About
Us
Swim City coaches swimmers
of all ages & abilities
We are Swim City! A multi award winning swim school based in the North East of England. Our goal is for every child in the North East to have high quality and enjoyable swimming lessons. We care a lot about making swimming a fun sport for everyone, which is why we cater to all ages and abilities. Swim City hope to keep children in the sport from baby to adult and for them to enjoy swimming for a lifetime.
Meet the
Team
Jonathan Carlisle
Managing Partner / Level 2 Teacher and Coach
Alongside his sister Stacy, Jonny set up Swim City in 2016 with the aim of giving children and adults the best quality, fun swimming lessons in the country that have a personal touch. Jonny has his level 2 qualifications in both teaching and coaching. He is proud to have swam at the highest level in swimming, representing his country multiple times. Jonathan has also been a member of the British Swimming national centre in Bath, training with and under Olympic medal winning swimmers and coaches. He also helps local swimming clubs, the North East Beacon programme and is a lead coach at English School Games.
Stacy Arslan
Partner / Safe Guarding Officer
Hi, I’m Stacy! I am the co-founder of Swim City with over 20 years swim teaching experienced a degree in Sport Development. I set up this swim school with my brother Jonathan with the aim of providing the best swim teaching in the country. We thrive to make our lessons as high quality and fun as possible. My favourite stages to teach are 1 and 2 as I love watching children’s confidence grow. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my 3 children.
Lucy Walton
Level 2 Teacher / Nutrition and Psychology (Bsc)
Before coaching at Swim City, I swam at the City of Sunderland swimming club for 7 years. During this time, I swam at a national level, became national champion at the age of 13, collected several North East regional and national medals and swam at Olympic Trials in 2012. I attended several England swimming camps and swam for the North East in English School Championships. I now have Bsc in Nutrition and Psychology from Newcastle University.
Lucy Ellis
Level 2 Teacher / Speech and Language therapist (Bsc Hons)
I have more than 10 years experience as an national and international swimmer. Within those ten years i have taken on a number of roles including volunteer coach and member of the regional beacon programme. I am qualified as a level 2 swim teacher. I am also a fully qualified speech and language therapist (Bsc Hons). I have training and experience working with a range of adults and children with speech, language and communication needs including learning disabilities, autism, aphasia and developmental difficulties. I love working with Swim City as I see their passion to help people of all ages and abilities to learn to swim in a safe and inclusive environment. It’s wonderful to see both children and adults enjoying the water, developing new skills and thriving under Swim City’s innovative vision.
Liam Whiting
Level 2 Teacher
My name is Liam Whiting and I am manager and teacher of Swim City. I started swimming at Sunderland Swim Club at the age of 9 and it has played a big part in my life ever since. At the age of 16 I stopped swimming competitively and took the natural step in to completing my coaching and teaching badges. Since then I have gained experience teaching all ages and abilities from babies all the way to adults and competitive swimmers. After spells away from swimming and teaching to focus on developing my career in other areas, I was given the opportunity to combine both my passion for teaching and skills I gained in management to work at Swim City in 2019 and it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down! Watching our swimmers develop and gain confidence in water is very rewarding and I’m proud to be a part of that.
Ashlyn Liddle
Level 2 Teacher
Hello I’m Ashlyn! I am the manager of Swim City at our Birtley venue and oversee the day to day running of the swim school over there. This includes looking after our lovely staff, communicating with parents about their swimmer’s needs and teaching too! I have been a swimming teacher for around 8 years now, being one of the first staff members at Swim City and teaching abroad in the USA too. Because of my love for both sport and education, I have a degree in Sport Development and a PGCE in Primary Education. This helps me understand the sport we love the most and how to help people thrive in it. I love what I do and will be more than happy to help if you ever need me!
Abigail Carlisle
Level 2 Teacher
Abigail is a two time award nominee for Swim England – Swim Teacher Of the Year, and has taught swimming now for over 11 years. Having received a Masters of Education, Abigail uses her knowledge of child and adult development as well as her engaging teaching methods to create personalised approaches suited for each individual’s abilities and needs. Abigail has taught swimming in a number of countries including India and China. Throughout the past decade she has used her expert knowledge to teach a wide variety of students ranging from children as young as 6 weeks old to adults learning to swim at the age of 70 to children with additional needs and swimmers competing at National Level.
Ella Harrison
I’m Ella. You’ll find me mostly at our Monkwearmouth venue and in the office. I look after the day to day running of the swim school so if you have any questions or enquiries, it’s likely that you’ll speak to me over the phone or by email. After swimming competitively at a high level throughout my childhood I knew I’d love teaching the sport I am passionate about. I love teaching all stages in the pool and my favourite thing is watching people achieve a hard skill after working at it for a long time.
Skills you can learn with us
Respect
Learn to respect one another and accept one another to help and support each other.
Team Work
Develop communication and deliberation skills with one another.
Confidence
Build your confidence in a supportive, friendly training atmosphere.
Knowledge of Swimming
Our team of teachers take the time to make sure you understand all aspects of swimming
Equality
Understand and appreciate the differences between everyone.
Friendship
Most importantly, understand that the most important thing is having fun with your friends.
Our Mission
Our Mission is for every child in the North East to have quality, enjoyable lessons. We want our children to progress through swimming and go to swimming clubs and hopefully Olympic Games. We are really passionate about getting as many children as possible involved in swimming and showing that swimming is a fun sport for everyone. Swim City hopes to keep children in the sport of swimming from baby’s to adults and for them to enjoy swimming for a lifetime.
