Swim Development Specialists Debra Taylor and Louise Findlay are nominated because their contribution is inseparable. Across four decades, they have built a partnership defined by trust, shared standards, humour, resilience and an unwavering belief in the value of aquatics.
Together, they have created and sustained Edinburgh Leisure’s Aquatics & Lifesaving Training Academy, shaping generations of swim teachers, lifeguards, coaches, tutors and aquatic professionals, while strengthening the workforce that makes safe, inclusive swimming possible across Edinburgh and Scotland.
Gordon Hunter, Director of Aquatics Development at Scottish Swimming, summarises their contribution powerfully: “Few people can claim to have influenced Scottish aquatics in the way that Debra and Louise have. Through decades of training, mentoring and supporting swim teachers, tutors and aquatic professionals, they have helped build the workforce that enables thousands of children and adults across Scotland to learn to swim… Their legacy can be seen in the generations of swimmers, teachers and tutors who have benefited from their commitment to sharing knowledge and developing others, while their ongoing contribution continues to strengthen the aquatic workforce across Scotland.”
Between them, Debra Taylor and Louise Findlay have dedicated over 87 years to aquatics development in Edinburgh and across Scotland.
Debra began her career at Edinburgh Leisure in 1979 with a summer job in the café at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, before completing her preliminary swim teacher course and moving into swim teaching.
She progressed to Swim Coordinator, became a Scottish Swimming Tutor in 1982, then an Early Years Tutor, RLSS Trainer Assessor and National Trainer Assessor.
She is currently Swim Development Specialist. Louise joined Edinburgh Leisure in March 1986 after finishing college, starting as a lifeguard before quickly moving into swim teaching.
Her career progressed through swim teaching, Swim Coordinator, tutor roles and into her current position as Swim Development Specialist alongside Debra.
In 2005, Debra and Louise were appointed as Swim Education Trainers and given the opportunity to build a dedicated aquatics training function. They worked tirelessly to turn that opportunity into what is now Edinburgh Leisure’s Aquatics & Lifesaving Training Academy: a well-established, citywide and nationally respected programme delivering swim teaching, lifeguarding, lifesaving, first aid and coaching qualifications. Debra and Louise’s partnership is strengthened by the clear leadership each brings.
Debra leads the aquatics training side of the Academy, driving the development and quality of programmes including SSTQ, Aquatics CPD, Early Years qualifications and Introduction to Swim Teaching. Louise leads the lifesaving side, overseeing NPLQ, First Aid and Trainer Assessor provision to ensure it meets organisational and industry needs.
Their individual expertise gives each area strong direction, while their ability to cross-skill and step into one another’s areas provides resilience, continuity and a consistently high-quality experience across the whole Academy. They have now led the Academy’s development for more than 20 years.
Debra and Louise’s most significant achievement is the creation and sustained development of Edinburgh Leisure’s Aquatics & Lifesaving Training Academy. What began as a small internal training function is now a core workforce development programme, supporting the quality, safety and sustainability of aquatics provision across Edinburgh and Scotland through nationally recognised qualifications including the National Pool Lifeguard Qualification (NPLQ), Scottish Swimming Teacher Qualification (SSTQ), first aid, lifesaving and coaching awards.
The scale of their impact is substantial. On average, the Academy supports approximately 339 external participants and 178 internal colleagues each year, generating average annual income of £114,826 and enabling an average annual investment of £51,065 in staff development and upskilling. Each year, this includes around 229 lifeguards and 135 swim teachers, with Edinburgh Leisure estimating that more than 10,000 members of Scotland’s aquatics workforce have been trained through the Academy since it launched.
Their work has also expanded community access to swimming and strengthened employment pathways. In 2025–26, Edinburgh Leisure delivered 750 additional swimming lessons, reducing waiting lists and increasing access to an essential life skill because the Academy had trained the workforce to support this growth. In the same year, the Academy trained 337 external participants and 126 Edinburgh Leisure staff, including 30 people through three NPLQ courses and 24 young people through two Active Schools courses, supported by partnerships with The King’s Trust, the Rural and Urban Training Scheme (RUTS) and Edinburgh Council’s Active Schools team. Their contribution has also received external recognition, with Edinburgh Leisure shortlisted for the Scottish Swimming / Scottish Water Learn to Swim Provider of the Year Award in 2025.
