About Gordon aka Swim Yoda
Gordon was born to English parents in the south of Thailand and was an avid sportsman from a young age. After completing University in the UK, he returned home to Thailand in 1997 and nervously instructed his first swimming class with 5 clients. Since then Gordon guesses he has taught over 5,000 students.
Although Gordon gets immense joy from teaching, obsession with great swim programs and developing the best swimming coaches has lead him to becoming an educator.
As an educator and instructor I have a passion for all things swimming and know the importance of individual learning paths, motivation, reward and recognition, water management and techniques to bring out the best in all types of learners.
As an experienced Swim School Director, I am skilled in swim development and extremely competent in multiple disciplines including all levels of Swimming Teaching, all levels of Swim Course presenting, Pool Lifeguarding presenting and First Aid and CPR presenting.
As the owner of the #1 swimming school in Bangkok built from 10 – 2,000 students I am extremely experienced in managing complex timetables, scheduling, swim meets & competitions.
A significant part of our swim schools success has been the training and development of our swimming coaches across all our locations and supporting them to continuously upgrade their skills in line with latest thinking.
In addition I work with some of Bangkok’s best schools in advising on their swim programs and am constantly called upon to identify best talent to fill key swim positions across the country.
Our school has always specialized in swim programs for 3 months to 18 years old. We give children a love of the sport, a lot of confidence and courage and skills that propel them forward.
Our joy of teaching, obsession with great swim programs and developing the best swimming coaches has been the reason we have built the most successful swim school in the country and one of the only swim school accredited by the Thai education authority.
Swim Yoda believes all children should have the opportunity to learn to swim. Late 2022 Gordon (Swim Yoda) attended the Swim Australia conference in Brisbane, where he presented the "Puggles Swim” programme that he wrote for Deaf Children Australia.
The course is designed to up-skill accredited swim teachers to include deaf and hard-of-hearing children in mainstream lessons.