Our Staff

First and foremost, I am a mother to four children, all of whom have grown up around the water. My love for swimming started early, and in the late 90s, while working as an au pair in France, I began teaching young children to swim. After the birth of my first son, Bradley, in 2000, I experienced postnatal depression. Swimming with him became a healing journey, allowing us to connect through Birthlight swimming classes in Cambridge. This special one-on-one time helped me bond deeply with my son and became a turning point in my life.

My passion lies in fostering the parent-child bond and building mutual trust in the water. I also love helping parents understand how their children move and develop in an aquatic environment. Wanting to raise Bradley in Northampton, I returned home and founded Aqualight in 2002 – the first baby swim school in Northamptonshire and one of only a few in the UK at the time. Teaching naturally evolved into tutoring, enabling me to share my passion for water with parents and children worldwide by training others to teach.

I am constantly expanding my knowledge of children and water. Over the years, I have completed numerous courses and collaborated with the University of Northampton on research exploring the physical, emotional, and social development of children in water. In 2012, I became a WATSU (aquatic bodywork) practitioner, which beautifully aligns with the importance of touch when holding children in water. More recently, I contributed to the development of the STA Disability Swimming Manual in 2023.

Teaching is an integral part of who I am – it feels like being a mother to thousands of children, and I truly love it. I can’t imagine ever stopping.

I learnt to swim early and moved on to swim competitively through my teenage years. As an adult, I learnt to SCUBA dive and it remains one of my favourite experiences (in warm water only!) – I even met my husband whilst on a diving holiday in Egypt! During the week, I work as a primary school teacher and teach swimming at the weekend. I discovered Aqualight when my daughter was a baby and absolutely loved learning and connecting with her in the pool. When an opportunity arose to train as a baby and pre-school swimming teacher, I jumped at it and have been teaching with Aqualight ever since.

As a hyperactive pre- schooler it was recommended that I went swimming “to use up some of my energy”. I remember my first swimming teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Allen and they set me on the track for a lifetime of loving the water.

I took both of my children to lessons at Aqualight from a few months old. Having enjoyed how water confident my children became, I was very happy when an opportunity arose for me to train and teach others. I have now been teaching for Aqualight since 2009. I continue to love learning and over the years I have added to my qualifications. Some of the ways I was first taught have been refined or changed and more information is available on child development and how the water can help them with their learning. There is always something I can take away from a CPD training session and adapt it to use in my lessons.

I feel very passionate about the importance of learning to swim and do my best to work with a child who is perhaps finding it difficult to learn or needs to build their confidence. By trying to keep swimming fun and going at the child’s pace, most hurdles can be overcome. I still get a great buzz when a child achieves their different milestones, whether it is just holding a grownups arms and happy to kick or splash in the water, swim on a noodle for the first time with no grown up support, or take those first strokes of swimming with no equipment or help and see the smile on both the parent and child’s faces.

I always have mixed emotions when the time comes for a child to move to the next stage of their swimming from my classes, but so happy that I have helped them start their journey for a lifetime of loving the water.

I’m a mum of 3 and my youngest swims with Aqualight and absolutely loves it. I was lucky enough to go to a primary/ middle school which had a pool which is where my love of swimming began. I’ve been a Baby Preschool swim teacher for 6 years now and this is my 2nd year teaching older ones.

I was taught to swim by my parents. At age 10, I joined my local swimming club in Nottingham – the start of a life-long “aquatic addiction”. In my teens I swam for Nottinghamshire (my speciality was Butterfly). I also took part in competitive lifesaving and water polo.

In 2019 I took early retirement from a career in Project Management and decided to resume swimming teaching. I love teaching children to swim, making learning fun whilst providing them with the life-skills to keep safe around water and enjoy the whole range of water sports. I have been teaching and coaching with Aqualight since 2019.

I still swim competitively for Northampton Masters and enjoy Open Water swimming. In 2024 I completed the Thames Marathon swim (8 miles) and Lake Windermere end-to-end (11 miles).

I have two grown up children who wonder when I will eventually grow up – unlikely if you ever see any of my lessons! When not swimming, or teaching swimming, my wife and I enjoy travelling.

I enjoyed swimming lessons from an early age and have always loved the water. At age 16 I qualified as a lifeguard and then after working alongside the instructors, I was inspired to train to teach as well. I enjoy watching the children’s love for the water grow as they gain confidence and learn water safety skills in a relaxed and fun environment. I am also a scout leader and I love watching the children develop new skills and develop their character. I teach Junior Swimming, Private Lessons, School Swimming, and our Junior Lifeguarding courses. In the past I have also taught toddlers, pre-school, and I am also qualified for babies and squad teaching.

I started swimming when I was around 3 as my mum had a fear of water for most of her life and didn’t want me or my brothers to ever be afraid of it. I’ve been swimming ever since.

In 2015, at 16, I became a lifeguard and joined the Aqualight team. Emie helped me get into teaching in 2021. She really ignited my passion for swimming and sharing that skill and hobby in a fun and exciting way.

Helping people overcome their fears, improve their skills, and maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle really motivates me as a teacher.