in muscle imbalances, as well as neck and shoulder related problems.  This knowledge has shaped our philosophy and the nature of our programme which is;

1. Only perfect practice makes perfect.
2. It is better to create good habits from the outset rather than to allow bad habits to develop and then try to ‘fix’ them.
3. A coach or teacher’s success should not be measured by the best swimmer in their programme, but rather by the results of their least talented swimmer.
4. As with any skill, learners develop at different rates.
5. All swimmers, irrespective of natural ability have the capability to swim well if the teacher is skilled and enough time is given.
6. Swimmers who swim technically well enjoy the sheer physical act of swimming more than those who don’t, and are more likely as a result, to swim for fitness throughout their life.
7. No swimmers can achieve greatness without great technique.
8. Whilst everyone would like to be a winner, ‘winning’ is not our focus; we encourage each and every swimmer to be the best they can be.  Winning then is a bonus and a natural by-product of this philosophy.

What is unique about the H²O Method?

With its boutique environment, H²O prides itself on our ability to differentiate ourselves from most other swim schools. 

·         Class times are 45 minutes rather than 30 minutes allowing us more time to revise, consolidate and extend

        skills

·         We emphasise technique first, fitness second.  There is no point swimming many laps badly as that

        ingrains bad habits.  Instead, we believe in swimming shorter distances correctly then extending these

        distances whilst maintaining technique. To do this, we keep swimmers in small groups for longer to fine tune

        technique, when most other schools have moved to larger ‘squad’ based groups.

·         As our swim coaches also teach, when our swimmers do move into our squad program it is a natural

        extension of our learn to swim classes with greater continuity and consistency. 

·         Our squad programme is far more structured than most with technique and skills still emphasized as fitness

         is built.

·         The owner is personally involved in all aspects of the programme.  Because she is a regular fitness

        swimmer she is constantly experimenting and inventing new and better ways of doing things.  Many of her

        drills have filtered through into the teaching fraternity and are now widely used. There are very few in the

        industry who 

                       1.        Have been an elite level swimmer and

                       2.        Still swim regularly and

                       3.        Has an education background

·         Anita has developed a comprehensive curriculum based on sound educational principles.  To her, the

        method of teaching and coaching is just as important as the content.  Staff are put through a training

        process and all teachers are expected to have a thorough knowledge of the curriculum. Anita has

        developed a unique range of resources that differentiates her program delivery from others, resulting in

        above average outcomes