I'm Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis. I'm a public health and social researcher, a young carer, a youth leader, a second-generation migrant and a proud Igbo woman.   

I’m 26 years old and until last summer, I couldn’t swim.  

This three-part podcast follows my journey learning how to swim over one scorching summer in Western Sydney. I’ve lived in Blacktown City for almost all my life. It's starting to feel like each summer is hotter than the last.

Dive in with me and you'll hear from my community, and others like it, where not being able to swim is actually pretty common. Australia likes to believe we’re a nation of swimmers. We live mostly near the coast, and our sandy beaches and sparkling waves are world famous. But the reality is, many of us don’t have easy access to a beach or a swimming pool. And even if we do, we don’t always feel safe or welcome in these places.  

Dive in with me. Sink or Swim launches September 19.



Sink or Swim is produced by Impact Studios at the University of Technology Sydney, in partnership with The Paul Ramsay Foundation. 

I'm Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis. I'm a public health and social researcher, a young carer, a youth leader, a second-generation migrant and a proud Igbo woman.   
I’m 26 years old and until last summer, I couldn’t swim.  
This three-part podcast follows my journey learning how to swim over one scorching summer in Western Sydney. I’ve lived in Blacktown City for almost all my life. It's starting to feel like each summer is hotter than the last.
Dive in with me and you'll hear from my community, and others like it, where not being able to swim is actually pretty common. Australia likes to believe we’re a nation of swimmers. We live mostly near the coast, and our sandy beaches and sparkling waves are world famous. But the reality is, many of us don’t have easy access to a beach or a swimming pool. And even if we do, we don’t always feel safe or welcome in these places.  
Dive in with me. Sink or Swim launches September 19.
 
Sink or Swim is produced by <a href="https://impactstudios.edu.au/">Impact Studios</a> at the <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/">University of Technology Sydney</a>, in partnership with <a href="https://www.paulramsayfoundation.org.au/">The Paul Ramsay Foundation</a>.

Angelica lives in Sydney, where sparkling beaches and aqua blue public pools are the backdrop to a swimming-crazy culture.  

But this image doesn't fit Angelica's reality. She never learned to swim as a child. She lives in a part of town that the cool sea breeze doesn’t reach and where swimming spots can be hard to find. 

In Sink or Swim, Angelica faces her fear of the water and the ever rising heat. Join her as she discovers why learning to swim in Sydney’s west opens the lid on what it means to live together in a warming world. 

Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis, a public health and social researcher, young carer, youth leader, and a second-generation migrant and proud Igbo woman. Sink or Swim is a three-episode podcast series by Impact Studios at Impact Studios at the University of Technology Sydney, in partnership with The Paul Ramsay Foundation. 

Angelica lives in Sydney, where sparkling beaches and aqua blue public pools are the backdrop to a swimming-crazy culture.  
But this image doesn't fit Angelica's reality. She never learned to swim as a child. She lives in a part of town that the cool sea breeze doesn’t reach and where swimming spots can be hard to find. 
In Sink or Swim, Angelica faces her fear of the water and the ever rising heat. Join her as she discovers why learning to swim in Sydney’s west opens the lid on what it means to live together in a warming world. 
Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis, a public health and social researcher, young carer, youth leader, and a second-generation migrant and proud Igbo woman.  Sink or Swim is a three-episode podcast series by Impact Studios at <a href="https://impactstudios.edu.au/">Impact Studios</a> at the <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/">University of Technology Sydney</a>, in partnership with <a href="https://www.paulramsayfoundation.org.au/">The Paul Ramsay Foundation</a>.

Sink or Swim

Introducing Sink or Swim

In our final episode, we look to the future and explore how we can survive the hotter summers that lie ahead for all of us. Blacktown is facing increasingly extreme urban heat, but locals are coming up with their own solutions. We visit two cool refuges where we discover ordinary citizens and local leaders who are shaping the communities they want in the places where they live.  

You’ll hear from Maryam Zahid, a community leader creating spaces for newly arrived women to learn skills like swimming, and Emma Bacon, who is campaigning for community-led heat responses. 

And you’ll find out – will Angelica and her swimming classmates reach their goals this summer? Will they sink or swim? 

In our final episode, we look to the future and explore how we can survive the hotter summers that lie ahead for all of us. Blacktown is facing increasingly extreme urban heat, but locals are coming up with their own solutions. We visit two cool refuges where we discover ordinary citizens and local leaders who are shaping the communities they want in the places where they live.  
You’ll hear from Maryam Zahid, a community leader creating spaces for newly arrived women to learn skills like swimming, and Emma Bacon, who is campaigning for community-led heat responses. 
And you’ll find out – will Angelica and her swimming classmates reach their goals this summer? Will they sink or swim?

It’s getting hot in here

Angelica has decided: this is the summer she finally takes the plunge. Go with her as she joins an adult swim class for beginners, and realises that there are plenty of other adults who share both her trepidation and her determination.  

