At 6am on a Friday morning at Broadmeadows aquatic centre in Melbourne's north-west, members of the Western Melbourne Propulsion Swim Club are doing laps under the watchful eye of their coach. The scene is repeated at pools across Australia, but at Broadmeadows, something is different. The club is working to address swimming's diversity challenge, which has seen the sport fall behind others like soccer, basketball and athletics in reflecting Australia's multicultural makeup.
The lack of diversity in elite swimming stems from multiple factors, including accessibility, cost, a lack of role models, discrimination, cultural expectations, and the sport's varied global status. Historically, few high-profile Australian swimmers have come from migrant communities, though some Asian-Australian swimmers like William Yang, Se-Bom Lee and Joshua Yong have excelled in recent years.
Luka Zubcic, who led the Propulsion club for seven seasons and recently stepped down as president, says the club takes a two-pronged approach: high performance but community focused. Growing up in the north-western suburbs, Zubcic experienced the inaccessibility of the sport firsthand, commuting long distances to train. Propulsion now attracts swimmers from local government areas with high proportions of first- and second-generation Australians, including Hume, Melton, Brimbank, Maribyrnong, Merri-bek and Moonee Valley.
Jonathan Qariaqus, an 18-year-old breaststroke and backstroke swimmer born to Iraqi parents, is one beneficiary of the club's location. He says swimming is not popular among Iraqi Australians, who tend to prefer soccer, and that professional swimming is not always seen as a worthy goal. Zubcic notes that for white Australians, swimming is viewed as an acceptable avenue to pursue, while for other communities, the intense time commitment at a young age can be a major barrier, especially when education is prioritised.
Propulsion has tried to keep swimmers attached to the program even if they reduce training loads, hoping they will resume full commitment later. The club's efforts to drive change are beginning to bear fruit, offering a pathway for swimmers from diverse backgrounds to pursue high-performance swimming without the need for lengthy commutes to inner Melbourne.
