Business

West Belfast mum in the swim of things with new one-piece 'Orby'

Belfast mum Lee-Anne Daly holds a prototype of her innovative new swimming aid, the Orby suit, for young children
Belfast mum Lee-Anne Daly holds a prototype of her innovative new swimming aid, the Orby suit, for young children Belfast mum Lee-Anne Daly holds a prototype of her innovative new swimming aid, the Orby suit, for young children

A BELFAST swimming teacher and former business lecturer is putting her teaching into practice by floating her own idea on the market - with a little help from the Kickstarter crowdfunding website.

Lee-Anne Daly, a mother-of-one from west Belfast, aims to raise £12,500 in a Kickstarter campaign to fund production of an innovative new swimsuit designed to help children learn to swim.

And one of her successful 'water babies' has already put the Orby suit to the test - two year-old Ruby Brookes from Bangor has just learned to swim in it without the use of conventional arm bands or 'noodles' in the pool.

"Ruby is amazing and she has really demonstrated how the Orby can help children gain confidence in the water while avoiding dependence on buoyancy aids," Lee-Ann explained.

"As a swimming teacher I saw this as a main obstacle to children progressing to independent swimming - they relied too much on their arm-bands, kick boards or 'noodles' and didn't want to let go of them.

"Then, even those confident enough to launch themselves solo into the water didn't know what to do with their arms if they were used to holding on to something."

After sharing parents' frustration at what she saw as a complete lack of innovation in the swimming industry, Lee-Anne came up with the idea of her Orby swimsuit which has sewn-in inflatable air pockets which can be pumped up or reduced according to how a child progresses in the water.

But since having her light bulb moment two years ago, it hasn't exactly been a smooth glide through the water for Lee-Anne, who holds a degree in business and worked as lecturer in England before setting up AcquaBabes NI swimming school in 2008.

"It has been an exciting but challenging learning curve for me and it has taken two years from design to the stage I'm at today," she said.

"I never thought that at 38 years of age I would still be learning so much - everything from patenting to 3D body scans. testing to safety standards and organising manufacturing facilities.

“I’ve also worked with Queen’s University in Belfast to ensure there is a perfect amount of buoyancy in the right places to bring easier leverage of movement in the water.

"Now, I am ready to go into mass production - but I need to raise finance."

That's where Kickstarter comes in and Lee-Anne hopes members of the public will help by pledging money to help her reach her £12,500 target.

"Nearly £3,600 has been pledged in under a week so that is encouraging," she added, "but we really need people to get behind this campaign so we can start manufacturing the Orby suit and help more children learn to swim in a safe and independent way."

A former enthusiastic member of Lisburn Swimming Club, she returned to Northern Ireland when her eight year-old son Rhys was aged one - and was shocked at how few facilities offered baby swim classes in the area.

"Living in England and coming from a swimming background, I was keen that Rhys would learn to swim at an early age but I was surprised that there were hardly any classes where parents could bond with their babies in the water and share that experience," Lee-Anne said.

"That was what prompted me to start up AcquaBabes, but after spending the past seven years teaching young children how to swim, I became frustrated at how little has changed.

"In over 20 years there has been very little innovation and a degree of complacency, I think. There is so much more that could be improved upon and after the 'Orby' suit I want to do something about goggles.

"I see children taking them on and off, adjusting them and trying to 'de-mist' them and I think in 2015 there has to be something better than this."

The Orby Kickstarter campaign runs until November 17. Anyone interesting in pledging support should visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/orbygirl/orby