We’re working to create an Indonesia where every child has access to free, quality, aquatic education. We create local employment opportunities within communities, spread awareness of drowning risks, and offer free survival swimming and water safety courses to children and the members of their community. Our programs serve to help everyone foster a safer and more positive relationship with the water around them.

“From the very beginning, our focus has been on helping to protect children from drowning while creating local industry in the communities we work with.”

Neal From, Executive Director

The Problem

“Drowning is a serious and neglected public health threat claiming the lives of more than 372,000 people a year worldwide, most of them children. More than 90% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. This death toll is almost two thirds that of malnutrition and well over half that of malaria – but unlike these public health challenges, there are no broad prevention efforts that target drowning.”

– World Health Organization

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, Seamus 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.


Our mission: To protect and enrich the lives of children through aquatic education.

To date, Swimdo has taught more that 7,000 children survival swimming and water safety. The organization employs a full team of local staff and is partnered with drowning prevention organizations around the world to help end childhood drowning.


What We Do

Swimdo offers free survival swimming and water safety classes to people living in marginalized communities throughout Indonesia. We work with international drowning prevention organizations to develop our curriculum and implement our programs throughout the country.

We create well-paying jobs for local educators, who, via Swimdo, are afforded the opportunity to have a direct positive impact on their local community.

Our Impact

Since our incorporation in 2015, we have worked to teach more than 7,000 children throughout Indonesia the survival skills they need to get themselves and others out of potentially life threatening situations in and around the water.

Our impact is not only measured in the number of students we teach but also in the generational change we inspire when families are taught the importance of water safety and survival swimming.

How You Can Help

There are many ways in which you can support Swimdo and our mission. One of the best ways to help us realize our mission is to make a monthly contribution to our cause. Your contribution will have a direct impact on the effectiveness of our programs. Another great way to help is to fundraise for Swimdo or come teach with us on site in Bali.