Our second Bambigi kid has swam at the NSWCHS Swimming Championships. Congratulations to Noah Clark who swam in 5 events including the 200m Free, 50m Free, 100m Free, 100 Back and the Boys All Age relay (which was not swum due to a fire at the pool). Noah swam PB’s in most of his events even making the top 20 in the state. Piper was lucky enough to watch Noah swim on day one of the meet. Well done Noah, we are so proud to have more Aboriginal kids swimming at the level!
Change Makers 2023
The Australian Olympic Changemaker program celebrates young Australians who power the change in Australian sport. Piper was one of 25 student leaders were selected from nominees across Australia. Piper was mentored by athletes Brooke Hanson OAM OLY Mack Horton OAM and provide recommendations to the AOC on making the Olympics accessible to rural and remote communities, social inclusion, sustainability and the benefits of sport during the summit.
2023
We have made it to 300 kids through the program.
Innovation Awards 2023
Piper won two awards at the 2023 Australian Sport, Recreation and Play Innovation Awards. Nominated by Royal Life Saving Society – Australia for her outstanding efforts and her work to improve water safety outcomes for Indigenous young people. Piper won the ‘Young person (under 25) who has developed a program, space, activity, technological solution or innovative partnership that is encouraging more people to be active’ and the ‘Overall Sport, Recreation and Play Innovation.’
August 2022
Piper was honoured to be invited to the 2022 National Water Safety Summit held at the International Convention Centre in Sydney as a keynote speaker. Piper spoke in two of the sessions about Swimming & Water Safety Skills & also the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Communities session.
July 2022
We kicked off NAIDOC week at the NSW Country Championships. Piper said the Acknowledgment to Country & then spent the next two days as an official. Along with 14 other Indigenous kids Piper and her brother Lane swam in NAIDOC relays. Teams were named after water animals and derived from the Dharug Language - the traditional language of the Wann-gal People, on whose land competition took place. It was great to see NAIDOC week recognised at the event.
April 2019
Earlier this year we announced Bambigi received a grant from the NSW Government’s Water Safety Fund. We will be using this funding to get the Tirkandi Inaburra boys into water safety classes and the Wiradjuri Aboriginal Pre-school kids into swimming lessons. We are super excited to be partnering with these Aboriginal organisations.
February 2019
Bambigi and the Water Safety Fund - We have some exciting news. Bambigi has been awarded a $21,600 grant from the NSW Government's Water Safety Fund Community Grants Program! Piper got the chance to meet Austin Evans MP to announce the grant. We will use this money to expand into other towns and we are hoping to develop some new partnerships with local Aboriginal organisations. So stay tuned to see what we do next.
October 2018
We smashed our goal - With some help from Swimming NSW we currently have 21 kids enrolled in lessons, some for their second term. When Piper started Bambigi she hoped to get 20 kids into lessons this year. Well, we got 36 through at least one term!!! We are so proud of the progress all the kids have made with their swimming and we look forward to doing more in 2019.
April 2018
A Bambigi kid made it to the NSW State Swimming Championship!!! Shamia had never had a formal swimming lesson or entered a swimming competition before she joined Bambigi in 2018. The lessons gave her the confidence to enter her schools swimming competition for the first time. She did so well in freestyle she was picked in her school's junior relay team and they came first at the Zone Swimming Carnival! She kept up with the lessons and a few weeks later they won again at the Regional Swimming competition in Albury. The team went onto the State Swimming championship, giving Shamia the chance to swim at Homebush Olympic Pool. The team place 26th in the State. Piper worked for years to get to the State Champions and Shamia made it after her first try. Well done, we are so proud. It was great to have more Aboriginal kids swimming at the level!
