Surf Talk Episode 4 - VACSWIM
Surf Talk host, Ross Smith, is joined by SLSSA Head of Community and Aquatic Programs, Natasha Hudoba, to discuss VACSWIM.
VACSWIM is South Australia's most renowned summer holiday program, giving children aged three to twelve confidence in and around the water. VACSWIM is structured in five-day blocks, with 130+ programs on offer across nearly 120 beaches, lakes, pools and rivers.
This episode is sponsored by FHTS - Firehouse Technologies.
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Ross Smith:
00:00-00:47
Hi, I'm Ross Smith and welcome to Surf Talk, Surf Life Saving South Australia's podcast. Every fortnight we'll be releasing new episodes of Surf Talk. We'll be talking everything Surf Life Saving South Australia, what we're about, what we do, and on the way we'll be interviewing some amazing people, from club members and their achievements to outstanding rescues and everything in between. Episode four of Surf Talk is proudly brought to you by FHTS, one of South Australia's leading technology firms. You'll hear more about our sponsor a little bit later on in the program. Today we have a special guest and our special guest's name is Natasha Hudoba, or as we call her, Tash. Tash is the head of community and aquatic programs in Surf Life Saving South Australia. Hi, Tash. Welcome to Surf Talk.
Tash Hudoba:
00:47-00:49
Hi, Ross. Thanks for having me.
Ross Smith:
00:49-00:53
Tash, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and what you do here at Surf Life Saving South Australia?
Tash Hudoba:
00:53-02:01
Sure. So I'm someone who's always loved sport and really participating in any activities that involve being active and out and about, but I particularly love those that were water-based. Now, I wasn't that type of person who was really great at swimming, one of those people who are so dedicated up at 5 a.m. doing all their training, but I just loved it. I loved going for a swim, hanging out with friends at the pool, going down the beach and playing water-based games, or kayaking and jet skiing. Pretty much anything that you could do on the water, I'd give it a go. So when I actually started thinking about what I wanted to do as a young person for casual employment, I knew that I simply didn't want to go around serving people in a restaurant or working as a checkout at a local shopping centre. I really wanted to do something that I loved, and so I became a swimming instructor. And working at the pool, I really got to broaden my skills because I did more than just instruct. I ended up being pool lifeguard, working behind the kiosk, and then becoming a swim school supervisor. So it was absolutely fantastic, and I had no idea that this was something that I could do, and eventually, Sport and Rec would turn into a full-time job for me, which was amazing.
Ross Smith:
02:01-02:05
It sort of led you where you are today, isn't it, to put you in this position?
Tash Hudoba:
02:05-02:57
Yeah, and in all honesty, it was really the VACSWIM program that got me to where I am. I started, I remember, as a little five-year-old in Level 1, and it was something that we did year on year as a family. And so I did it all the way up to Level 7, and even went so far as to doing the high awards, which at the time was through Royal Life Saving, and completed my award of distinction. And even from that, I did every role that you could possibly do in the vaccine program, starting as a volunteer, assistant, instructor, and then was eventually instructor in charge at, if it wasn't the largest, it was one of the largest locations at the time at Marion Outdoor Pool. So it really played a huge part in, I guess, my career and where I am. So it's incredible that I now leave a team that delivers water safety programs directly to the community, with VACSWIM being one of the largest programs that we deliver.
Ross Smith:
02:57-03:35
Yeah, it's incredible, isn't it, how it's brought you back. Now, people think, oh, it's just like a casual job over the summertime, I'm just teaching a few kids about water safety, and it sounds like it's just casual work. And often people go, oh, I want a full-time job, where's this ever going to lead to? But there's so many career pathways in this sort of industry, and you've found your niche just from VACSWIM, you've come up to, you're head of that department, you're running a whole team of people. So yeah, anyone that starts off and just saying, I'm just a, and they're not just a, but just someone that's doing a little bit of community work and getting paid for it over the summer period can absolutely, you're the classic example of that leading to a full-time job that you absolutely love.
Tash Hudoba:
03:35-03:42
Yeah, exactly. And who doesn't want to work in a job that they love and actually is rewarding? This is something that saves lives.
Ross Smith:
03:42-03:49
Absolutely. It's brilliant. Can you explain a bit about all the programs, water safety programs that you have under your realm?
