Swim Coaching Fellow, Rwanda (Open Lanes Fellowship)

About Friends of Ishyaka

Friends of Ishyaka, a US 501(c)(3) public charity registered in Maryland, recruits for and runs the Open Lanes Fellowship. It funds Ishyaka Swim Club, a registered Rwandan NGO, which hosts the Fellow.

Ishyaka breaks down the barriers that keep talent out of the water, opening safe, competitive and fun swimming to any Rwandan who wants it. It pays school fees, relocates elite swimmers to Kigali to train in a pool, and runs open meets for any Rwandan swimmer, club member or not, with transport paid. Ishyaka does swimming differently: anyone can train with the club, including swimmers who race for other clubs, and everyone gets the space to be themselves. More than 60 swimmers train with Ishyaka in Kigali, Karongi and Rutsiro, and several already race for Rwanda internationally.

The role

The Open Lanes Fellowship is a self-funded, 6 to 12 month opportunity in Rwanda for a competitive swimmer with coaching experience. You'll work alongside Ishyaka Swim Club's Rwandan coaches in Kigali and on Lake Kivu, supporting more than 60 swimmers and helping grow competitive swimming across Rwanda.

You'll arrive with your own experience. You'll leave having learned from a country that shows how sport can help build a nation, after months in the Land of a Thousand Hills, and a thousand more opportunities. It's a life-changing time, and you'll feel the impact of your contributions.

If you'd like, Ishyaka will also help you find a part-time internship with a Rwandan nonprofit or company in an area that interests you.

Why this role exists

Talent is here. Equitable access isn't. Rwanda has talented swimmers and skilled coaches, but competitive swimming is still exclusive, school fees push training aside, kit is expensive, and formal coach training isn't open to everyone, so most of our coaches are self-taught. You bring your experience; our coaches bring knowledge you won't find elsewhere.

Built on experience. Since February 2025, five exchange coaches have spent two to four weeks each with Ishyaka, and two now serve on our board. The Fellowship takes what we've learned to the next level: long enough to really know the swimmers and coaches, and to leave something lasting behind.

What you'll take home. You'll learn to run great sessions without everything at your online-shopping fingertips, to connect with swimmers when you don't share a language, and to see how sport helps build a nation.

What you'll do

• Support our coaches, in Kigali and with our lake squads in Karongi and Rutsiro: technique, session planning, dryland training and race skills. • Help with lessons: our beginners' group class, and private lessons for children and adults. • Teach water safety, first aid and lifeguarding, if you hold the certificates. • Work beyond Ishyaka: help at coach clinics and open meets for clubs across Rwanda, and contribute to a strong national swim programme. • Leave a playbook behind for our coaches: swimming and dryland sessions, and ideally lifestyle, diet and sleep too. English is fine; we'll translate it. • Recommend next steps for Ishyaka's team and programme, including more sustainable fundraising, once you've seen how we work. • Tell the story to supporters outside Rwanda, following our consent and safeguarding rules. • Intern beyond the pool, if you'd like to: about 10 hours a week in health, education, the environment, hospitality and tourism, or energy. We'll find the placement; it fits around training and isn't required.

Who we're looking for

• Coaching experience (required): swim coaching or teaching young people to swim. • Certifications (preferred): coaching certificates help. Lifeguard and first aid certificates earn extra credit, and an instructor qualification even more, because we want you to pass them on. • A competitive swimmer, college level preferred, graduating from university (preferred) or high school in 2027, and 18 or older when you arrive. • Drive, and care for the whole swimmer. You work hard, recognise and nurture drive in others, and care how swimmers are doing at school and at home, not just their times. • Creativity. You can run a great session with a lake, a rope and a boat, and you think your way around what's missing. • Patience and humility. Plans change and progress takes seasons. You're here to support a Rwandan-led club with rich knowledge and experience, and to learn from it. • A communicator beyond words. Kinyarwanda, English, French and Swahili are all spoken here, and you won't share every language with every coach and swimmer. You'll meet each other halfway, through demonstration, patience and some Kinyarwanda of your own.

The practical side

• When and where: start no later than 1 August 2027, for 6 to 12 months. Based in Kigali, with regular time on Lake Kivu. • Housing: live with our founder's family in Kigali rent-free, sharing utilities and groceries, or pay your own rent elsewhere. • You cover: flights, health and evacuation insurance, visa and permit fees, household costs or rent (if you choose your own accommodation), and personal spending. • We cover: a mentor coach, airport pickup, a first-week orientation, residence permit sponsorship, an internship placement if you want one, and a reference at the end of your fellowship. • Before you travel: SafeSport training, current CPR and first aid, and a background check (required for a Rwandan visa).

How to Apply

Email elise@ishyakasports.org with the subject line "Open Lanes Fellowship 2027" by 31 December 2026. Send:

Your CV

2. Any relevant certifications 3. Two referees (at least one able to speak directly to your swim coaching experience) 4. Your answers to at least 4 of the questions below. Answering 4 scores the same as answering more.

Answer in whatever way suits you: writing, video, voice notes, drawings or something we haven't thought of. We're looking for coaches, not writers, and how you answer tells us something too. About two minutes or 250 words each, or the equivalent.

4a. Our swimmers are talented; barriers, not ability, hold their results back. Tell us about a time you saw real talent behind "poor results." What did you see, and what did you do? 4b. Coaching exchanges build a two-way learning path: visiting coaches learn as much as they share. How will you make that happen? 4c. "We coach a person, not just a body in the water. A fast swimmer who acts badly is not a success here." What does the entire package of "success" look like for a swimmer you coach? 4d. Our lake squads swim in alcoves where we have fashioned makeshift 25-metre pools. How would you plan a 45-minute session there for twelve 13-year-olds? What would you do without, and what is essential? 4e. We're contributing to the Rwandan national swim programme, not just one club. What one skill would you want swimmers and coaches across Rwanda to have after your fellowship, how would you share it with teams beyond Ishyaka, and how would you make it last? 4f. You are likely to face significant language barriers with our coaches and swimmers. What is your approach to coaching, connecting and succeeding in that setting? 4g. Would you like the optional internship? If so, which area and type of organisation, and why?

Timeline: apply by 31 December 2026 • interviews online in January 2027 • offers by 31 January 2027 • arrive no later than 1 August 2027.

Learn more at www.ishyakasports.org

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