Our Leaders - Passionate About Swimming and Water Safety Education
Meet The Team
Ursula Carlile
Recognised around the world as a leader and bold pioneer in competitive swimming and learn to swim, Ursula has inspired generations in sport and science. Together with her late husband, Forbes, Ursula co-founded Carlile Swimming in 1955. They revolutionised the way children learn to swim and coached hundreds of others to state, national and international championship medals. Ursula has been awarded a life membership of Swimming Australia and has been inducted into both the Australian and US Swim Schools Hall of Fame. Ursula continues to coach and mentor squad swimmers at Ryde.
Tim Ford
A former Director of Swimming Australia and a Commonwealth Games silver medalist, Tim oversees every aspect of our operations – from our Learn to Swim program through to our high-performance competitive programs. Tim is a highly respected Harvard graduate and management consultant, with expertise in advising major Australian companies on business strategy, organisational design and leadership development.
Richard Cahalan
Richard is an eight-time Australian swimming representative and former National Open and Age champion. With over 30 years of industry experience, Richard has coached internationally ranked swimmers, been on the board of the United States Swim School Association, on Australian industry planning committees; as well as presented at numerous international conferences. Richard has been instrumental in the ongoing development of our teaching methods, branding and design systems.
John Coutts
John is a former New Zealand Olympian, Commonwealth Games medalist and World Marathon Swimming Champion. He brings 40 years of internationally recognised experience to Carlile Swimming and is the driving force behind the continuous improvement of our Learn to Swim program. John is also a Director of the Australian Swim Schools Association and recipient of numerous international awards, including being inducted into the US Swim Schools Hall of Fame.
