Women in Coaching

Download the Women in Coaching Strategy

One of the first actions to emerge within the strategy is the launch of The W32 Project – a six-month development program designed for women who show strong potential to grow into future coaching roles, particularly in performance spaces.

The program includes face-to-face sessions, webinars, mentoring, and practical development activities, all built around the real-life schedules of active coaches. It’s about more than upskilling; it’s about building confidence, creating connection, and tackling the unique barriers that women often face in our sport.

Applications for the 2026 W32 Project are now open, find more information in the tab below. For further inquires, please email coaching@swimming.org.au.

Are you a female swim coach aspiring to progress into performance coaching and, one day, step into one of Australia’s high-performance swim coaching roles? It’s time to join the W32 Project!

Following a successful 2025 program, Swimming Australia remains committed to supporting women in coaching who are pursuing a career in the performance coaching pathway. This year, the W32 Project will feature two streams (IGNITE and ACCELERATE) to support women coaches across two distinct cohorts, recognising that succession planning requires different development experiences for coaches at different stages of readiness.

IGNITE: Focuses on developing technical coaching competency, including session plan design, managing the daily training environment, skill acquisition, leadership capability and developing communication style, and brand.

The Ignite Cohort will:

• Connect you to a mentor coach for career development.
• Welcome you to the Lead.Elevate.Inspire Camp.
• Inspire you through a series of webinars, designed to build technical and leadership skills.
• Include an opportunity to attend Industry networking events and activities.

Eligibility requirements include:

• Hold a valid Australian Swim Coach Licence.
• Be an active swimming coach across able-bodied swimming, para-swimming and/or open water.
• Have demonstrated experience progressing athletes toward state qualifying standards.
• Show clear intent and commitment to developing toward national-level performance outcomes.
• Be available to engage fully in the six-month program.

Ignite applications close on Tuesday 7th April 2026. Click here to apply.

ACCELERATE: Focuses on developing technical coaching competency to strengthen performance pathway capability, incorporates 1:1 coaching sessions, and provides an opportunity for an immersive coaching experience with HP Coaches from across the country.

The Accelerate Cohort will:

• Connect you to a mentor coach for career development.
• Welcome you to the Lead.Elevate.Inspire Camp.
• Inspire you through a series of webinars, designed to build technical and leadership skills.
• Include an opportunity to attend Industry networking events and activities.
• Provide 1:1 Career Support Coaching.
• Include an immersive ‘on deck’ experience with a HP Coach (individualised).

Eligibility requirements include:

• Be an active swimming coach operating in an environment where they are working with or are directly coaching national-level athletes.
• Have demonstrated experience coaching athletes to Australian National Championships at Age or Open level across able-bodied swimming, para-swimming and/or open water.
• Be able to evidence sustained involvement in athlete progression at a national level.
• Be seeking to actively progress readiness for future performance pathway coaching opportunities.
• Be available to engage fully in the six-month program.

Accelerate applications close on Monday 20th April 2026. Click here to apply.

For further inquires, please email coaching@swimming.org.au.

Congratulations to our selected 2025 W32 coaches:

As the Women in Coaching initiative evolves, new programs, partnerships and support systems will be rolled out to further strengthen the pathway for female coaches. More information will be made available as these developments continue to unfold – this is just the beginning.

For questions about this important initiative or to learn about how you can get involved, contact our Coach Development Team via: coaching@swimming.org.au