Why Love Belongs in Swimming Lessons, Leadership and Everyday Life
During yoga nidra, a practice of deep rest (which I confess I have not yet mastered), Laura, our beautiful yoga teacher, read a piece by Donna Ashworth about love. Not the grand, cinematic kind. But the everyday kind. The kind we hold back. The kind we hesitate to share, in case it feels awkward. The kind we assume we should save for the “right moment”.
Her words landed softly at the time, but today these stayed with me.
Busy doing life, we often wait……until we’re less busy…….until we’re more confident…….until it feels appropriate, professional, or perfectly timed.
But water doesn’t wait. And neither do people.
Love is at the heart of leisure, so why is it not at the heart of leisure education?
At The Leisure Experts, we talk a lot about swimming lessons, water confidence, inclusion, safety, and lifelong skills. These are essential. They save lives. They build futures.
But education in leisure should never be just about competency, compliance, or ticking boxes.
Education is where values are shaped.
Where behaviours are modelled.
Where future leaders learn how to show up for others.
If love isn’t present in how we educate, assess, and develop people, it quietly disappears from how they teach, lead, and serve. Beneath every effective swimming lesson, every confident swimmer, every inclusive aquatic environment, there is something quieter at work:
Care.
Connection.
Love.
A child doesn’t learn to float because they were corrected perfectly. They learn because someone believed in them, reassured them, and created a space where fear could soften. A swimming teacher doesn’t inspire confidence through technique alone. They do it through kindness, patience, and presence.
Love in teaching swimming looks like:
- Encouraging the nervous child who clings to the wall
- Adapting lessons so everyone feels included
- Seeing the person before the performance
- Choosing empathy over ego - always
That kind of love never lands awkwardly. It lands safely.
Leadership needs more love, not less
In a sector driven by targets, timetables, and compliance, love can feel like a risky word. Too soft. Too personal. Too vulnerable. But real leadership, especially in leisure management and education, requires humanity.
Love in leadership looks like:
- Checking in, not just checking progress
- Recognising effort, not just outcomes
- Creating cultures where people feel safe to learn, fail, and grow
When leaders lead with love, teams don’t just perform better, they stay, they care, and they pass that care on to the communities they serve.
And in an industry built around water safety, trust is everything.
The moment is now
Donna Ashworth’s words remind us not to wait for the perfect moment to share kindness, encouragement, or appreciation.
Tell the swimming teacher they changed a life!
Tell the colleague you admire their calm!
Tell the learner they are braver than they think!
Whether on poolside, in a boardroom, or in everyday life, love only ever creates more love.
And in an industry where what we do quite literally keeps people safe in water, that matters more than ever.
The moment isn’t later.
The moment is now.
The moment is always now.
I know how I’m choosing to lead, teach, and show up. What about you?
