Nile Swimmers is a registered UK charity (number 1152395) administered by a trustee board. The board of trustees currently consists of:
Dan Graham LLB : Co-founder
Dan Graham is one of the three co-founders of Nile Swimmers, and currently serves as Charity Secretary and Trustee of the organisation.
Dan has taught water safety and rescue skills in a variety of environments for over fifteen years. He is currently a Rescue 3 qualified Advanced Swiftwater Rescue Instructor, an RLSS (UK) Trainer Assessor & Mentor for Pool Lifeguarding, Beach Lifeguarding, and Lifesaving. He is a National Tutor for the RLSS National Water Safety Programme (NWSMP).
Dan currently represents the RLSS (UK) on the Rescue Commission of the International Lifesaving Federation. He also sits on the Trustee Board for RLSS (UK). Dan is also the Executive Portfolio holder for Drowning Prevention for RLSS Commonwealth.
Dan is a contributing author to two chapters of the second edition of the Handbook on Drowning, and presented at the World Conference on Drowning Prevention in 2011, 2013 and 2015. He is also a contributing reviewer to the World Health Organisation “Preventing Drowning: an implementation guide”.
Tom Mecrow BSc MPH : Co-founder
Tom is a co-founder of Nile Swimmers, and has a significant experience working on public health programmes in low income countries, with a particular focus on drowning prevention.
Tom has previously worked as a Research Fellow for the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research in Bangladesh (CIPRB), and as a drowning prevention consultant in India. Tom authored the RNLI International Beach Lifeguard Manual for use in low-resource settings, and is currently working with stakeholders in the UK and Africa to develop a low-resource aquatic survival teaching toolkit
Tom holds a Masters qualification in Public Health in Developing Countries, is an experienced swimming and lifesaving teacher, and holds qualifications in Swiftwater Rescue.
Tom has presented at a number of international conferences, including the South East Asia Public Health Seminar and the World Conference of Drowning Prevention in Vietnam. He has co-authored two chapters in the Handbook on Drowning Prevention (second edition), and has a number of research papers undergoing peer review.
Tom enjoys travelling, swimming, surfing and a good cup of tea.
Dominic Roberton EngD
Dominic Roberton was recruited to the board of trustees in February 2013. Throughout his years at university, of which there were many, Dominic played an active role in British University Life Saving Clubs’ Association.
Having qualified as a pool lifeguard in his late teens, the world of competitive lifesaving opened his eyes to new standards and improved training methods. Whilst acting as a club coach for his university team and being blessed with a number of exceptional athletes, Dominic introduced a coaching system which produced consistently improving skills for the athletes & consistent success in competition.
Since 2009 Dominic has been focused on conducting engineering research, and developing statistical analysis methods to solve real world problems.
Osman Ibrahim
Osman was a key part of the Nile Swimmers team in Sudan, as one of the original project managers in the Khartoum Sea Scouts. He was a respected Captain in the Sea Scouts, and a well-connected successful local businessman in Khartoum. He played a pivotal role in organising the first two training camps, and also worked as the camp translator. More recently, Osman has moved with his family to the UK, and in early 2016 he officially joined the Trustee team of Nile Swimmers UK.
Rebecca Sindall PhD
Becky joined Nile Swimmers in 2015 as the organisation’s first female instructor. She has first hand experience of living, studying and working in African countries and has volunteered as a swimming and lifesaving teacher and coach since she was 16.
Becky works as a public health engineer and sanitation researcher and brings a wealth of research and project management experience to the team. She has presented at a wide range of international conferences on everything from the benefits of adding bubbles to sewage or using high performance computer models to model fluid flow, to the role of women in drowning prevention and how drowning links with the Sustainable Development Goals.
On behalf of RLSS Commonwealth, Becky developed the Emerging Leaders Workshops which give young people from Commonwealth countries the project management skills necessary to run drowning prevention programmes.