Multicultural Women in Gippsland Dive Into Safety with Swimming Lessons

Swimming is not a rite of passage for most multicultural women living in Australia.

While children born in Australia are likely to be exposed to swimming lessons as toddlers, and again throughout school, that is not the norm for women such as Tira Avery, who moved from Thailand to Australia almost a decade ago.

After getting married, Ms Avery settled in Gippsland in eastern Victoria and soon realised a life in the country meant being around lots of water.

"My husband loves to go camping near rivers," she said.

"If I would like to join my husband [camping], it's better for me to know how to look after myself before help arrives if I happened to be drowning."

In Victoria, people born overseas are five times more likely to drown than people born in the state.

That was why Ms Avery signed up for multicultural women's swimming lessons at the Warragul Leisure Centre along with 19 other women from her multicultural friendship group.

She said one of her friends had tried to teach her how to swim in Thailand, but without proper lessons her skills were limited.

"My swimming experience is just like five strokes," she said.

"That's how much I can hold my breath for."

Swimming had never felt necessary for Ms Avery growing up in Thailand, but now, she is building confidence in the water.

"The one stroke that was not too difficult for an old lady like me was the backstroke," she said.

Ms Avery's instructors provide lessons to the 20 participants.

"They give me some advice and suggestions on what to do when I happened to fall into a brook or river," she said.

"What I want is survival techniques."

Free lessons

Nearly 39 per cent of drownings in 2023-24 in Victoria involved people born overseas.

Data from Life Saving Victoria (LSV) shows that people born outside Australia are less likely to understand water conditions or have the skills to respond in an emergency.

"What we have identified in over two decades, the overwhelming majority of people born overseas show low water safety education knowledge and low or no swimming ability," LSV multicultural project manager, David Holland, said.

The 10-week free course that Ms Avery has enrolled in is the first of its kind run by the Latrobe Community Health Service.

It is being run in collaboration with the Warragul Leisure Centre, operated by YMCA Victoria and Warragul Community House.

"We are trying to develop role models within the community that can get the topic of water safety on the kitchen table," Mr Holland said.

"It not only helps water safety and swimming ability, but also raises inclusion and creates more multiculturally-friendly swimming pools."

YMCA's Kerry Hayden said there was a need in the community for multicultural women's swimming because there was a great fear.

"They wanted to learn to swim for their children," she said.

"Not just to keep them safe but to as a family go to the beach or the pool and everyone can have a swim in the water and enjoy themselves."