Mel Tantrum, a swimming coach based in Western Australia, lives and breathes swimming. Through hard work and determination over the past 20 years, Mel has achieved great success in swimming as a volunteer and professional coach.

Mel’s successful career has seen her coach Paralympic swimmer Katrina Porter to a gold medal and a world-record time at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. She is currently the high performance swimming coach at the University of Western Australia.

Earlier in her career, Mel received a scholarship through the Australian Government’s Sport Leadership Grants and Scholarships for Women program, to which she credits her success.

‘The scholarship helped me achieve my goals in representing Australia on the world stage,’ Mel said.

‘I strongly encourage all women in sport to set big goals and seek help in achieving them and this is exactly what the Sport Leadership Grants and Scholarships for Women program is set up to do.’

The assistance provided through the program enabled Mel to enhance her skills, knowledge and experience in the areas of elite coaching and small business management.

Mel was able to attend the Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association Conference on the Gold Coast, completed a Level 1 Strength and Conditioning course and undertook seven modules of a Small Business Development course.

Following her success as an elite swimming coach, she has gone on to build her own consulting business for swimming coaches and learn-to-swim instructors, where she mentors and educates individuals involved in swimming.

Mel is passionate about developing world-class swimming coaches and regularly presents her methods and knowledge of the sport at national and international conferences and coach/educator courses.

Currently, Mel is preparing a group of swimmers and triathletes for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where she is hoping to represent Australia as a coach at the highest level.

The Australian Government’s Sport Leadership Grants and Scholarships for Women program is a joint partnership of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the Office for Women, providing development opportunities and training for women to reach their leadership potential within the industry as coaches, officials and administrators.