Chris Phillips

HEAD COACH / MANAGER

Grace Swimming has been going for more than 25 years and has Manager and Platinum Licensed Head Coach, Chris Phillips at the helm, supported by a team with decades of experience.

Chris has a long and successful history in swimming, both as an athlete, and coach.

As an athlete, Chris held numerous Queensland and Australian Swimming Champion titles, and went on to represent Australia.

As a coach, Chris has been a Queensland and Australian Swimming Team Coach, and was previously a Queensland Academy of Sport Coach. He has coached on the Australian Team on many occasions, and has coached numerous National and International World Record Holders. Many of Chris’ swimmers have gone on to Australian Teams, and have successfully competed at Oceana, World Championships, and Paralympic Championships. He is also a 3-time receiver of the Australian Swimming Coaches & Teachers Association Outstanding Coaching Award.

Andrew

Aquatics Coordinator

Andrew has been working in the Aquatic Industry for over 20 years, and is our Aquatics Coordinator at Grace Swimming. He began Lifeguarding in the 90’s and then went on to teach swimming. As he travelled around Australia he gained invaluable experience and worked in every role imaginable. His biggest achievement to date was designing and constructing his own Swim School in Roma.

Andrew still stresses the importance of always having a mentor, and continuing to learn. Prior to joining us here at Grace Swimming in 2015, he held the lease of the Roma Swimming Pool for 9 years. His goal here is to know every swimmers name.

Jaime

AQUATICS SUPERVISOR

Jaime joined our team in 2018 as an experienced Swim Instructor, having taught Learn to Swim and Coached for 8 years previously. She has many roles at Grace Swimming and enjoys being able to learn about so many different things each day.

Growing up by the beach, Jaime has loved swimming her whole life, and hopes that the students will come to share her passion and love for the water. She strongly believes that if children are shown how much fun swimming can be, they will continue to pursue it throughout their adult lives.

Josh

SENIOR SQUAD Coach

Josh has been swimming for as long as he can remember. He began training for competitive swimming when he was 7, and when he was 9 he joined us at Grace Swimming. Josh continued swimming competitively until 2010, and has now been coaching with us for over 9 years.

Josh holds a Bronze Coaching Licence and Level 1 Strength and Conditioning Certificate. He says he started coaching to give young kids an opportunity to love swimming and watch them achieve their goals, whether it be completing a 25m swim, or making a qualifying time for states. Being able to impart his knowledge to the swimmers inspires him every day, and never fails to bring a smile to his face.

Samantha

Administration

Sam started working in the Kiosk speaking with all the great families we have participating in our program, before moving into Accounts and Administration. She really enjoys it and excels, as she has a lot of experience in Customer Service and background Administration required to keep a business running.

Family means everything to Sam, and she feels that working at Grace is very fulfilling as we are all like a family. She believes learning to swim is so important for all children and families, as well as a great experience for kids to build growing friendships and learn to strive for a healthier and happy life.

Alanah

Assistant coach / SWIM INSTRUCTOR

Alanah brings to the team a great deal of personal experience in swimming. She has been swimming since she was 4 and started competing when she was 9. Alanah swam in our Gold (National) Squad, and her biggest achievement to date is winning two national age championship titles.

Some of Alanah’s favourite things about coaching are getting to share her love of the sport with others and being able to create a safe and fun space for kids to learn new skills. She is so excited to watch the growth and progression of the kids that she teaches.

Marina

Swim Instructor

Marina has 10 years teaching experience, and because of her love of the ocean and scuba diving, she has always thought it really important to be able to swim efficiently in order to enjoy the water. The joy of being in the water is what she always likes to pass onto her students.

Denise

Swim Instructor

Dee has swum her whole life, socially and competitively through triathlons. After having her two boys she became a stay at home Mum. She decided 2019 was her year to get back in to the workforce, and her love for children and a background working in the health and fitness industry lead her to us here at Grace.

She loves working with children and seeing their happy little faces achieve their goals. Dee believes every child has such a special personality that she loves getting to know, and thinks swimming is a great way for children to have fun and burn off that excess energy and get fit while doing it. She wants every child to have the chance to learn to swim and be safe in the water.

Tracey

Senior Kiosk Worker / Receptionist

Tracey brings a wealth of experience to our team. She has over 15 years administrative experience and over 20 years teaching experience.

Tracey enjoys working with the staff, and likes being able to hang out with all the kids who swim here. She loves seeing their improvements and watching all the siblings and families come through.

Kim

SWIM INSTRUCTOR

Kim is very experienced with children, having worked in childcare for 20 years. She wanted to spend more time with her daughter but still work with children, so she decided to teach swimming.

Kim loves kids and has a passion for wanting them to be safe in the water. “There is water everywhere in Queensland, so it’s such an important skill for them to learn.” She also enjoys that teaching swimming challenges her fitness and helps keep her healthy.

Elise

SWIM INSTRUCTOR

Elise has been swimming from 6 months old, and has trained here at Grace Swimming since 2013. Elise’s favourite stroke is breaststroke.

One of the things Elise loves about teaching is passing on skills and helping children learn important life skills. Elise has a fantastic rapport with the kids and is very excited to see their progress.

Seth

SWIM INSTRUCTOR

Seth is a triathlete who is keen to share his knowledge. He is studying Primary Education and Swimming Teaching as he loves working with kids.

Samantha

SWIM INSTRUCTOR

Samantha has been a swimmer her whole life - from when she was a young child, and for many years as a Squad swimmer. She has recently started competing as a Master's Swimmer.

She finds teaching swimming extremely rewarding and loves watching the children engage in the classes and take something away from each lesson. Samantha loves teaching all of the strokes and passing on her knowledge to children of all ages and abilities.

Morgan

SWIM INSTRUCTOR

Morgan has been brought up around pools and Learn to Swim programs since she was 5, as her family operated the town pool in her childhood town for over a decade.

She has a love for the water and believes all kids should have the opportunity to experience fun in the pool. Through teaching them to feel safe, be safe, and have the skills to feel confident in themselves in the water, she hopes all her students will have the same fun childhood memories she has. 

Shawna

SWIM INSTRUCTOR

Shawna has been swimming her whole life, having competed for many years. She started swimming teaching and coaching when she was 15, and is excited to return to aquatics after 9 years in the Defence Force.

Shawna loves when the kids can see their progress become confident in their own swimming ability.