Providing lasting change

SwimNation speaks to Danielle Obe, Immediate Past Chair of the Swimming Alliance and Founding Chair Emeritus of the Black Swimming Association (BSA)

When asked whether she has always been passionate about physical activity, Danielle Obe – the immediate past chair of the Swimming Alliance and the founder of the Black Swimming Association (BSA) – says that her interest has always been in systems, not slogans. Or, as she puts it “how people access everyday life safely, confidently and with dignity”. “Sport and aquatics are powerful spaces to explore that, because they sit at the intersection of health, education, community and wellbeing,” she says. In a wide ranging interview, SwimNation spoke to Obe about her role as the chair of Swimming Alliance (from which she stepped down in January 2026), her founding of the BSA and her views on what lies ahead for the UK’s aquatics sector.

Where did the motivation to set up the Swimming Alliance come from?

The Alliance emerged from a recognition that fragmentation was limiting impact. Declining participation, inconsistent school swimming outcomes, workforce instability, facility pressure and fragmented policy engagement were not issues any single organisation could solve alone. The aquatics sector needed a formal mechanism for coordination, alignment and collective influence.

The Alliance provides that space - a national convening platform bringing together organisations with the authority to act, not simply observe. The Alliance is collective and has been shaped by governing bodies, operators and system leaders who recognised that shared challenges require shared leadership.

What does the Alliance do?

The Alliance convenes, coordinates and advocates. It aligns sector priorities, supports evidence-led engagement with government and strengthens coherence across four interlocking areas: school swimming, workforce sustainability, inclusion and policy influence.

What have been its biggest achievements so far?

Establishing credibility. The Alliance is now recognised as a trusted convening space, with active subgroups, clear priorities and a growing influence on national conversations.

The Alliance’s most significant achievement to date is the establishment of the National School Swimming Taskforce as a formal flagship project.

This has created, for the first time, a unified sector response to the persistent problem of inconsistent and ineffective school swimming provision. The Taskforce is now the primary mechanism through which the sector is shaping a coherent national approach to school swimming and water safety. Alongside this, the Alliance has embedded a clear governance structure through its Steering Group and subgroups, enabling focus and alignment to its agreed priorities.

What are the plans for Swimming Alliance in 2026 and beyond?

Deepening impact through the National School Swimming Taskforce, workforce reform and sustained policy engagement. The School Swimming Taskforce will lead the development of a national framework for school swimming and water safety. This work responds directly to the Department for Education’s Curriculum and Assessment Review, particularly the call for a more concise, scaffolded approach to attainment targets and progression. The framework will include: l Delivery guidance setting out a standardised, evidence-led approach to teaching swimming and water safety l Best practice guidance for operators, schools and parents l Clear alignment between educational outcomes and aquatic delivery

This will be delivered through three defined structures: A Strategic Working Group, a Technical Working Group of nominated subject experts and a dedicated Education Group, bringing together specialists from education and water safety

Workforce development is the second major priority. The Alliance will use findings from its workforce survey to support recruitment and retention across aquatic roles. This includes continued collaboration with CIMSPA on pathways for young people not in education, employment or training, supporting the rollout of new professional standards and qualifications, and ensuring workforce planning aligns with the evolving school swimming model.

Inclusion work will be more focused and deliberate. Rather than spreading effort too thinly, the Alliance will identify one priority needs group in 2026 and develop targeted guidance, case studies and influence activity. This approach allows depth, learning and transferability across the sector. Communications underpin all of this work. The Alliance will launch a Knowledge Hub on its website, supported by SwimNation and member channels, alongside a structured pipeline for best practice and case studies to ensure consistent dissemination of learning.

People

At a policy level, priorities include engagement around the £400 million grassroots sport investment, rebuilding government relationships, and adapting sector communications to reflect changes in local government structures following devolution and reorganisation.

You’re also the founder of the Black Swimming Association. For those who might not be familiar with it, what is it and what does it do?

The Black Swimming Association (BSA) began, in March 2020, as a response to a very simple but serious reality: too many communities in the UK were excluded from water safety knowledge and aquatic participation long before they ever reached a swimming lesson.

What the BSA does is address what happens before access. We recognised early on that traditional entry points into aquatics assumed familiarity, confidence and trust that simply did not exist for many families. So instead of starting at “learn to swim”, we built pathways that start earlier – with orientation, safety, confidence and understanding.

