Meet the Coach

Dinah has always enjoyed a range of aquatic activities. Her enthusiasm for the water began at a young age. Growing up in Western Australia, a state rich in aquatic environments, she recalls early childhood memories of swimming and playing in the water holes of the outback to days spent in the waters of the Indian Ocean.

She enjoyed years of squad and school swimming throughout her primary and secondary education. While completing her Bachelor of Pharmacy, she taught children how to swim in the pool and ocean. It was also during this time she began playing water polo.

Encouraged by good friends, Dinah began training and competing in triathlons in 2001. Since this time she has completed many triathlons and multisport events. She particularly enjoys competing in open water swimming races. Highlights have been the Rottnest Channel crossing in 2004, Swim around Charleston in 2011-12, the Chattanooga Rat Race 2012, the 2017 Tampa Bay Marathon Swim, the 2017 Swim the Suck and 2018 and 2019 Bridges to Bluffs 10km swim.

Originally from Perth, Western Australia, Dinah now resides in North Carolina where coached athletes, private lesson students and small groups come to her Discovery Aquatics swim studio to improve their swimming. The swim studio offers a unique blend of Endless Pool instruction and open water swimming in the same venue.

Dinah began her swim education in 1994 with the Education Department of Western Australia’s AustSwim program.  She spent many hours teaching children to swim in pools and the Indian Ocean as she completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy.  During a very rewarding career as a clinical pharmacist in the hospital system of WA, swimming was an effective way to decompress. The opportunity to compete was also never far from her mind, swimming in open water races and completing triathlons was an essential outlet.

A move to the USA in 2004 presented an opportunity to pursue swimming with focus and dedication. From 2010-2018 Dinah was involved in the Total Immersion program, most of those years as a Master Coach. She has also been actively coaching swim leagues and high school swimming. Writing the Fresh Freestyle book was an avenue to collate many years of experience into a documented training sequence for athletes to access globally.

Dinah is also a certifed Open Water Coach by the World Open Water Swimming Association.

Dinah is a certified Emotional Intelligence (EQ) coach and founder of SwimEQ. The SwimEQ program provides swimmers with the tools to manage emotions in a learning environment and to optimize performance in race situations. Seeing athletes use the skills of SwimEQ to overcome anxiety in the water, reach full potential in race environments and achieve goals they thought unattainable is extremely rewarding for Dinah.

An introduction to paddle boarding in 2013 quickly led to a passion for racing and SUP technique efficiency. Dinah is a Paddlefit level 3 instructor and enjoys introducing paddlers to the sport of SUP and refining technique of intermediate to advanced paddlers.

When Dinah is not swimming or out on her SUP, she loves to mountain bike, practice yoga and trail run.