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, childcare and community development.
Our Story
In April of 2013 California native Seamus Pettigrew was volunteering as an English teacher in a small village in East Bali. An avid surfer, he would frequently visit the beach with his students so he was shocked to learn that the majority of them had never learned to swim. Upon returning home to the US, he was motivated to take action that would help the children of Indonesia learn to swim.
After discussing this idea with friends Neal From and Andrew Latimer, the team set out to found Swimdo, an international non-profit organization that would serve the children of Indonesia. Its mission: to protect and enrich the lives of children through aquatic education.
With initial financial support from the US-based Children’s Trust, Swimdo has taught thousands of children survival swimming and water safety to date. The organization employs a full team of local staff and is partnered with drowning prevention organizations around the world to help end 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 make 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
Co-Founder
Lead Visionary
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
Co-Founder
Executive Director
Indira Made Santi holds a
Masters Degree in International
Economic Development from The
University of Western Australia. 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 Program Director for Swimdo, where she works
to ensure that all young people
throughout Indonesia can swim,
and enjoy the beaches safely.
Made Indira Santi
Program 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
Co-Founder
Director of Operations & Finance
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 photographer in and around Bali. Pandit was a part of Swimdo’s original class of students in 2015. His current role at Swimdo is to generate research and media surrounding our mission. He also helps manage Swimdo's finances in Indonesia. Being a part of Swimdo is a joy for him because it allows him to help the community he was raised in and connect with volunteers from abroad.
Pandit Wiguna
Director of Research & Media
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
Head of 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
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
Gung Indah was our first Swimdo student, who then became our first female teacher in 2017. She enjoyed learning to swim so much that she wanted to volunteer her time to help what was then a small program grow larger. We are happy now to welcome her back as part of our instructor team. Indah is currently in her second year studying psychology at university in Bali.
Gung Indah Cantika Dewi
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
In her last year of high school, Yogi is Swimdo's youngest instructor. Her patience and attention to detail while working with children is invaluable. She knows how to help her students feel safe and calm in the water. Our team loves her even more with all the pisang goreng (banana fritters) she brings to the pool. She has a passion for food and is always showing our Swimdo team
the best eats around.
Ayu Yogi
Instructor
A recent student of the Swimdo program, Linda attended her first class once the pandemic restrictions eased. Upon graduation, she frequently returned to the pool to practice her swimming skills. It wasn't only her love of swimming, but also her love for kids brought her to begin working with us. The students love her jokes and her caring demeanor. Linda is on her way to become a nurse, and is now in her last year of study.
Linda Darmayanti
Instructor
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