Water Has No Language: What a Global Swim Team Teaches Us

At Nexus, swimming is more than a sport. For some learners, it is a chance to discover a love for the water; for others, it becomes a pathway towards high-performance competition at the national and international level.

The Nexus competitive swim programme has developed into one of Singapore’s most successful international school swimming programmes. For several consecutive years, Nexus has achieved the highest medal tally among international school teams at the Singapore National Age Group Championships. Our swimmers regularly compete at national and international level, with athletes representing their respective countries at major regional and international competitions. 

Our community includes national champions and medalists, and, at just 14 years old, a Nexus swimmer who has recorded the fastest 100m freestyle time in the world for his age. Our swimmers also train and compete alongside Olympians, while Nexus alumni have gone on to compete at the Olympic Games.

Behind those results is a programme built around expert coaching, evidence-based training and opportunities to compete beyond Singapore. Our swimmers train and compete in different environments, from local fixtures and the Singapore National Age Group Championships to international meets and high-performance camps overseas.

Yet some of the most meaningful achievements of our swim team cannot be measured by results alone.

It’s the diversity of experience in the pool.

Our swimmers come from different countries and swimming backgrounds. Some have trained in their home countries, some have represented their national teams, and others return from international competitions and camps with new experiences to share. Our coaching team brings its own range of competitive and professional experiences from around the world too.

At the heart of our swim community is our Director of Aquatics, Larisa Rimmer, a former member of the Russian National Team. Larisa brings first-hand experience and a deep understanding of the high-performance environment, athlete mentality, sport psychology and the pathway required to progress from developing swimmer to elite-level athlete. This experience shapes her approach to leading Aquatics at Nexus, with a strong focus on developing the whole athlete supporting not only physical performance, but also resilience, confidence, wellbeing and the mindset required to pursue long-term sporting goals.

For Larisa, this diversity is one of the special things about our international school swim programme:

“We don’t just have swimmers from different countries; we have different swimming experiences, cultures and sporting perspectives coming together in one training environment. That helps our learners become more open-minded, adaptable and confident, both as athletes and as young people.”

So what happens when you bring all of these different experiences together in one pool?

For the Aquatics team, it creates something that goes beyond developing faster swimmers. It creates an environment where learners can experience different approaches, cultures and perspectives, discover what works for them and grow together.

We spoke to members of the Nexus Aquatics team about how different swimming backgrounds, training experiences and perspectives enrich the team, and why some of the most valuable learning happens when swimmers learn from one another.

Different Experiences, One Team

Ask our swimmers to say “I like swimming” and you might hear it in English, Russian, Korean, Portuguese, French or another language. Our swimmers have come from different countries, have trained in different places and bring very different experiences to the pool.

But once they dive in, those differences become less important.

Swimming gives our learners a shared space where they can train together, compete together, support one another and learn from each other. For many of our swim squad, diversity is one of the greatest strengths of an international school swim programme.

As Coach Adrian explains:

“Our swimmers come from different nationalities, cultures and backgrounds. Swimming gives them a common language where barriers become less important. They learn to understand and respect one another, share experiences and appreciate different perspectives.”

There is No One Way to Success

Swimming is a global sport, but there isn’t one universal way to become a successful swimmer.

Different countries and programmes can have different approaches to training, preparation, technique and competition. Coaches bring their own experiences from the systems in which they have trained and worked, while swimmers bring the habits and traditions they have developed throughout their own journeys.

These differences can be incredibly valuable.

As Coach Dhill explains, this exposure can help each athlete find their own path:

Dhill also highlights how exposure to different swimming systems can introduce swimmers to the small details that shape an athlete’s development. A swimmer might learn a new approach to their pre-race routine from a coach. They might pick up a different breathing pattern from a teammate. They might see how another swimmer prepares for a competition and discover an approach that works better for them.

“There is no one way to success. By having this diversity, it helps draw the best in each athlete’s pursuit of their own potential and the best of their swimming journey.”

For Dhill, these details can become part of a swimmer’s wider development, helping them build their own approach to training and competition.

“If guided, these details can become part of the foundations that shape a swimmer’s standards.”

The same applies to the traditions and practices swimmers bring with them. When different experiences come together, swimmers have the opportunity to share what they have learned, discover new approaches and identify the practices that work best for them. What one swimmer has picked up from a coach, training environment or competition experience can become something another swimmer learns from too.

For our swimmers, diversity isn’t about finding one approach that everyone should follow. It is about creating a culture of shared learning, where they are exposed to different ideas, learn from best practices and have the confidence to explore what works best for their own swimming.

Learning From One Another

Some of the most valuable learning in a swim team doesn’t happen during a formal coaching session. It happens in the lanes.

For many of our swimmers, the pool has become a second home. They spend countless hours training together, celebrating breakthroughs, working through difficult sets and supporting one another through the challenges of competitive sport. For our coaches, one of the things they are most proud to see is the sense of community that has developed around our swimmers. They genuinely look out for one another.

Coach Syaf describes it simply:

“By sharing lanes every day, helping each other out, our learners casually pick up great habits from their teammates’ different backgrounds.”

For Syaf, that diversity also creates friendships and a culture where everyone can contribute and grow:

“Everyone ends up growing together because they are constantly sharing their best tips and supporting one another in the pool. It means the swimmers always have someone to guide them, everyone learns from each other, and they build incredible friendships.”

That sharing goes both ways. Swimmers learn from coaches, swimmers learn from one another, and coaches learn from their athletes.

For Swim Scholar Victor, this shared experience is one of the defining features of the Nexus Swim Team:

“For me, swimming at Nexus makes an individual sport feel like a team sport. It’s a very international team. There are so many learners who take part in this programme, and each swimmer has their own role to contribute to the team.”

His perspective captures what makes the programme more than a collection of individual athletes. Swimmers may compete individually in the pool, but their development happens within a team, where they learn from, support and motivate one another.

More Than Becoming Better Swimmers

The benefits of this diversity extend beyond swimming.

Training alongside people from different backgrounds asks our learners to be open-minded. Competing in different countries and environments teaches them to adapt. Learning to communicate with teammates who may not share the same first language builds confidence and understanding.

They learn that there can be multiple ways to approach a challenge, and that being open to another person’s perspective can help them discover new possibilities of their own.

As Larisa explains:

“The experience helps our swimmers become more open-minded and adaptable, both as athletes and as people. Younger swimmers can also learn from and be inspired by teammates who have experienced international competition and national representation.”

These are qualities that matter long after a swimmer leaves the pool.

For young athletes, having teammates who have competed at different levels and in different parts of the world can also broaden their own sense of what is possible. A teammate’s experience can become an inspiration: Perhaps I could do that too.