At Ivanhoe Swim, a new program is showing what inclusive swimming can look like when access, communication and care are placed at the centre of every lesson.
The Deaf and Hard of Hearing swimming program at Ivanhoe Swim’s Ridgeway campus has been created for children and adults of all abilities. The program helps more people feel welcome, understood and confident in the water. It is led by, Deaflympian, Imogen Nolan, an amazing swim instructor who is infant trained and bilingual, allowing her to be able to support both English users and Auslan users in the water, no matter their age.
For Deaf Children Australia, this is the kind of community-led work worth celebrating. It is practical, thoughtful and rooted in passion and care. It recognizes that swimming is not only a sport or an activity. In Australia, it is a vital life skill, and every person deserves the opportunity to learn in a way that works for them.
Imogen’s own journey shows why this work matters.
As a young deaf child, Imogen’s family struggled to find a learn-to-swim program that could support her beyond basic water familiarization. Some programs were unwilling to take her into stroke development, particularly as lessons became larger and more communication heavy.
The issue was not Imogen’s ability. It was access.
“No one was willing to take me for actual strokes and things like that,” Imogen said. “My parents reached out to Katrina because they had nowhere else to go.”
That connection became a turning point. Katrina Gevaux, Director of Aquatics at Ivanhoe Swim, helped connect Imogen and her family with Laura May, a swim teacher who knew Auslan. For the first time, Imogen could fully understand what she was being taught, without relying only on lip reading, guesswork or working harder than everyone else just to follow the lesson.
“Laura was able to communicate with me and Katrina connected us together,” Imogen said. “I was able to fully understand what I was doing. I felt like I could have a conversation with her without having to overwork my brain with lip reading. It just felt really natural.”
With the right communication support in place, Imogen could focus on swimming itself. She progressed through lessons, school carnivals and squad training, eventually building a competitive swimming career that would take her to the world stage.
In 2025, Imogen represented Australia at the Deaflympics in Japan, where she was also selected as Australia’s flag bearer. She went on to win gold in the 50 meter breaststroke and silver in both the 100 meter and 200 meter breaststroke.
For Imogen, the Deaflympics were not only about medals. They were also about competing in an environment where access was considered from the beginning. Visual starting systems supported swimmers on the blocks, using lights to communicate each stage of the start.
Her experiences in sport have shaped the way she understands advocacy, confidence and inclusion. Being deaf can bring challenges in busy environments where communication is often built around sound, but it has also helped Imogen build focus, adaptability and a strong awareness of how important clear communication is.
“I’ve had experiences where I’ve been rejected, or I wasn’t allowed to do something, or people had beliefs that I wasn’t able to do something,” Imogen said. “So it’s really influenced me to treat everyone with the aim of trying to get them to their goal.”
Today, Imogen is helping create the kind of access that supported her own journey. With Katrina and the Ivanhoe Swim team behind her, the new Deaf and Hard of Hearing swimming program is building a more inclusive pathway for children, adults and families.
What makes the work at Ivanhoe Swim so meaningful is that inclusion is not being treated as an add-on. It is being built into the way teachers think, communicate and structure lessons. Katrina explained that the team is learning how to make classes clearer and more accessible through practical strategies, including facing students when giving instructions, making sure students are watching before demonstrations, using basic signs and allowing students to observe before taking their turn.
“I’m just a big believer in everyone learning how to swim,” Katrina said. “I don’t think it’s right that there are some people out there who aren’t allowed, or just can’t get access to swim lessons. Everyone has the right to learn.”
Katrina also emphasized that access should not depend on families travelling long distances to find the right program. Her view is that swim schools have a responsibility to keep learning, adapting and making lessons more inclusive for their own communities.
“It’s not a competition,” Katrina said. “As far as I’m concerned, every swim school should support all children in learning to swim.”
That mindset is part of what makes Ivanhoe Swim’s approach so strong. The program is not only supporting students who enroll in dedicated classes. It is also helping build broader awareness across the swim school, so more teachers understand how small, thoughtful changes can make a significant difference.
For Imogen, communication in the pool is about more than instructions. It is about connection and being able to focus on learning, rather than constantly managing barriers.
She knows how tiring it can be when a deaf or hard of hearing student has to concentrate on lip reading, background noise or missed information before they can even begin thinking about the skill being taught. Her goal is to help students feel included from the beginning.
“Katrina and my goal with this is for deaf and hard of hearing kids to not have to feel different or othered, or feel like they have to work really hard to concentrate on external factors instead of actually on their swimming,” Imogen said.
Imogen also sees signing and visual communication as valuable for all students, not only those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Pools are loud, busy environments. Clear hand signals, visual demonstrations and simple signs can help children understand what is happening and feel more confident participating.
“Even hearing kids, because it’s a noisy environment anyway, like it’s a pool, they’re not going to be able to hear everything,” Imogen said. “Sometimes it’s very helpful for kids to know some of the words that are associated with signs, no matter who they are.”
For Katrina, seeing Imogen return to Ivanhoe Swim as an instructor has been deeply meaningful. Years ago, Katrina helped Imogen’s family find a way into swimming. Now, Imogen is helping lead a program that gives others the same chance to feel seen, supported and capable in the water.
“I was so excited to see her,” Katrina said. “I had this thing in my head going, imagine we could do this again. And now look at us.”
The full-circle nature of this story is powerful. What began with one family searching for a swim teacher who could communicate with their child has grown into a program that reflects the best of inclusive community practice. It is practical, strength-based and led by people who understand why access matters.
At Ivanhoe Swim, that access is now being offered through a dedicated program, a team willing to learn and a teacher whose lived experience gives families something deeply important: representation.
Swimming is a vital life skill. No child, adult or family should be excluded from learning because of communication barriers, assumptions or a lack of inclusive options.
The work happening at Ivanhoe Swim shows what is possible when a swim school listens, adapts and creates space for deaf and hard of hearing people to participate fully. It also shows the lasting impact of one accessible opportunity. For Imogen, the right support opened the door to confidence, competition, teaching and advocacy. Now, through this program, she is helping open that door for others.
Families can now register their interest in Ivanhoe Swim’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing swimming program at the Ridgeway campus in Ivanhoe.
To learn more or register your interest, click the button below.