Angelica’s home of Western Sydney is heating up faster than nearly anywhere else, making swimming an essential survival skill – not just for staying afloat, but for staying cool. She talks to local doctor Kim Loo to learn what extreme heat can do to the human body, and to urban planning and heat researcher Professor Sebastian Pfautsch, who explains how the new homes and suburbs we build – without the community’s input and without an eye to our hotter future – are exacerbating the discomfort and the risk.  

Sink or Swim is an Impact Studios Production. 
Written and produced by Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis and Britta Jorgensen. 
Audio editing by Britta Jorgensen and Celine Teo-Blockey. 
Additional support from Jane Curtis and Tamson Pietsch. 
The executive producers are Olivia Rosenman and Sarah Gilbert. 
Sound design by Melissa May. 
The theme song is by Friday. 
Podcast artwork and graphic design by Alexandra Morris. 
Research by Jackie May. 

Sink or Swim is part of a place-based audio project called Welcome to Blacktown, supported by the Paul Ramsay Foundation. If you want to know more visit our website www.impactstudios.edu.au/sinkorswim

Angelica has decided: this is the summer she finally takes the plunge. Go with her as she joins an adult swim class for beginners, and realises that there are plenty of other adults who share both her trepidation and her determination.  
Angelica’s home of Western Sydney is heating up faster than nearly anywhere else, making swimming an essential survival skill – not just for staying afloat, but for staying cool. She talks to local doctor Kim Loo to learn what extreme heat can do to the human body, and to urban planning and heat researcher Professor Sebastian Pfautsch, who explains how the new homes and suburbs we build – without the community’s input and without an eye to our hotter future – are exacerbating the discomfort and the risk.  
Sink or Swim is an Impact Studios Production. Written and produced by Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis and Britta Jorgensen. Audio editing by Britta Jorgensen and Celine Teo-Blockey. Additional support from Jane Curtis and Tamson Pietsch. The executive producers are Olivia Rosenman and Sarah Gilbert. Sound design by Melissa May. The theme song is by Friday. Podcast artwork and graphic design by Alexandra Morris. Research by Jackie May. Sink or Swim is part of a place-based audio project called Welcome to Blacktown, supported by the Paul Ramsay Foundation. If you want to know more visit our website www.impactstudios.edu.au/sinkorswim

If you think, you drink!

It’s the start of another scorching hot summer and Angelica is looking for relief. She longs to dive into some cooling water, but there’s one problem... Angelica can't swim. Join our host as she examines what it means to be a non-swimmer in a nation that prides itself on its prowess in the pool, and what stood in her way as a young girl growing up in Sydney’s west.  

You’ll join Angelica as she mingles with the crowd at a pool party in Mt Druitt, hear from writer Sarah Malik about her own hard-won adventures in the water, and get Olympian Shane Gould’s take on Australia’s swimming scorecard.  

And you’ll be by Angelica’s side as she takes us back to one fateful school swimming carnival, many years ago.



Sink or Swim is an Impact Studios Production. 
Written and produced by Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis and Britta Jorgensen. 
Audio editing by Britta Jorgensen and Celine Teo-Blockey. 
Additional support from Jane Curtis and Tamson Pietsch. 
The executive producers are Olivia Rosenman and Sarah Gilbert. 
Sound design by Melissa May. 
The theme song is by Friday. 
Podcast artwork and graphic design by Alexandra Morris. 
Research by Jackie May. 

Sink or Swim is part of a place-based audio project called Welcome to Blacktown, supported by the Paul Ramsay Foundation. If you want to know more visit our website www.impactstudios.edu.au/sinkorswim

It’s the start of another scorching hot summer and Angelica is looking for relief. She longs to dive into some cooling water, but there’s one problem... Angelica can't swim. Join our host as she examines what it means to be a non-swimmer in a nation that prides itself on its prowess in the pool, and what stood in her way as a young girl growing up in Sydney’s west.  
You’ll join Angelica as she mingles with the crowd at a pool party in Mt Druitt, hear from writer Sarah Malik about her own hard-won adventures in the water, and get Olympian Shane Gould’s take on Australia’s swimming scorecard.  
And you’ll be by Angelica’s side as she takes us back to one fateful school swimming carnival, many years ago.
 
Sink or Swim is an Impact Studios Production. Written and produced by Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis and Britta Jorgensen. Audio editing by Britta Jorgensen and Celine Teo-Blockey. Additional support from Jane Curtis and Tamson Pietsch. The executive producers are Olivia Rosenman and Sarah Gilbert. Sound design by Melissa May. The theme song is by Friday. Podcast artwork and graphic design by Alexandra Morris. Research by Jackie May. Sink or Swim is part of a place-based audio project called Welcome to Blacktown, supported by the Paul Ramsay Foundation. If you want to know more visit our website www.impactstudios.edu.au/sinkorswim

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