Swimming teacher

As a swimming teacher, you'll:

• plan lessons for beginners, improvers and advanced swimmers
• teach or coach one-to-one or in groups
• make sure safety standards are followed
• check life-saving equipment is in working order
• identify ways to improve swimmers' performance
• give first aid for minor injuries or accidents

• leadership skills
• knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
• customer service skills
• the ability to create the best conditions for learning or teaching new things
• excellent verbal communication skills
• the ability to monitor your own performance and that of your colleagues
• the ability to work on your own
• the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
• to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

You can get into this job through:

• an apprenticeship
• training with a professional body

With experience, you could be a swim co-ordinator or lead swimming teacher for a region, checking the quality of other swimming teachers.

With further training, you could widen your skills to work with:

• babies and pre-schoolers
• people with disabilities
• open water swimmers

You could work as the head coach of a swimming club, or senior coach with a regional or national team. You might also wish to move into elite sports coaching, sports development or fitness training.