Gallery: The Olympian, the coach and the navigator steering Fiji swimming in a new direction

In Fiji, swimming has long been perceived as an elite sport rather than a life skill. But in an island nation with high drowning rates, three women heading a new learn-to-swim programme are working to change that.

In this Australia Plus photo feature we meet three of the instructors from the new Let’s Swim programme in Fiji who bring a range of different life experiences to their work to inspire the next generation of Fijians to learn to swim.

One is a two-time Olympian, another was the first woman in Fiji to attend maritime school, and the third is channelling a career’s-worth of coaching experience into the new community swimming programme.