Tom Parry
A MAFFRA family has been honoured for their decades-long contribution to water safety education.
Siblings Tim and Kathie Kemp, alongside their mother Jean, received the Most Significant Contribution accolade at the 2023 Austswim Awards of Excellence, held in Queensland earlier this month.
Mr Kemp described receiving the honour as “humbling”.
“I had no idea that we were getting this award,” Mr Kemp told the Gippsland Times.
“We were at an Awards Dinner where there’s people with so much talent and experience and knowledge… The word that kept coming up was ‘humbling’. We were so surprised.”
Matriarch Jean Kemp first ran Austswim classes in 1979 in Orbost, and was also an Austswim trainer – instructing adults on how to become qualified Austswim teachers.
Kathie has been an Austswim trainer for 27 years, and Mr Kemp for 25 years.
“While we mainly concentrate on the Gippsland area, we have also gone into other areas of the Austswim training,” Mr Kemp said.
“For example, all three of us have travelled over to Vietnam and done the Austswim course for university students over there.”
Mr Kemp is the chairman of Australian-based charity Water Safety Vietnam, while his sister is also involved as part of the board of directors.
In February 1998, the family opened Kemp Aquatics on McLean St, Maffra.
“We found that Maffra needed an indoor swimming pool, or it needed lessons for kids in the town, so that’s why we started it up,” Mr Kemp said.
“I couldn’t tell you how many thousands of kids we’ve had through since. Currently, we do approximately 800 kids for private lessons every week, and then we’ve got school groups that come…
“We have special needs classes as well, which we find is super, super important at the moment.”
Mr Kemp’s ultimate goal is for there to be zero drownings – “not just in Gippsland, but nationwide and beyond.”
“We just have a passion for making sure that we put quality people in with these kids in the water,” Mr Kemp said.
“It’s not just all about getting them ready for the swimming sports and competitive stuff; it’s all about water safety and survival skills.
“And that’s where our passion comes from – it’s all about making everyone safe.”
The Kemps are the inaugural recipients of the Most Significant Contribution award, a category introduced by Austswim only this year.
Unfortunately, the large framed certificate given to the Kemps at the ceremony had to be left in Queensland, as it was too large to be carried on the flight home.
It will instead be driven to Maffra by Mr Kemp’s wife in the coming days.
For more information about Kemp Aquatics, visit the official website at www.kempaquatics.com.au or call the venue on 5141 1127.
