Damian Bawden (Head Coach)
Damian Bawden, the newly appointed Head Coach at Kawana Aquatic Centre, is
committed to delivering professional and high-quality swim coaching to the
community of Kawana and the Sunshine Coast. With 22 years of coaching
experience under his belt, Damian has had the privilege of being mentored by
renowned coaches such as David Urquhart, Joe King, Brian Stehr, Jim Fowlie,
Gennardi Toureski, and Barry Prime.
During the past four years at Kawana, Damian has coached multiple swimmers to
become Aged National qualifiers and Medalists, as well as Australian Surf Finalists
and Medalists. He has also served as a Junior Youth Olympic Coach and has been
involved with Australian swimming touring teams, coaching multiple swimmers to the world cup finals.
In his earlier years, Damian enjoyed a distinguished career as a swimmer,
representing Australia as a team member from 1992 to 1994 in events such as the
Pan Pacific Championships and the Oceania Swimming Championships, where he
won four gold medals. He also achieved an impressive 5th place in the 200m
breaststroke at the World Short Course Championships held in Spain and won
multiple gold medals in both open and age categories in Australia. With such an
impressive background, Damian is prepared to lead the Kawana Aquatic Centre
coaching team to new heights
Nathan Doyle (Silver & Bronze Squad Coach)
Nathan is a highly experienced and accomplished coach with a successful track
record of coaching club programs for over 10 years. He was the High-Performance Swim Coach for the Paralympic team at USC and has served as an Australian Team Coach for five consecutive years, from 2015 to 2019. He has guided athletes to win State, National, and international titles, including World Records.
Nathan’s coaching career began at age 17, after a successful career as a swimmer.
He quickly progressed up the ranks in NSW before eventually making his way to the Sunshine Coast. Nathan has been a consistent figure in the Paralympic field for over four years and his athletes saw great success at both the Rio and Toyko
Paralympics.
Nathan’s diverse experience with swimmers of all ages and capabilities coupled with his enthusiasm and passion for the sport will be a great addition to the team.
Kim Rigby (LTS, Junior Development squads)
Kim brings extensive knowledge to the Mini squads (comprised of the Development, Target and Junior Target squads) having been involved with infant and general Learn to Swim (LTS) programs since 1992. Kim has also competed at National and International levels in swimming. Kim promotes confidence, leadership and excellent stroke and skill development to the kids in her programs.
As the coach of the Mini squads, her main focus is to continue the development of the basics of swimming with the gradual introduction and progression for the swimmers in the squads to aspects of competitive swimming.
Kim is the head LTS teacher at the aquatics centre and holds a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) degree as well as specialisations in teaching swimmers with a disability. She is a Bronze License coach with Silver Accreditation and a Competitive Strokes coach.