The Waterbabies® program was inspired and founded by Kelly Rae in 1991. From small beginnings and a core group of six families, Kelly has developed Oceanic Waterbabies into a world class program, teaching thousands of parents over the years how to safely and joyfully teach their babies to swim.

Her own children were her primary teachers in understanding the importance of the parent child relationship in water and the motivation behind this highly successful program.

“I wanted the program to be nurturing, educational and empowering for parents. Our philosophy of doing it with your child, not to them would create a happier and more connected learning process for both parents and their babies, and it had to be fun.”

Kelly initially undertook training with her mentor, Australian infant aquatic expert, Cookie Harkin of Melbourne based Babyswim Australia.

“Cookie provided a fantastic learning foundation, believed in me and continued her support and encouragement through the years. One week with Cookie and I knew this was the work I was meant to do. What could be better than the combination of working with gorgeous children, their loving families and a great environment… the water. Over the past 23 years, my passion for this work has only grown”.

Kelly’s natural teaching ability and motivational speaking continues to inspire others including presenting at conferences and training seminars in Perth, to the World Aquatic Baby Congress (WABC) in Wellington New Zealand 2007 and Vancouver, Canada in 2009. In 2008 Kelly was invited as a guest speaker in the UK at the annual conference of the hugely successful, largest franchised swim school in the world, Water Babies (UK).

The Oceanic Waterbabies story continues to unfold, driven by a deep unrelenting  passion to provide the very best guidance and support for parents wishing to teach their babies to swim.