The City of Canterbury Bankstown’s Swim School instructor academy has been recognised at The Aquas – Royal Life Saving Awards gala held last Friday night.

Council’s CB Swim Academy, which offers free training and certification of swim instructors, was named a finalist at the nation’s peak aquatic industry awards in the Excellence in Training and Education category.

Mayor Khal Asfour said Council was dedicated to providing the community with a safe aquatic experience and a program that provides employment opportunities.

“I congratulate the team for their nomination and am so proud of the work they do and their commitment to keeping our community safe,” Mayor Asfour said.

“Our Leisure and Aquatics Services team have created an impeccable trainee program and we are grateful for the recognition for this effort.”

The CB Swim Academy was founded in December 2021 in response to an industry-wide shortage of swim school instructors directly attributed to the COVID pandemic. Since 2021, it has successfully conducted four intakes and employed more than 50 candidates.

With a population of more than 360,000 residents, 44.6 per cent of people in Canterbury-Bankstown were born overseas, the majority of which come from countries where a culture of water safety may be lacking.

The Academy reaches out to the wider community and gets “back to basics” by reducing the barriers in the community entering the industry and understanding the importance of water safety and learning to swim. In engaging community members to be teachers, it employs residents of the City to have a direct impact in the reduction of such concerning statistics.

The Aquas are the highest honour within drowning prevention and the promotion of the aquatic industry. It rewards individuals and organisations across community, government, media, industry and corporate sectors covering ten categories.

For more information about CB Swim Academy, visit cb.city/CBSwimAcademy