National campaign runs 16th to 21st November 2026

Olympic gold medallist Giaan Rooney OAM OLY has been named ambassador for SWIMSAFER Week 2026, which will run across Australia from 16th to 21st November 2026.

SWIM Coaches & Teachers Australia announced the appointment on 5th August 2026. The 2026 theme is “SWIMSAFER Starts with Me” and the campaign message is “Skills Save Lives”.

According to the campaign brief, Australians are being urged to take personal responsibility for safer choices in and around the water. Those choices include enrolling in swimming lessons, supervising children, checking conditions and knowing how to respond in an emergency.

SWIMSAFER Week will involve swim schools, aquatic facilities, teachers, coaches, families and communities around Australia from 16th to 21st November 2026. The campaign promotes practical water-safety skills and actions that can help save lives.

Rooney is an Olympic champion, a former world champion, a broadcaster and a mother. Organisers chose Giaan Rooney OAM OLY for SWIMSAFER Week 2026 because she combines elite swimming experience with public reach.

Rooney said: “I’m incredibly proud to be the Ambassador for SWIMSAFER Week once again. Swimming has brought so much freedom, confidence and joy to my life, but staying safer in and around the water begins with having the right skills and continuing to practise them.”

The 2026 campaign also stresses that swimming is a life skill, not only a sport for Olympians and Commonwealth Games champions. In the lead-up to summer 2026, it asks each Australian what they can do to help themselves and others stay safer.

SWIMSAFER 365 and Brendon Ward

SWIM Coaches & Teachers Australia CEO Brendon Ward said practical swimming and water-safety skills must be learned, practised and strengthened at every stage of life. He argued that people should keep building those skills even when they feel confident in the water.

Meanwhile, the campaign links SWIMSAFER Week 2026 to SWIMSAFER 365. That programme promotes water-safety awareness and skill development all year rather than in one week or one season.

Following the 5th August 2026 announcement, campaign material highlighted several specific actions. These include learning new skills, continuing lessons, actively supervising children near water and checking local conditions before entering.

The briefing also points to emergency readiness as part of SWIMSAFER Week 2026. Australians are being encouraged to know how to respond if something goes wrong in or around the water.

As a result, organisations taking part from 16th to 21st November 2026 will use the week to reinforce one clear point. Safer behaviour starts with individual choices, and the campaign sums that up in “SWIMSAFER Starts with Me” and “Skills Save Lives”.