Leisurelink Aquatic and Recreation Centre has once again been named Swim and Survive Partner of the Year at the recent Life Saving Victoria (LSV) awards.
The prestigious honour, last awarded to our Webstar’s Swim School in 2023, demonstrates the City’s Swim Sport & Leisure team’s ongoing commitment to educating community members about how to be safe around the water.
Classes are vital to helping children, international students and new residents unfamiliar with our region’s beaches and waterways to learn the fundamentals of swimming, essential water safety skills and what to do if they get into trouble.
Children as young as six months of age can join and instructors help each student to gain confidence and achieve their goals faster through Royal Life Saving Australia’s evidence-based Swim and Survive program.
The news follows Leisurelink’s Swim School Award win at the Aquatic Recreation Victoria (ARV) Industry Awards in June for improvements that helped students progress through swimming levels faster while maintaining high-quality instruction.
Thanks to assessment scheduling, class structure and parent engagement changes, the number of weeks spent in a swim level dropped by 10.4 weeks on average, with some levels decreasing by 28 weeks.
Leisurelink was also recognised for delivering accessible, inclusive and culturally safe swim lessons, while achieving a record 3,628 enrolments in 2025.
Greater Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj OAM:
Webstar’s Swim School at Leisurelink is among the largest in Australia with 110,830 visitations in 2025, on top of lessons at the centre to more than 5,100 primary school students.
Across both programs, there were more than 137,000 swimming lesson attendances.
To be recognised with two major awards is an incredible achievement for the entire Leisurelink team and demonstrates that our focus on quality swimming education and water safety is making a genuine difference.
Deputy Mayor and Sport & Recreation portfolio chair Eddy Kontelj:
A big thank you to our Leisurelink and Webstar’s Swim School staff for their dedication and encouragement of students.
Swimming lessons are so important as we move into warmer weather and like any sport or activity, regular practice is the key to improvement.
Enrol now into Webstar’s Swim School in a centre near you at geelong.link/WebstarsSwimSchool
