Our Mission
Since 2015 Swimdo's mission has been to protect and enrich the lives of children and their communities through aquatic education. Our team is made up of international and local professionals that have years of experience in swim instruction, CPR, water safety, oceanography, and community development.
Our Story
In 2013 Swimdo's soon-to-be founder, Seamus, was volunteering as an English teacher at a small school in Eastern Bali. Seamus would frequently visit the beach with his students and was shocked to learn that the majority of them had never learned to swim despite dwelling nearby the ocean. This realization motivated him to take action to help his students and the fellow members of their community learn to swim. After discussing this idea with long-time friend, Neal, the two set out to create Swimdo, a non-profit organization that would address the lack of aquatic education throughout Indonesia. Later, in 2015, Swimdo was founded and since its inception has taught over 2,500 children throughout Indonesia survival swimming and water safety skills. The organization currently employs a full team of local swim instructors and volunteer coordinators and has partnered with drowning prevention and educational organizations throughout South-East Asia and around the world in a continued effort to educate communities in order to prevent childhood drowning.
Get To Know
The Swimdo Team
An avid surfer from
San Francisco, California,
Seamus has traveled the world in
pursuit of the best swells – ultimately leading him to making Bali his home. Seamus founded Swimdo in 2015, after noticing a ubiquitous lack of swimming education in the local communities – especially among children. In the summer months, Seamus can be found in New York, where he works as a U.S. Coast Guard Licensed Captain. In the winter, you can find Seamus in Bali where he spends his time teaching Indonesian children water safety skills.
Seamus graduated from the
University of Oregon in 2012
with a Bachelor of Science
in Psychology.
Seamus Pettigrew
Founder
A former collegiate swimmer at Colorado College, Neal knows how much impact the opportunity to learn to swim can have on a child. He brings a lifetime of experience as a lifeguard and swim instructor to Swimdo, and has made Indonesia his second home. He believes deeply in Swimdo’s mission and looks forward to a future where every child in Indonesia is given the same opportunity and access to swimming education that he had.Neal has a Bachelor of Arts in English and calls San Diego home.
Neal From
Executive Director
A NorCal native dwelling
in Santa Barbara, Andrews connection with the water runs deep. Swimming competitively from an early age led him to become the captain of the swim team at UC Santa Barbara, from where he would graduate with degrees in Ethics and Biological Anthropology. Andrew holds a US Coast Guard Captains License and is a certified lifeguard and swim instructor. In Bali, when he’s not teaching lessons with Swimdo, he can be found at his favorite local eatery enjoying a hearty meal of soto ayam (chicken soup) and kelapa (coconut) cream cookies.
Andrew Latimer
Director of Finance
Indira Made Santi holds a
Masters Degree in International
Economic Development from The
University of Western Australia. She heads the International Relations Division at Slukat Learning Center and is ProjectKalpa’s Financial Manager. Indira lives in Keramas, Indoneisa and spends much of her time at the beach. She understands firsthand how important swimming education is for the children of Indonesia – as she too did not know how to swim at a young age. She now serves as the Director of Local Operations for Swimdo, where she works
to ensure that all young people
throughout Indonesia can swim,
and enjoy the beaches safely.
Indira Made Santi
Director of Local Operations
A Southern California native,
Dylan is an experienced waterman
with a fondness for natures’ smaller beauties. From lifeguarding the beaches of Los Angeles to hunting new species as an entomologist, he brings to the team an array of experience reflecting passion for the outdoors and an eagerness to share it. Dylan taught children as both an equestrian riding and surf instructor while studying biology at UC San Diego and between tests competed with the university’s champion surf team. In Bali when he’s not in the pool with the kids, he’s surely
hunting left barrels or the
insects he studies.
Dylan Sohngen
Director of Research
Agus is one of Swimdo’s very first graduates. From early on it was clear that Agus was going to have trouble floating (a core requirement to graduate from Swimdo) but after several lessons, he started to get the hang of it and after graduating, became one of Swimdo’s first local instructors. Agus himself has taught over 1000 children to swim. He now helps Swimdo as a legal and operations consultant. When he isn’t busy working with Swimdo, Agus is a lawyer and represents individuals throughout his community. Agus takes pride in the positive impact he has on
children's lives.
