State Swim

I’ve been a loyal member of State Swim Caroline Springs for over 14 years, with both of my children attending regularly. Unfortunately, my recent experience at the Melbourne State Carnival has left me deeply disappointed and upset. My daughter, who competed in the 15+ age group, came first in all her races—there were only three girls in her category, and she received first-place ribbons across the board. However, during the medal presentation, her name was wrongly called as the runner-up. Despite my immediate complaint, staff continued the ceremony without correcting the error.

At first, I was told the results were based on times across all groups, which makes no sense given how few competitors there were. Later, they admitted they made a mistake and said, “We’re only human.” This was not the first time such an error happened to my daughter, and she was left in tears after being wrongly presented in front of a crowd.

To make matters worse, one manager and a swim teacher responded dismissively, saying, “If you’re not happy, you don’t have to have your kids compete.” That level of disrespect, especially after years of loyal membership, was truly shocking.

Even when they offered a replacement medal, it had no engraving—just a blank token handed out in private, which completely missed the point. Recognition matters, especially to young athletes.

In addition to this incident, I’ve witnessed staff speaking harshly and even yelling at children during lessons—something no parent wants to see in a learning environment that should be encouraging and supportive.

Because of these repeated issues, I’ve made the decision to withdraw both of my children from State Swim by the end of the month. I can no longer recommend this facility to other families.