Tash Hudoba:
03:49-04:54
I think a lot of people would be surprised how much Surf Lifesaving actually deliver. And it's not just across beaches. We deliver our water safety education in beaches, rivers, pools, and lakes. So it's really quite vast on what we do. Obviously VACSWIM is our largest program and people might know and have heard of Surf Babies as well. But what they might not know is that we do so much more, particularly in the Aboriginal multicultural space. We go as far as the most remote places in South Australia in the APY lands to do this education. As well as the multicultural program is getting larger and it's something that we're still working on, but recently we had a award through AUSWIM as the Community Innovative Program of the Year. We actually got to work with new arrivals to Australia who were displaced Ukrainians, which really had an amazing impact on not only their water safety education, but helping with their settlement into South Australia as well.
Ross Smith:
04:54-05:29
It was incredible. Anyone that's lived in a landlocked country and now we've seen a high rate of drownings from people from other countries coming to Australia who just don't understand our waterways. And I get it, they don't, they haven't been around it. And having that program like that is a really special thing. Not only does it teach them really important life-saving skills, they become part of a community. They fit in. They start to see, I'm sure someone will be sort of talking about being surf members and getting really involved. And that's great. What a great integration. What a great introduction into Australia to, hey, let's keep you safer, as well as become part of a big community.
Tash Hudoba:
05:29-05:45
Yeah, definitely. And even one of the people who were part of that specific Welcome to SA Shores program has become a member. Even through the VAC Swim program, he's now an instructor in charge as part of the program. So he's really embraced it. So shout out to Max, if you're listening.
Ross Smith:
05:45-06:00
That is fantastic. What a great story. So I know the season's coming up now for VAC Swim. So I know you've been absolutely flat out in your department, getting everyone ready and getting people out on the beaches. And how many sessions have we got and where are they run, Tash?
Tash Hudoba:
06:00-06:21
We actually do deliver 130 programs across the entire South Australia. So all the way from Mount Gambier to Penang, which is incredible. So there's lots of opportunities for people to get involved. And it's delivered as five-day blocks over a four-week period. So one pre-Christmas and then three post-New Year's.
Ross Smith:
06:21-07:02
Wow. So there's a lot of opportunity for regional people, which is fantastic. So water safety is not just about the beach, it extends right across the rivers to dams to any unguarded water areas that people can swim in. So yeah, it's fantastic we've sort of got that covered now, but people just think surf life-saving just on the beach. Well no, we're inland now and we've got programs like the Rippers program, which is the river program for like nippers and so many great initiatives. It's fantastic. So Tash, we're just going to take a really short break. We have a little word from our sponsors. And when we come back, I really want you to sort of explain to parents how they can enrol and give them a general idea of what the children can learn from that. So we'll just take a short break and we'll be back soon.
Tash Hudoba:
07:02-07:03
Great.
Sponsor Message:
07:03-08:25
This episode of the Surf Lifesaving SA podcast is proudly brought to you by FHTS, one of South Australia's own and leading technology firms. FHTS develops innovative software solutions to solve real world business challenges using safe AI and data analytics. Whether it's about understanding your own data to make better decisions or enhancing operations with your own AI co-pilot, FHTS has the expertise to deliver. With an extended team of over 100 qualified engineers and consultants, FHTS track record includes successful collaborations with private and public sector clients globally, including notable projects like Morta AI. FHTS's team holds hundreds of certifications, ensuring the delivery of the highest quality solutions no matter the complexity of the challenge. If a problem can be solved with software, FHTS will find a way. FHTS wants to be your long term partner and grow together with your business. Reach out today and discover how they can transform your business through great software. Visit them at www.fht.services for more information. FHTS, safe AI and data analytics.
Ross Smith:
08:26-08:36
Hi Tash, welcome back. Thank you. Just in general, what do sort of children learn from the VACSWIM program and how easy is it for parents to enrol?
Tash Hudoba:
08:36-09:19
So a lot of people think VACSWIM is just typically swimming and it's completely different to that. We are focused on border safety education. So we're teaching kids, yes, a little bit around swimming, but we're going and extending that to go, well, how would you rescue someone or be rescued if you get in trouble? What would you do in that situation? We do flotation as well as some survival sequence where kids actually get to put on clothes and have that feeling of what would happen if they were potentially out on a boat in an ocean and capsized and how they would tread water and swim and get some life jacket experience as well. So it's a lot more than just what your usual swimming is.