Over the past five years, the BSA has developed programmes, research and delivery models that support people from complete unfamiliarity with water through to safe participation and onward progression. Alongside delivery, the organisation has played a growing role in shaping policy, influencing sector strategy and reframing swimming as a public health and safety issue, not just a sport.

What inspired you to establish the BSA?

The BSA was born from lived experience, but it was shaped through listening. Early conversations across the aquatics sector, local authorities, health professionals, community organisations, families, teachers, operators and national bodies made it clear that this was not just about motivation or culture; it was about systems.

What quickly became apparent was that everyone could see the problem, but no one was positioned to bridge the gap between communities and the sector in a structured, credible way.

So the process became one of design. We researched, mapped barriers, tested assumptions and began building something that could operate both on the poolside and in policy rooms.

The organisation has grown from an idea into a nationally recognised award-winning institution

What were the biggest challenges in getting the BSA up and running?

Legitimacy. When you are naming gaps that systems have normalised, you have to work twice as hard to be taken seriously.

Building trust with communities while simultaneously earning credibility with institutions required patience and consistency. We were very intentional about grounding everything we did in research and outcomes.

Another challenge was pace. The need was urgent, but systems move slowly. Learning how to navigate that tension without compromising the integrity of the work was a defining part of the early years.

The original mission was for BSA to be a bridge between aquatics and disenfranchised communities. That is still the case, but the definition of that bridge has matured. Initially, the focus was access. Today, it is infrastructure. The BSA has helped the sector understand that inclusion is not an add-on; it must be designed into systems, training, programmes and policy from the outset.

The shift has been tangible. The BSA’s frameworks and research are now referenced in national conversations, funding discussions and strategic planning. That represents meaningful progress from where we started.

The organisation has grown from an idea into a nationally recognised award-winning institution with a professional team, a body of evidence, proven programmes and established partnerships across health, education, sport and government.

Importantly, the BSA is now entering a new phase. With the appointment of its first Chief Executive, I am transitioning into the role of Founding Chair Emeritus, ensuring continuity of ethos while releasing operational leadership to the next chapter.

There is a perception that Black people do not traditionally engage with aquatics. Is that still true?

That perception exists, but it is misleading. Our research consistently shows that the issue is not disinterest. It is unfamiliarity, fear, cost, lack of early water safety knowledge, hair etc. When these barriers are addressed properly, participation follows.

Language matters here. When we describe communities as “hard to reach”, we often ignore the fact that systems themselves can be hard to enter. The work of the BSA has been about shifting that lens.

People

We recognised early on that traditional entry points into aquatics assumed familiarity, confidence and trust that simply did not exist for many families

Why is the BSA so important? What does it do that no one else does?

The BSA starts where others do not. By recognising the space before access, what we describe as “-3”, the organisation has created tools, insights and pathways that allow the sector to work upstream, not just at the point of delivery. That systems-first perspective is what differentiates the BSA.

A clear example of this is the FLOAT research, developed in partnership with the University of Portsmouth and the RNLI. FLOAT examined one of the most persistent and damaging myths in aquatics - that certain bodies cannot float.

What the research demonstrated is that floating is not a fixed or innate ability. It is a learned, individual skill shaped by body composition, breath, technique and confidence. When people are taught how their body floats rather than measured against a single standard, fear reduces and safety improves.

This matters because myths like these have kept generations away from water, not through lack of interest, but through lack of understanding. FLOAT reframes aquatic competence as adaptable, teachable and inclusive by design. No other organisation has combined community delivery, pioneering research and systems influence in this way. That combination is what allows the BSA to shift practice, not just participation.

The next phase of the BSA’s work is about embedding learning into systems. A key focus is translating the insights from FLOAT into wider practice - training, guidance and national conversations about what water competence really looks like. This phase is about integration and scale, ensuring that evidence informs workforce development, policy and sector standards.

How can facility owners and operators support the BSA?

“By thinking beyond programming and towards design. That means investing in workforce capability, supporting inclusive practice and recognising that water safety begins long before someone enters a pool. Collaboration, rather than duplication, is where lasting impact sits.”

If you could change one thing, what would it be?

I would treat water safety education as essential literacy. When people understand water, fear reduces, confidence grows and participation becomes a choice rather than a risk.