Agus Satriawibawa
Legal and Operations Consultant
According to himself, Pandit is a very good looking man. When he isn’t helping with Swimdo, he is a professional wedding photographer in and around Bali. Pandit is a part of Swimdo’s original class of students. He currently works at Swimdo to help manage finances and local classes in Bali. Being a part of Swimdo is a joy for him because he can help the community and go on fun trips with Swimdo volunteers.
Pandit Wiguna
Local Finance Manager
Dede is Swimdo’s lead instructor.
He finds joy in watching the children grow up in his community. He loves seeing students excel in and out of the pool. Prior to the Swimdo program Dede could not swim and had a near fatal accident when a wave washed him away while he was playing on the beach. Since then, Dede has conquered his fear and can be seen playing in the ocean and swimming laps in the local pool. Dede loves working for Swimdo because he knows that he is helping to make the children in his community safe. Dede's students love him so much
they often refer to him as uncle.
Dede Pranata
Lead Instructor
Agis is one of our awesome local coordinators. He loves to travel and when he isn’t working with Swimdo, he is a Chinese-speaking tour guide for high school and university students. Agis also enjoys camping, hiking, skateboarding, and climbing. He is a very stylish guy with long hair and loves attending heavy metal concerts. Agis is currently studying English literature at university. Agis is one of Swimdo’s original students and now helps to run its volunteer programs.
Agis Arimbawa
Volunteer Program Manager
Instructor
Arjun was one of Swimdo’s very first students back in 2015. Four years later, in 2019, he was officially offered a job as a local community coordinator. When Arjun first started classes with Swimdo he was so afraid of water that he would not jump into the pool. After some time with Seamus and Neal he slowly became more and more comfortable and now is an avid swimmer. Arjun loves working with Swimdo because he knows firsthand how transformative an aquatic education can be.
Putu Arjun Adinata
Internal Education
Instructor
Mangsri is a student at Ganesha University of Education in North Bali. She is currently enrolled in an English language education program. When she is not studying, Mangsri spends much of her time volunteering as an English teacher for disadvantaged children and teaching in-water lessons with Swimdo. Mangsri loves working for Swimdo because she believes every child deserves access to quality education.
Mangsri Dewi
Instructor
His name is Agus, but his friends call him Mega. He is currently studying Japanese literature at University. His dream is to one day go to Japan. He enjoys outdoor activities like hiking, camping, and riding his bicycle. Agus is one of our swim instructors and is always making students laugh with his funny jokes and his crazy afro. Agus likes working with Swimdo because he loves to make students (and fellow teachers) laugh.
Agus Mega Adi Putra
Instructor
Denny is a student at the Udayana University. Denny’s two loves are birds and swimming. Denny began learning to swim with Swimdo to pursue his goal to be a policeman. However, after learning to swim, he was offered a position as an instructor with Swimdo and jumped at the opportunity. Denny loves working for Swimdo because he thinks swimming is fun and that everyone should be able to enjoy the water.
Denny Angga Wijaya
Instructor
Denta is an avid sports fan. He is currently studying to become a physical education instructor. When he is not teaching swimming or studying for his exams, you can find Denta on the soccer pitch or playing badminton with his friends. Denta is happy to be a part of the Swimdo team because he believes that it is important for everyone to know about the dangers of drowning.
Denta Ariyasa
Instructor
Intan is one of the swimming teachers at Swimdo and is currently a full time student at University. When she isn't busy teaching in the pool, Intan’s favorite activity is dancing. Intan loves being part of the Swimdo team because she believes that swimming can make a child’s life better and safer.
Intan Pratiwi
Instructor
Tomi Kencana was born in Keramas, Indonesia. He holds a Masters Degree in Communications from Leeds University in the UK. In addition to his work with Swimdo, Tomi works at Slukat Learning Center as a student mentor and volunteer manager. He helps support Swimdo’s community outreach programs and development. Tomi enjoys taking part in swimming classes, is a Marco Polo champion, and hopes to
one day learn to surf.
Tomi Kencana
Local Operations Support
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