*** For the latest information on the 2012 Swing to Swim Charity Golf Day, click here ***

The 2012 Swing to Swim Charity Golf Day – 17 March 2012, Montgomerie Links, Danang.

In Vietnam, more children die from drowning than road accidents. The Vietnam Swans are keen to do what we can to reduce the number of drownings.

And so, we have teamed up with Montgomerie Links, Royal Life Saving Society of Australia, Swim Vietnam, Swim Safe and Auscham to run the 2nd Annual Swing to Swim Charity Golf Day.

• Click here for our press release
• Click onto poster to enlarge for full details
• Read the article in Tuoi Tre Newspaper, . Dated 17 February.
• For sponsorship opportunities, click onto 
• Download the
• For further information email Donna Tran at Montgomerie Links on or Phil Johns, National President, Vietnam Swans on .

Last year, 2011. What happened at the Inaugural Swing to Swim last year?

*** USD25,000 raised at Inaugural Swing to Swim Charity Golf Day, Montgomerie Links, Hoi An (Danang) held on 14 May 2011. Click here for the full story. ***

12,500 Child Drownings Each Year in Vietnam

In 2001, UNICEF conducted a study in Vietnam and found that, each year, there were 12,500 child (under 15 years) drownings. Expressed another way, that’s the equivalent of one child drowning every 20 minutes during daylight hours which makes the water even more dangerous than Vietnam’s notorious roads.

In Australia, the situation is very different. Children learn to swim at a very early age. Swimming is a fantastic recreational activity with family holidays always planned around the beach. It’s also a sport that Australia is highly regarded at the international level.

Vietnam Swans’ Support Swimming Initiatives

The Vietnam Swans players love living and working in Vietnam. The Club therefore believes that it is important to give something back to the same community.

Aussie Rules and swimming have a lot in common. For example, while both sports can be fiercely competitive at the elite level, they can also be performed at a recreational/leisure level. Being sports, they both bring people together. Australia is well known for both its Aussie Rules and swimming successes.

The Vietnam Swans Footy Club obviously has an Australian flavour, brings people together, encourages fitness, fun, friendships and competition in the form of matches against other countries.

The Vietnam Swans are therefore very pleased to support swimming initiatives both financially and in terms of publicity. During last year’s Vietnam Swans AFL Grand Final Parties in Hanoi and Saigon, for example, USD2,700 was raised for the Hoi An Children’s Swimming Program.

In 2011, we will raise money at the ANZAC Friendship Match on 23 April. On 14 May, we shall co-host a Swing to Swim Charity Golf Day at , Danang, with all money raised going to swimming initiatives. The golf day will follow on from the Royal Life Saving Society of Australia’s to be held in Danang from 10-13 May.

The Hoi An Children’s Swimming Program

The has been in operation since 2008. In the first 3 years, 1,500 children were trained in basic water safety and swimming skills.

In 2010, thirty one local PE teachers completed their AustSwim Coaching Certificate, an internationally recognised certificate which incorporates Red Cross First Aid Training. They were the first Vietnamese to receive this “Train the Trainer” Certificate.

Annual funding has been provided by Tribob, a Singapore triathlon company, and Barclays Capital Investment Bank. The money raised by the Vietnam Swans has gone entirely to this cause – but it’s still not enough. The Hoi An Swimming Project still needs more.

The Hoi An Swimming Project is fully supported in principle by the Hoi An Local People’s Committee and the Quang Nam Provincial Government.

Would You Like to Help?

If you would like to help, you can donate money, time or resources.

For further information, please download a copy of the or email:

• , Project Director, Hoi An Swimming Program
• , Vietnam Swans Swimming Program Delegate
• , Knight Frank Vietnam

Other Community Activities/Initiatives undertaken by the Vietnam Swans include:

• Auskick in Hanoi and Saigon (also for the Kids)
• Auscham’s Australia Day Celebrations
• LoretoFest
• Annual ANZAC Friendship Match – Honouring lost lives; saving young lives. A tribute match that remembers all lives lost during times of war and then uses the occasion to promote Vietnam and to raise money for swimming initiatives and orphanages
• Queensland Floods Fundraiser
• Black Saturday Bushfire Fundraiser and Match