"Award winning swim teacher Petrina Liyanage has helped more than 1000 adults get water confident since establishing her business in 2013. 

Now she has put her experience into a guide. This is one of the rare books on teaching adults to swim from someone who not only has the experience, but has been recognised as excelling at it." 

"Petrina Liyanage runs swim with a smile. Her business focuses on helping adults learn how to swim in one-to-one lessons. 

'I had a surge of registrations during the lockdown,' Liyanage says. 'As soon as I started teaching again I had quite a backlog of registrations from people who wanted to get started as soon as possible.'" 

"I looked around and found swim with a smile, a swimming instructor offering private lessons, which was exactly what I wanted. Because it was a private lesson, I didn’t feel self-conscious. I was very relaxed and actually enjoyed the lessons, which I hadn’t expected. I had such a great feeling when I first completed an entire lap. I still hold on to that feeling."

"With over 240 AUSTSWIM Teacher Award nominations across Australia and New Zealand, Petrina has been recognised amongst the nation’s best. 

Some of the most common reasons adults haven’t learnt how to swim is that they’ve suffered a water related trauma or had a fear of the water instilled in them by their parents. Others may have learnt to swim as a kid but have since forgotten and want to brush up on their skills." 

"The majority of people I teach aren't looking to gain triathlete status. They want basic aquatic skills and to learn water safety.

I left the rat race to combine my passion for swimming with the ambition to empower others with such an important life skill.'"
 

"According to swim instructor Petrina Liyanage, teachers need even more patience to teach adults than children. 

The instructor has taught air hostesses and police officers, whose jobs require a basic mastery of freestyle, but said the majority of her students are people who've always shied away from water." 

"How do you go about teaching someone older how to swim? It's certainly a case of breaking it down into small baby steps. It's about breath control, getting their face wet, then building up the basics of how to float, kick and move, and most importantly understanding how to tread water as well."
 

"Petrina Liyanage was shocked and saddened by the drowning tragedies in NSW this summer. She believes education is the key to prevent any further deaths. “There should be more acknowledgment by the government on the fact that many adults lack the confidence and/or ability in swimming,” she said." 

"Can anybody really learn to swim after childhood?

"Breath control is the biggest area of concern for adults. Knowing how to float on your back and tread water are the basic survival skills that everyone should have."
 

"If you're a summer swimmer, chilly temperatures might put you off your sport in winter, but here's how to handle that.

“Swim shorter distances and try and complete them in faster times. That gets the heart pumping and prevents you losing body heat in the water,” says Petrina Liyanage from Sydney’s Swim With  a Smile. “And just get in – if you stall it’ll make it harder." 

"Adult swimming teacher Petrina Liyanage says many of her clients experience similar feelings of shame and embarrassment.

With Australia's long hot summers and outdoor lifestyles, learning to swim isn't just a handy skill to have, it could be lifesaving." 

"In 2013, Petrina launched her full time business swim with a smile, a mobile teaching company that offers lessons in home and apartment pools.

Her service spans across the North Shore and Northern Beaches, and is an AUSTSWIM Recognised Centre."