Gould Swim Academy, North Albury, NSW Videos

GOULD SWIM OLYMPICS
Tonight, Monday, we had our first 3 Gould Swim Olympic meets of the week. With 3 very eager groups of students (more than 80 swimmers) , the kids brought their A game and swam like absolute champions. All swimmers competed in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly (or dolphin). To say we are proud of them all for getting in there and giving it a go, would be an understatement. A very special thanks to Sienna Toohey for coming in during our first session, swimming against the children and showing them all her recently earned bronze medal from the 2024 Olympic trials. The swimmers were in awe of you Sienna and spoke about you the entire time they were there. I’m sure you’ve inspired many little swimmers to aim high. We hope you all enjoy your swim meet this week, be sure to bring a great attitude and a couple of towels to keep warm between races. The water is warm but it can get fresh on pool deck this time of year. If you have any photos you would like to share, perhaps of your children swimming, on the podium in the foyer or with Sienna and her medal, feel free to share in the comments. Such fun times! See you all this week for our end of term fun !

Sienna Toohey
What a race!!!! Sienna Toohey is now officially the fastest 15yo female breaststroke (50m and 100m) swimmer Australia has ever produced. She not only beat, but smashed Leisel Jones 100m (24 year old) record of 107.49 with an incredible 107.01 What an effort, and third by a touch at the Olympic trials. How incredible indeed. Congratulations Sienna and coach Wayne Gould, we are all very proud of you here at Gould Swim Academy. To us, Sienna, you will always be that tiny little girl skipping in to swim lessons. We are so proud to have introduced you to the world of swimming 🏊

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTY!
From all of the staff at Gould, we wish Kristy a very happy birthday tomorrow (Saturday June 1). We all appreciate you and everything you do for us 🥳 Enjoy your day! Make sure to wish Kristy a very happy birthday when you see her at the pool 🎂

As part of safety week this week, as well as our usual reach and rescues and talking about river safety, we have introduced CPR to our swimmers, from our preschoolers through to our squad kids. The children have been taught how to check to see if someone is breathing and to make sure it’s safe to help, before ringing 000 and commencing CPR. We spoke about why someone might not be breathing, for example maybe they have drowned or have choked on something (we tried not to be too dramatic but some of the kids suggested shark bites, heart attacks, being shot and being hit by buses 😳). They were taught to do 30 compressions and then to check to see if they are breathing, then recommence 30 compressions again. We spoke about doing them to the beat of baby shark, they all know that song. While this is very simplified CPR, our hope is that if the children ever come across someone performing CPR or happen to see it on TV, they will be a bit more informed on the what and why. Have a talk to your swimmers about what they have learnt at swimming this week, you might be surprised by it.

And the winner of our Gould Swim Academy 2024 Easter Raffle is… REBECCA MOTT Thanks to everyone who bought tickets and helped raise money for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal. We wish everyone a very happy Easter. Have a wonderful long weekend and we will see you all again from Tuesday for our last two weeks of term.

This is Mischa, at the ripe old age of 4, working on mastering bilateral breathing. We can’t wait to see how she improves as the year goes on. It’s amazing to see children so young, just starting preschool and already swimming full laps….. and she’s not alone, we have so many little preschoolers doing amazing things in the pool. Well done kids 👏👏

Gould Swim Academy Baby Classes
Some of our babies enjoying swimming at Gould Swim Academy in 2023

What a difference one week of holiday intensives can do. This little champion, Sidney, came to holiday intensives very nervous and timid on day 1. He was reluctant to put his eyes in or even blow bubbles and was quite nervous on the pontoon. He had three lessons with Kristy and then two with Nadine and by the end of the week, 5x 1/2 hour lessons, he was swimming so comfortably and exploring in the water. Watch his body language change over the week. He is about to burst with confidence, self assurance and pride. Dramatic difference! It’s amazing what a little encouragement and perseverance can do for these little ones. Not only from us but from Mum and Dad on the pool deck. Their support of him was incredible. The first music is day one and the second music was day 5, a stark difference. Enjoy!!

These are some of our little preschool champions practising their freestyle today. They are doing so well. This was at the very end of a half hour lesson and they had worked really hard. Great swimming Austin, Alexis and Maeve 👏👏👏 Keep up the great work 👏👏👏

FOOTY FEVER RAFFLE WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT Thank you to everyone who purchased tickets in our ‘footy fever’ raffle to be in the running to win a term of free lessons for one child. Congratulations to JASON KNOWLES who was drawn out as the winner🥇 All proceeds will be donated to the Albury Wodonga Cancer Centre.

Wayne has done a walk through this morning, showing us what to expect to see during Footy Week. The kids are having so much fun, there’s some budding AFL, AFLW and NRL players in our bunch, that’s for sure.

MEET OUR STAFF- ALISON Here is our reception/ admin lady extraordinaire, Alison. I didn’t have a photo of her in the pool so had to improvise 😂 I am sure you have all met Alison at the front desk as you arrive and sign in at swimming lessons. Her welcoming smile and organised manner is a great first point of call at our centre. If you need to ring and talk to someone at Gould Swim Academy, more often than not it is Alison who answers your call. As well as being a busy mother of two, and on top of working for us at Gould, Alison also owns her own scrapbooking and card making business. Born and bred here in Albury, she has spent many years by the pool, both with her children at swim club and her husband taking on some coaching roles in the past. She always greets everyone with a beautiful smile and kind, relaxed nature. Great job Alison, we are lucky to have you. FYI our reception area has not flooded, it is just a filter

We absolutely love teaching our little ones at Gould Swim Academy. Our baby and toddler classes are not just about learning to swim. The children, generally aged between 6 months and 3 years learn so much more. They work on… -Building relationships and strong bonds, with their parent/carer, our staff and other children -Building trust -Language skills -Taking calculated risks -Learning their physical limits -Water safety and discovery -Feeling of buoyancy -Relating to other children -Often the child’s first teacher/ student relationship -Learning songs -Learning colours -Learning counting This is an example of little Ivy ( at 16 months old) creating bonds with both her Mum and our teacher. She absolutely loves her swimming, loves to entertain and very much enjoys being the centre of attention.

We all think Stacey is “The Bomb” 😂 This is Stacey demonstrating a bomb to the students from St Johns Jindera today at school swimming. It appears she has perfected water displacement 💦💦💦

As part of our squad program, in week 4 and 8 of every term, our squad swimmers do “time trials” to track their progress. This week the swimmers have been giving their all to beat their PB’s. It has been lovely to watch them all support each other from the sidelines. Well done kids. Your hard work is definitely paying off. Watch Lenny (yr 1) execute a perfect race start in the video below. Good job Lenny

At Gould Swim Academy, we ask that the parents/ carers in the baby classes wear a loose fitting T-shirt or rashie in the pool during lessons. This is so that we can encourage the babies to grip onto your shirt and teach them controlled independence in the water from a young age. Here is a video of Harry (aka Chops) at the age of 2 1/2, having a wonderful time in the pool. He loves his swimming lessons at Gould. What a little champion he is, that smile never leaves his face 😊

GSA Invoicing
Your Term 3 invoice has been emailed today! Please read all stipulations carefully so you can take advantage of the benefits in our video. We also accept the NSW government Active Kids Vouchers and First Lap Vouchers.