Turning water lovers into Champs
WELCOME TO
Kiddies Aqua
Swimming Academy
Montana Branch
Leslie-Ann Gray
Client Care Coordinator
Kiddies Aqua Swim School Moreleta Park™ is part of the largest swimming academy for infants and toddlers in South Africa.
Your number one swim school in Montana, Pretoria.
BOOK A FREE DEMONSTRATION/EVALUATION LESSON
About
Owners Marius Potgieter and Lizette Botha joined forces at Kiddies Aqua Montana Park in August 2020. Marius has a B. Com Law degree (NWU - 2022) and Lizette has a degree in Human Movement Science (UP - 1989). Lizette also equipped herself further on the terrain of water safety for babies (6-24 months) through Les Bébés Amphibies (Switzerland) and completed various swimming programmes through Swimming South Africa. She is a Board Member and Project Manager for the African Children Aquatic Foundation also a Project Manager for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation. She taught the Princess’s baby twins (Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella) and many other sports stars and celebrities’ children to be water safe and to swim. She is the co-owner of the Kiddies Aqua branches in Moreleta Park and in Hatfield (University of Pretoria). Lizette already taught more than 10 500x babies to be water safe and 21 500x young children and adults to swim since her career started in 1989. She is one of the world’s leading Baby Floating Specialists with accolades from M-Net’s Carte Blanche, Supersport, Kwêla, Top Billing and Pasella doing programmes on her and her unique teaching method. She also does regular public talks and seminars on water safety and water awareness for infants and toddlers. Both Lizette’s daughters were regularly included in South Africa’s National Junior Squads when still at school and recently completed their 4-year-swim and study scholarships in the USA.
Lizette already taught more than 10 500x babies to be water safe and 21 500x young children and adults to swim since her career started in 1989. She is one of the world’s leading Baby Floating Specialists with accolades from M-Net’s Carte Blanche, Supersport, Kwêla, Top Billing and Pasella doing programmes on her and her unique teaching method. She also does regular public talks and seminars on water safety and water awareness for infants and toddlers. Both Lizette’s daughters were regularly included in South Africa’s National Junior Squads when still at school and recently completed their 4-year-swim and study scholarships in the USA.
Kiddies Aqua Swimming Academy™ was established in 2011 by the current owners Lizette and Arrie Botha. They previously owned Aqua Kid Swim School in Nelspruit for more than 17 years before Lizette became the Head Coach at Ryk Neethling’s swim school in Pretoria for three years. She is celebrating her 34th anniversary as swimming teacher this year. Lizette and Jean Fouace (Switzerland) are the founder members of Amphibies Babies Africa™. Jean is the pioneer and original developer of the Self-Rescue Water Safety Method for Babies in the world since 1967. Kiddies Aqua Swimming Academy™ remains the largest swimming academy in South Africa with more than 4 000x swimmers in total and eight branches across South Africa. All six our franchisees, Rhoné Reynders (Alberton), Maresa Scholtz (Cape Town), Nandi Smit (Centurion) and Mariëtta Herbst (Roodepoort), Elaine Jansen van Rensburg and Cheryl Botha (Namibia) completed a 400-hour training course through Lizette to qualify as Baby Floating Instructors.
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The academy, its affiliates and staff are members of Swimming South Africa, Amphibies Babies Africa™ and Les Bébés Amphibies (Switzerland). We strive to offer swimming lessons of the highest quality with our seventeen highly skilled and qualified instructors - mostly in the fields of Human Movement Science, Childhood Psychology, Teaching, Early Childhood Development, Sports Management and Sports Science. These instructors also have various national- and international certificates in teaching swimming to infants, toddlers, competitive swimmers, and adults and are registered with Swimming South Africa. These swimming lessons are presented at our indoor heated facilities in Moreleta Park and Hatfield (University of Pretoria – Indoor Sports Centre). The academy is in partnership with Tuks Swimming, the African Children Aquatic Foundation, and the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation. We also have franchised outlets in Alberton, Cape Town, Centurion, Roodepoort, Montana, and Namibia.
Meet The Team
Lea Smit
Learn-to-Swim Instructor
Lea is one of our youngest members on TEAM KIDDIES AQUA. She joined us in February 2022 and had to complete our 300-hour intensive in-house LTS-training course before she was signed-off as competent and ready to coach for us. Lea holds certifications in both EMS Personal Training, as well as a 200-hour Vinyasa Yoga qualification.During her school career, Lea completed more than 200x hours of community service with the Dasha School for Special Needs Children in Nelspruit. She has been a competitive butterfly swimmer throughout her swim career and has also competed in the Midmar Mile (in KZN) on numerous occasions.
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She began learning about water safety at the tender age of 12, when she completed her first Lifesaving Level 1-certification. During her yoga qualification, she was educated on Kiddies Yoga, which included Child Behaviour Management, as well as Child Physiology. She is well versed in the sport of swimming, yet has a gentle-, loving approach to all her young swimmers. She works well with all age and all-level swimmers, from Learn-to-Swim to Stroke Correction, Gala Preparation and Adult Swimming. She enjoys cultivating a safe space and trusting relationships with her swimmers and prides herself in her swimmers’ immaculate acceleration in both confidence and skill.
Michaela Muela
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Learn-to-Swim Instructor
Michaela joined the Kiddies Aqua team in January 2023. She is very passionate about children and aspires to someday manage her own Daycare Center, specifically designed to teach children with special needs so that she can equip them with the necessary practical-, interpersonal- as well as fundamental skills that will carry them through the challenges our society brings today. She holds a certificate in Education (2006) as well as a CIDE certificate (Children’s Rights) at Kinshasa College. In 2022 she completed a Montessori certificate in Early Childhood Development for Children with Special Needs and also completed full training in both Zama as well as Modern Montessori Teaching Methods at Montessori South Africa. Michaela is also CPR trained and learned how to swim from her early childhood days where she lived in Angola. She is doing regular refresher swim courses with our head coach, Lizette Botha.
Michaela consists of the following personal qualities, namely: self confidence, very patient, reliable, hard working, friendly, kind and is very organized. Her hobbies are swimming, singing, cooking and traveling.
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A message from Michaela:
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“Since 2002, I have been working with children from 6 months old to teenagers in different perspectives which include teaching, coaching, life orientation, religion studies, teaching foreign languages (French and Portuguese). My aim in life is to teach children the skills that will enable them to develop inner discipline and confidence that’s sustainable in order to become an independent swimmer and perhaps an athlete for future years to come.”
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