Paolo Di Paola has been involved in swimming for over 50 years, as a swimmer first and then as a swimming teacher and coach of both adults and children. After moving to Ireland in 2005 he worked for the Aer Lingus Swimming Club between 2007 and May 2019. After a short experience with the NAC SC he accepted a new challenge and at the end of 2019 created a new swimming club, the Alsaa Swim Club, which is based at the Alsaa Swimming Pool on Dublin Airport campus. Currently he is the Head Coach of the Alsaa SC and the lesson coordinator of both the club and the facility Learn to Swim Programmes.

He holds Level 3 Coaching and  Level 2 Swim Ireland Teaching qualifications here in Ireland, as well as a Level 4 qualification with the American Swimming Coaches Association and a coaching qualification (Allenatore Nuoto) with the Italian NGB FIN (Federazione Italiana Nuoto).

As a coach he has an extensive experience in the field of swimming skills acquisition and in developing Age Group Swimmers.

Paolo worked for Swim Ireland, the National Governing Body for Irish Swimming, between 2011 and 2014, as Education and Child Learn to Swim Programme Officer first and then as Education Manager. He was also the Performance Manager and assistant coach of the Irish National Youth Squad in 2012/2013.

A qualified Swim Ireland Tutor, he delivered training courses for Swimming Teachers and Coaches as well as Continuous Professional Development Seminars such as Long Term Athlete Development and Child Learn to Swim up skilling between 2011 and 2020. He also delivered presentations at the Lifesaving Foundation Conferences in 2013, 2016  and 2018, as well as up skilling courses for Dublin City University Sport staff and for other facilities and institutions.

Because of his longstanding involvement in learn to swim programmes in conjunction with his coaching career, he has always been a keen advocate of focusing on the acquisition of proper core aquatic skills at the early stages of learning to swim, as opposed to just teaching strokes, in order to be safe in the water and to enjoy a lifelong involvement in the aquatics.