POD Coach - Urban Swim Academy

Heidi Kurth

Urban Energy Fitness — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 06:05:05 +0000

Heidi has been in Dubai since 2005, originally from Australia – a big island surrounded by water! For Heidi, swimming is her happy place. She loves being on the water, in the water or around the water.

Throughout school she swam – both competitively and for fun. Heidi was encouraged by her swim coach to complete her lifesaving levels and qualified as a pool lifeguard in high school. This gives her added confidence around water safety and something else she can introduce to clients for some fun, like teaching rescue techniques and recovery strokes.

As a mum of twin girls, and from a corporate working background, Heidi brings a different personal perspective to her coaching. Heidi has gone on to complete her Aquatic Tutor status teaching new swim coaches in the aquatics industry.

Heidi’s specialty is the learn-to-swim kids and clients old or young and those with special needs (her daughter has Cerebral Palsy).

QUALIFICATIONS:

2025 STA Aquatic Tutor
2024 STA Level 2 Award in Aquatic Teaching – Baby and Preschool Swimming
2024 STA Level 2 Award in Aquatic Teaching – Disability Swimming
2024 STA Level 2 Certificate in Swimming Teaching
2024 STA Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults
2024 STA Level 2 Safety Award for Teachers
2023 Child Safeguarding in an Aquatic Environment
2022 STA: An Introduction to Cerebral Palsy and Swimming
2022 PUGGLES: Learn to Swim Course for deaf or hard of hearing children
2019 WORLD WIDE SWIM SCHOOL: Water Safety for Over 4’s
2018 AUSTSWIM: Teacher of Aquatics Access and Inclusion (Disability)
2014 AUSTSWIM: Teacher of Infant and Preschool Aquatics (INF)
2013 AUSTSWIM: Teacher of Swimming and Water Safety (TSW)

INTERESTS:

Heidi loves everything health, wellness and nutrition. She is currently studying Nutrition and Health Coaching.
Cooking & gardening – Heidi used to grow an array of fruit and vegetables in her garden and run kids food exploration workshops.
Being near the water – ocean, lakes, rivers or ponds.
Travelling

The post Heidi Kurth appeared first on Urban Swim Academy.

Aurelie Colas

Urban Energy Fitness — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 03:46:29 +0000

With a degree in Engineering and a couple of Master degrees in Science, Aurelie tends to view every piece of data as a learning opportunity. When she is not coaching poolside or crunching numbers on her laptop, you will find her researching training methods and techniques.

For the last few years, she was both a swimming instructor and a swim coach for squads in Saudi Arabia, sharing her passion for swimming with children, teenagers and adults alike. From complete beginners to advanced swimmers, she has been teaching and coaching all levels in a multicultural environment. Having now moved to Dubai, she is eager to put her energy to the service of Urban swimmers.

Mum of two swimmers, she is always promoting the immense benefits of sports in general, and swimming in particular, in the development of children and teenagers. From the obvious physical advantages that a non-contact non-weight bearing, demanding sport bring, to the improved self-esteem and confidence, the development of discipline, the sense of commitment, the team spirit: swimming has it all!

Besides coaching, Aurelie also trains for triathlons herself, and this season is focusing on olympic and half- distances. She is always ready for a challenge, be it a 10km ocean swim, or the occasional century mile solo bike ride.

Favourite stroke to teach? breaststroke and butterfly.
Favourite stroke to swim? anything but backstroke.
Favourite whimsical event? any reverse triathlon.

QUALIFICATIONS:

2024 STA Award Level 2 in Teaching Swimming for People with Disability
2023 STA Aquatic Tutor
2023 STA Level 3 Award in Education and Training
2023 STA Child Safeguarding
2019 STA Award Level 2 in Teaching Swimming
2019 STA Certificate Level 2 in Teaching Swimming
2017 STA International Pool Lifeguard
2021 ASCA Levels 1, 2
2022 STA additional courses (Breathing, Teaching Adults, Introduction to Cerebral Palsy and Swimming)
2020 ISSA Certified Personal Trainer
2020 ISSA Nutrition Coach
2020 ISSA Fitness Coach
2007 Ingenieur Civil des Mines – Master of Science, specialty in Bioinformatics and Computer Science
2007 Master of Science, Theoretical and Computational Chemistry
2006 Master of Engineering

INTERESTS:

Textile arts
Philosophy
Film photography

The post Aurelie Colas appeared first on Urban Swim Academy.

