Zoe Cooper kertoo brittien uimaopetusohjelmasta

#UUTINEN 29.8.2018

Syyskuun lopulla Vierumäellä järjestettävä Learn to Swim & Coach -konferenssi tuo yhteen yli 20 uimaopetuksen ja -valmennuksen asiantuntijaa eripuolilta maailmaa. Briteissä jo pitkään toimineesta Learn to swim -ohjelmasta kertoo entinen taitouimari Zoe Cooper.

Briteissä toimiva STA (Swimming Teacher's Association) on ollut mukana kehittämässä maan uimaopetustoimintaa jo yli 60 vuotta. Voittoa tavoittelemattoman yhdistyksen uimaopetusperiaatteista Vierumäen kansainvälisessä konferenssissa kertoo entinen brittien huipputaitouimari Zoe Cooper sekä kollegansa Dave Candler.

Ilmoittautuminen Vierumäen Learn to Swim & Coach -konferenssiin (28.–30.9.) päättyy sunnuntaina 2.9., joten olitpa sitten uintivalmentaja tai -ohjaaja, lue lisää ja ILMOITTAUDU MUKAAN! 

Lue alta STA:n Zoe Cooperin englannin kielinen haastattelu tai klikkaa lehtijuttu auki tästä.


Keeping swimmers engaged throughout their learn to swim journey!

Finnish Swimming Association is hosting an International Learn to Swim and Coach Conference in the end of September in Vierumäki.

The latest knowledge of waterskills and swimming teaching will be presented by top Finnish and foreign speakers. You will find out best practices, evidence based data and benefits of the technology to help you to be the best coach.

One of the key topics is how to facilitate the learning process. In the conference you can explore different programs and benchmark children’s swimming and water safety skills. One of the international speakers is the STA’s (the Swimming Teachers’ Association) Sales & Marketing Director Zoe Cooper from Great Britain. She will come to Vierumäki to present STA’s way to teach swimming skills and their Learn to Swim Programme. Let’s hear some preview from Zoe!

How and when was the Learn to Swim Programme at first invented and for what purpose?

STA’s swimming awards have been around for over 60 years, and the International Learn to Swim Programme (ILSP) that we use today was updated in 2012. It was first created so that learners could see their progression, and of course reward achievement. Today, STA certificates over 1 million learners every year via ILSP.

How has the programme developed during the years?

The awards not only look different, but we have added and developed more awards, making it easier for learners of all ages and abilities, from baby to adults, to be rewarded for their swimming achievements. We have also produced a booklet, called a Success Tracker, which enables learners and parents to track their achievements at each stage of the ILSP.

In support, STA also forged a partnership with CBeebies Octonauts in 2016 to create a standalone reward-based swimming programme for children of all abilities and disabilities. Such has been the success the Octonauts swimming programme, it was shortlisted for a prestigious international award this year, alongside Coca-Cola, Mattel, Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount Pictures.

What is the most remarkable thing in your programme that works?

Keeping swimmers engaged throughout their learn to swim journey is at the core. With lots of rewards, fun lessons and colourful, bright, progressive badges and certificates, along with additional programmes such as our Junior Lifeguard Academy, we give learners the opportunity to stay in the programme for longer and develop their swimming skills further. Uniquely, through ILSP, we also start teaching water safety skills from a young age – both swimming and water safety skills are embedded into every stage of the programme.

For International Learn to Swim Week, this year, we conducted a survey to understand if children might be exiting learn to swim programmes too early, before they are ready and proficient in key swimming and lifesaving skills. The results highlight the importance of our programme – the importance of teaching skills like treading water and rescue and survival skills very early on, to children as young as 5 / 6 years.

Why swimming coaches should come to the conference and especially to hear this lecture?

At the conference, we’d like to share our story as a not-for-profit charity, and demonstrate how we are continuing to make a significant impact across many areas of the aquatics industry and the world by reinvesting funds to ensure
a) customers get the best quality product and service at a cost-competitive rate, thus furthering the opportunity for professional training and for more learners to have the opportunity to learn how to swim
b) using our charity status to deliver hard hitting educational messages and to promote the importance of learning to swim
c) using charitable funds to help less fortunate swimming and water safety groups all over the world.

About Zoe Cooper

Zoe Cooper is the Sales & Marketing Director at STA. She has worked all her professional life in sports development, and when she joined the Association in 2010 she was instrumental in setting up STA’s first swim academy; a programme created to help public leisure facilities raise swim teaching standards and increase swimming participation through ILSP, all while reducing operating costs. Such was the success; the academy model is now benefitting many thousands of young learners all across the UK.

Zoe began synchronised swimming at the age of 11 and has won a string of competitions including the British Open solo and duet synchronised swimming championships. In 2012, she also reached the finals of Britain’s Got Talent with her Aquabatique synchro team members and has since gone on to have numerous TV, music and film opportunities. Alongside performing, Zoe also continues to teach and coach learners from grass roots to elite level.

Zoe says: “Being able to work within an industry I’m passionate about is very rewarding – it’s the best job; after all learning to swim is a key life skill and I know from personal experience how it can open up many exciting opportunities.”