Ross Smith:
09:19-09:44
I watched a couple of the groups being, VACSWIM is in play and the kids are not only learning something, they're actually having a ball. And I've watched parents turn up trying to get them out of the water and they're still kicking around, having fun. So it's sort of having fun at the beach in the summertime. What more fun can you have? And learning something. It's just absolutely brilliant. So parents to enrol, what's the easiest way to enrol for them?
Tash Hudoba:
09:44-09:57
So the easiest way for them to enrol is to head to our website, which is www.vacswimsa.com.au and there is a location enrolment page where you simply put in your suburb and it will show you all the locations nearest to you.
Ross Smith:
09:57-10:00
So how are the enrolments going? Are we getting people enrolling?
Tash Hudoba:
10:00-10:10
We sure are. We've got over 8,000 kids at the moment registered and we're looking like we'll have closer to 10,500 this year, which is absolutely amazing.
Ross Smith:
10:10-10:40
And just think that 10,500 children that now are more confident and can feel safer in and around water. And after speaking, I know we've got two episodes talking about VACSWIM, but after speaking on episode three to Marley, how some of those kids actually got in the water and helped that girl that fell off the jetty. And that's from their VACSWIM skills, you know, I know Marley's not highly trained, but it just shows you that, what am I doing here? When am I going to put that into play? Well, you just never, ever know. What an amazing skill to have.
Tash Hudoba:
10:41-11:21
And it's pretty confronting. So the fact that we are able to provide you with the skills to be able to deal with that session is really great. We had a launch recently, which some people may have seen on the news around two girls who were named Rose and Scarlett, who actually jumped into action with their grandma having a cardiac arrest. She was looking after them at the time. So they were the only ones nearby and they actually performed CPR on their grandmother and she survived, which is a really rare case. But the fact that VACSWIM was one of the reasons why they were able to ensure that their grandmother kept going and was here today to tell the story was an amazing achievement.
Ross Smith:
11:21-11:23
How old were the children?
Tash Hudoba:
11:23-11:24
They were 11 and 12.
Ross Smith:
11:24-12:08
11 and 12. And they performed effective CPR and saved their grandma's life. And they learned this at VACSWIM. I mean, you can't stress enough to anyone listening or any parent who's listening how important these programs are. I'm just I'm wildly passionate about water safety. And from my background as a former paramedic, being to drownings and seeing things that aren't pleasant, the tragedies that happen out there in the backyard swimming pools, the oceans and the rivers, I'd strongly encourage any parent, please, if someone's listening to this as a club member, share it to as many people as you can and get your children involved, learning to swim, learning to save a life and learning just absolute beach safety and safety in and around water. It's such an important thing. I can't stress it enough.
Tash Hudoba:
12:08-12:16
Yep. Totally agree with what you said, you know, even in and around the water, it's skills for life. It is absolutely skills for life.
Ross Smith:
12:16-13:00
Tash, look, you guys do an amazing job at the community program. We haven't had a lot of time to talk about other sections like you talked about multicultural indigenous education. I know you do a fantastic in that area as well. I'm sure we'll have a yap again and chat about that because that's an episode in itself. I know we want to really focus on VACSWIM to get that message out there. So once again, parents, if you're listening, it's easy to get involved as all you have to do is go to VACSWIMSA.com.au. The form is easy to fill out and register. If you have any issues and you want to know more about other water safety programs, maybe give us a call at Surf Lifesaving and our number there is 8354 6900, so Surf Lifesaving South Australia. That's our number. This has been fantastic. Tash, thank you so much for being my guest today.
Tash Hudoba:
13:00-13:01
Thanks Ross.
Ross Smith:
13:01-13:29
So if you really liked our podcast today, guys, please subscribe and tell everyone about the episode. If you subscribe, you get all the episodes free and you get links and notification when they're coming up. I'd really like to thank our sponsor again today, FHTS. You can find them at www.fhts.services and you can learn more about them. So we really appreciate them helping us out put this episode together. So thank you for listening. And once again, I'm Ross Smith and what I say is get inspired and get involved.