International Hub project officer Dunya Alruhaimi contacted retired swimming coach Rosemary Glover to help a group of women desperate to learn to take to the water.

“I had retired four years ago, I love swimming and I thought this would be a really worthwhile cause, especially after that little one drowned,” Ms Glover said.

“There are a lot of adults that can’t swim but these women learned very easily, they have a brain that understands what you’re saying and you can explain that if you really trust me you can swim.”

Out of the nine ladies that took the course, five of them got to the freestyle swimming stage.

Ms Alruhaimi said that for Muslim women learning to swim can be almost impossible.

“In our religion we can’t swim in open areas with mixed men and women, even in our country it’s hard to offer swimming lessons for ladies because most places want to do business and open to the public,” she said.

Ms Glover uses a different method to teach the ladies and their children to swim, each individual wears a life vest so they spend the entire lesson in the water rather than getting out to watch while others learn.

She said this method allows them to get used to the movements and the weight of the water and helps to alleviate some fears.

“As they start doing dog paddle on their own they’re developing their strength, as they get stronger we start taking flotation out,” she said.

“One mother said, ‘You’ll never get my child in the water’, that child is now swimming.

“Of the adults one of the ladies was really very frightened, and in the last lesson she was floating on her own, I really hope we can get more people to help us to teach.”

The team is looking for more teachers that understand culture differences, enjoy working with international people and are accredited swim coaches to teach.