Doody takes reins

At just 21 years old Shannon Doody is making waves in the swimming community, taking on a new role as head coach of Kwinana Swimming Club.

Recognised as an emerging WA coach, with the backing of Western Australian Institute of Sport southern performance coach Will Scott and Swimming WA, Doody is committed to building the club to perform well at every level.

Growing up in the water, Doody developed a passion for swimming and knows what it is like to put in the hard yards.

“I’ve been swimming my whole life and still swim in events like the Rottnest channel swim as well,” she said.

“When I was 18 my former club needed an extra assistant coach and from there I just fell in love with coaching — it’s amazing to be a part of each swimmers’ development.”

Having had success with coaching State, national and Paralympic level swimmers, Doody is one of the youngest head coaches in WA.

“My drive for coaching really grew when someone above me said to me that a woman would never succeed as swimming coach,” she said.

“I like to take a holistic approach in my coaching — I’m trying to develop each and every swimmer individually to help them not only with their swimming abilities and achievement but in everyday life as well.”

Kwinana Swimming Club boasts several State age finalists, junior championship, masters national qualifiers and attained the C Division Club Premiership Trophy for 2019 with promotion to B Division for 2020.

Since taking on the role as head coach in April, Doody said she was excited to work with such a dedicated team and was keen to put the club “on the map again”.