There are 3 programs that the Vanuatu Aquatic Federation delivers. There are Learn to Swim, Mama Aqua Aerobics and Water Polo/Spiderball.

Learn to swim

The Learn to swim program has 24 sessions that is spread out in an interval of six months. They have been 7 schools that have been engaged in the L2S program and have been engaged in swimming classes that are spanned out in weekly rotations. The targeted schools and communities are situated in peri-urban and rural schools from Efate.

Mama Aerobics

VAF teamed up with Swimming 365, an Australian program based in Perth by former Swimming Australia board member Tom Picton Warlow, in 2016 to put together a health and swimming program for adults who have no swimming background and are at risk of some non-communicable diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.

The team went through a week of the training which focused on aqua aerobics programs that transition into Open Water swimming for adult athletes who are not yet fit enough to participate in the many open water swimming competitions in Vanuatu. Hills Swimming also gave additional training in running aqua aerobics programs to our team and some of the school teachers.

The Mama’s Aquarobics program mainly targets young girls and women. It was created by a previous Australian volunteer, Tracey Eliot, and is primarily led by a female instructor with the aim to empower women in sport.

The participants of Mama Aqua this year work as tailors from the two different local handicraft markets in Port Vila. The program is held just near these markets, in the centre of Port Vila town at sea front. There are weekly classes (weather permitting). There has been a total of 70 participants in the program this year.

This program links sport with measurable health outcomes. Staff are now working with groups of mamas and taking their BMI, waist measurements, etc to track their health progress throughout their aqua aerobics program.

Water Polo

VAF recognises that team sports are the most popular sports in Vanuatu. In 2017 with the help of Australian Volunteer Tracy Elliot, VAF began offering classes in learning the basics of water polo.

Practices are now held every week with swimmers who have gone through basic learn to swim skills and now want to play a team sport in the water!

With the help of Water polo Australia, we’ve been able to use basic equipment like water polo balls and caps to get this game off the ground in Vanuatu.

Spider ball

The Spider ball program is in the early stages of implementation. It is a set curriculum comprising of 24 sessions that is programmed to run in a period of 6 months.

In late 2023, the same 7 schools engaged in the L2W program were provided an introduction to Spiderball. They will start the set curriculum in 2024.

There are 2 staff that have undergone spider ball training and are the primary instructors on site when the activity is being delivered.

The activity is currently only being undertaken with participants in communities/ schools near the ocean. There has been a total of 525 participants that have been involved in the L2S and Spiderball activities in 2023. Participants were also involved during evaluation and monitoring assessment that is undertaken at the commencement and end of the program.