Individual success stories, such as Josh Ward progressing from Edinburgh Leisure’s Positive Destinations employability project through the Academy to become a swim teacher and win the Rising Star Award at the 2025 Scottish Leisure Network Group Awards, show the real human impact of the pathways Debra and Louise have helped create.
Across more than 40 years, Debra and Louise have adapted to major change in the sport, leisure and aquatics sectors, including changing qualification requirements, new operating models, workforce pressures and increasing demand for safe, inclusive swimming provision. One of the greatest challenges was post-pandemic recovery, when services were disrupted, workforce capacity reduced and swimming lesson waiting lists grew.
Through the Academy, they helped centres reopen and programmes restart by testing returning lifeguards to ensure ongoing competence, supporting revised timetables, risk assessments, and cleaning procedures, and rebuilding confidence and competence across the workforce. Their training role meant Edinburgh Leisure centres were able to open long before some partners, supporting both service recovery and community access.
They also helped address the longer-term workforce challenges caused by Covid by recruiting and training new swim teachers, lifeguards and tutors, enabling Edinburgh Leisure to resource the 750 additional swimming lesson places in 2025–26 and reduce waiting lists citywide.
Alongside this, they have tackled barriers to participation through partnerships with The King’s Trust, RUTS and Active Schools, creating routes into training for young people and others who may not otherwise have seen aquatics as a career pathway. They have maintained quality at scale through learner feedback, tutor development, strategic scheduling and quality assurance, ensuring training remains consistent, responsive and nationally credible.
Their ability to keep adapting is a defining feature of their careers. Louise describes one of her proudest achievements as “still being here and continuing to adapt with the organisation”, while Debra continues to strive to be “one of the best aquatics trainers in Scotland”.
Debra and Louise inspire others through the way they teach, mentor, support and lead by example. Scottish Swimming describes their influence as “a ripple effect across Scotland that continues to be felt today”, because every teacher, lifeguard, coach and tutor they train carries forward their standards, confidence and commitment to inclusive, high-quality aquatics provision.
Their inspiration is also deeply personal. Both speak with pride about seeing former learners return as colleagues, showing the long-term link between learning to swim, gaining confidence, developing skills and entering employment. Current Edinburgh Leisure Swim Education Trainers Shannon Alexander and Isla Roden describe Debra and Louise as mentors who offer generous support, genuine care, humour, empathy and a confidence-building approach that helps others feel safe to learn to grow.
Isla says that through her SSTQ tutor training Louise “encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone and supported me throughout”, while Gary Hocknull, Edinburgh Leisure’s Club Development Officer, describes them as “two outstanding, technical swimming tutors” whose professionalism, expertise and passion have influenced coaches across Edinburgh and beyond.
They also inspire through the values they model every day. Debra encourages new starters to “work hard, have fun and reach for the stars”, while Louise urges people to “stick with it and really learn your trade”, take every opportunity to develop, and see feedback as a gift. These are not just words of advice; they reflect how both have lived their careers.
Debra Taylor and Louise Findlay deserve the CLUK Seriously Social Lifetime Achievement Award not simply for long service, but because they have turned more than four decades of skill, care and persistence into lasting public benefit.
Their work has strengthened the aquatics workforce across Edinburgh and Scotland, created safer pools and stronger services, expanded access to swimming, and helped thousands of people gain skills, qualifications, confidence and employment pathways. Their impact is both individual and systemic.
They have changed individual lives by supporting learners into work, volunteering, coaching, tutoring and personal development, while also building the workforce infrastructure that allows swimming lessons, lifeguarding, lifesaving, coaching and community aquatics activity to continue safely and sustainably.
They embody what “seriously social” means in practice: creating public value through safer services, better employment routes, more confident learners and communities benefitting from high-quality aquatics provision.
This is also a story of partnership. Debra and Louise have not simply worked alongside one another; they have built something together. Their shared standards, commitment and belief in people live on through the Aquatics & Lifesaving Training Academy and the generations of teachers, lifeguards, coaches and tutors they have developed.
