Swimming NSW is proud to introduce a new e-learning course to help parents, volunteers, coaches, and adult athletes become body image champions.
Delivered via the Swim Confident project, this is the latest in a series of initiatives designed to help foster a positive body image in swimmers and educate the SNSW community about providing safe environments for young people to thrive.
Swimming NSW’s Sport Development and Participation Manager, Sarah Koen, said it was important for anyone involved with young people to get on board and be part of a cultural shift in the sport’s collective attitudes towards body image.
“In July 2022, we received a grant from the NSW Government Mental Health Sports Fund Grant Program Swimming to improve body image for swimmers and create long-term cultural change in the sport. We used the funding to partner with Body Confident Collective on the new Swim Confident program,” said Ms Koen.
“The program is guided by the 46 recommendations from the Swimming Australia Independent Panel Report of 2021 – many of them relating to body image and body shaming cultures – and has largely been youth-led through the Swimming NSW Youth Advisory Panel.
“We have spent the past 12 months increasing the awareness and importance of body image and educating parents, club committees, coaches, high performance swimmers and our youth advisors via numerous webinars and face-to-face presentations tailored for all categories of our members.
“We highly recommend that all parents, coaches, and committee members make the time to complete this free 30-minute online course for the benefit of the young people they are involved with.”
Georgie Buckley from Body Confident Collective added that the course would empower all adult members and supporters to improve their own relationship with their body and give them tangible and practical advice on how they could provide the best environment for younger ones around them.
“We know that 60% of current and former athletes will experience disordered eating and/or body image concern, a significantly higher rate than non-athletes. We’ve set out to educate and upskill the Swimming NSW community to reduce these rates and improve cultures now,” said Ms Buckley.
“This free course tackles the hardest parts of eating disorders and body image in sport that we often just skip over and pretend don’t exist. The introductory module teaches participants how to improve the way people talk about bodies, recognise and act on harmful body commentary, empower athletes to feel better about their bodies and create cultural change in your swimming club.”
The e-learning course includes:
- an introductory module that runs for around 30 minutes and comes with free downloadable resources, interactive videos, reflective questions and clear strategies for action
- two bonus modules
- bonus module 1: strategies for creating lasting change in swimming – beyond the basics, focuses on how to celebrate diversity, evaluate policy in your club, why you shouldn’t weigh athletes, making food more than just fuel and more!
- bonus module 2: delves deeper into eating disorders and disordered eating in sport, covers what typical symptoms look like and how people can safely support someone with an eating disorder or disordered eating to get the support they need.
The Swim Confident project page on the Swimming NSW website includes links to the new e-learning course, along with additional resources to assist all members of the Swimming NSW community to become better equipped and educated to recognise and respond to body image concerns at their clubs.
This page will also be updated with information about the 'change maker' projects created by members of the 2023 Youth Advisory Panel for the Swim Confident program, such as Lauren Oberg's 'Shoosh Your Parents' club night initiative.
Be part of the change and get your club on board with utilising these free resources!
