Anyone living in Hertsmere will no doubt have heard of Michelle Vince. For many years, she has been a hard-working and tireless campaigner, championing those less fortunate than ourselves. She seeks to improve the lives of all, irrespective of creed, race and wealth; and we are unbelievably privileged that Michelle is now working for J9 Swimming as one of our swim teachers.
Introduced to us by her swim teacher niece, swim teaching clearly runs in the family! A fully qualified, licensed, level 2 Swim England swimming instructor, Michelle’s experience is extensive and varied – from teaching pre-schoolers and primary school children to parents and babies and adults. She is kind and yet will push a swimmer to achieve their maximum potential, if warranted. She is flexible and is fabulous with non-swimmers, including those who are timid of the water and/or who have special needs as well as with those who can swim well. We regularly receive fantastic feedback testifying to her empathetic skills, including this one, received just a few weeks after Michelle started with us: ‘Just wanted to say that Michelle is absolutely brilliant. She’s a wonderful teacher and R and O adore her. Also, their swimming has really improved too….’ (KM)
Michelle qualified as a swim teacher some 20 years ago. She holds valid certification for Safeguarding Children (renewed in 2025), Young People and Vulnerable Adults and in March 2023 attended an IoS CPD course to integrate swimmers with a physical and/or sensory impairment into mainstream swimming lessons. More recently, she attended a two-day Makaton Workshop to enable her to communicate with some of our non-verbal swimmers and added to her credentials by undertaking Swim England’s Level 2 course at the end of August 2023: Teaching Swimming to Babies and Toddlers. This qualification ensures that Michelle can effectively and independently plan, prepare, deliver, monitor and evaluate a series of baby and toddler sessions.
In August 2025 as part of her continuing professional development, Michelle completed her ‘Teaching school swimming and Water Safety’ certification. Teaching school swimming and water safety involves meeting national curriculum requirements to ensure children can swim at least 25 metres, perform various strokes, and execute safe self-rescue in water. Michelle also attended an ‘Adult Swimming’ course in August 2025 – a training programme for swimming teachers that provides specialised knowledge on how to teach adults to swim. It covers adult learning motivations, common barriers like fear, effective teaching strategies, and how to adapt lessons for individual needs.
Michelle is regularly DBS checked. She carries her own personal swim insurance and is a member of the Institute of Swimming.
Michelle has two children and lives locally in Borehamwood with her dogs and a horse.