Thushara Sampath

Urban Energy Fitness — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 05:25:16 +0000

Swim Coach & LTS Program Leader

Thushara Sampath

Thushara has a life long love of water and aquatics. His wealth experience as a surf instructor, lifeguard trainer and swim coach give him different tools to bring to his lessons. He has a firm but fun approach to swimming teaching, striving to get the best out of every swimmer.

Thushara has a great passion for swimming and ensures every child or adult that he coaches is happy, confident and loves to swim. He has extensive knowledge of modern swimming techniques and works patiently with the swimmer to ensure they understand and perform these for their own speed and inclusion in competitions.

Prior to coming to the UAE, Thushara was the Sri Lankan National Paralympic Swimming Coach and has worked with children and adults – from teaching them to swim through to training and managing high performance swimming squads.

Thushara is a middle distance open water swimmer and surfing instructor, has a great passion for swimming and ensures every child gets a love for the sport. He has extensive knowledge of modern swimming techniques and works patiently with children. Thushara volunteers with Touch Dubai providing swim lessons for People of Determination.

QUALIFICATIONS:

2018 ASCA Level 4
2012 ASCA Level 3
2015 White Water Rescue
2015 Shiftwater Rescue Technician 1
2022 STA International Lifesaving Course for Swimming Teachers
2023 Child Safeguarding in an Aquatic Environment
2023 Swim Angels Level 1 Adaptive Swim Whispers
2023 Pool Lifeguard
2024 STA Level 2 Award in Teaching Swimming
2024 STA Level 2 Certificate in Swimming Teaching
2024 International Diploma in Special Needs Education (Level 4)
2025 RLSS Lifeguard Tutor Trainer

INTERESTS:

Surfing and going to the beach
Gemstones from Sri Lanka

The post Thushara Sampath appeared first on Urban Swim Academy.

Angela Muriuki

Urban Energy Fitness — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:37:05 +0000

Angela has been teaching since 2017 where she was introduced to scuba diving and competitive swimming by her lead instructor, later that year she started working at an international school in Kenya as a senior swim coach. She has taught beginners, intermediate and advanced swimmers of all ages. Since 2018 she has been perfecting her teaching techniques which have resulted in great success for her swimmers. One of her many achievements is three swimmers placing top in the 100M freestyle and 100M breaststroke at the KSF gala 2019.

She relocated to Dubai in 2021 as a swimming instructor and is very passionate about teaching kids. The bond she has with them has enabled great progress in their swimming journeys.

Her goal is to improve technical skills, inspire swimmers to reach their potential, provide a safe space and make swimming fun for each swimmer.

QUALIFICATIONS:

2025 – STA Level 2 Award in Aquatic Teaching – Disability Swimming
2024 – STA International Baby & Pre School Teacher
2025 – Emergency First Aid at Work
2024 – STA Level 2 Safety Award for Swim Teachers
2023 – STA Level 2 Award in Teaching Swimming
2018 – Level 2 KLF Swimming Instructor Course (Kenya)

INTERESTS:

Painting
Traveling
Making new friends

The post Angela Muriuki appeared first on Urban Swim Academy.

Madelein Vizagie

Urban Energy Fitness — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 01:03:26 +0000

Madelein has been teaching swimming since 2012 and holds qualifications from Swimming South Africa, Swim Dynamics and STA UK. She has worked with everyone from toddlers taking their first splash to adults pursuing new swimming goals, always creating a positive, supportive environment in the water.

For Madelein, swimming is about much more than strokes and technique — it’s about building confidence, trust, and a sense of achievement in every student. She believes swimming is a gift of freedom, safety, and self-belief, and loves helping swimmers discover strengths they never knew they had.

Outside the pool, Madelein enjoys exploring new cultures, trying new experiences, and spending time with loved ones. Her approach to life is the same as her approach to swimming — dive in, embrace the challenge, and enjoy the journey.

QUALIFICATIONS

2024 Starfish Aquatics Institute Swim School and Stroke School Instructor
2025 ASHI First aid and CPR for children and adults
2025 STA Level 2 Safety Award for Swim Teachers
2025 Safeguarding in the Aquatic Environment UAE
2025 STA Level 2 Award in Aquatic Teaching – Disability Swimming
2025 STA Schools Swimming
2025 STA Learn to Swim Program (Grades 1-7)
2025 STA Trauma informed Practice in Swimming

INTERESTS

Exploring and travelling
Music
Connecting with people

The post Madelein Vizagie appeared first on Urban Swim Academy.