SwimMark

SwimMark accreditation means pools and swimming clubs are dedicated to creating the best possible swimming experience for all. It is your guarantee of quality provision for your child.

Every SwimMark accredited club provides high quality, safe, effective, child-friendly services for the benefit of their swimmers and non-swimming members.

It’s about putting the swimmers first and ensuring young learners follow the pathway Swim England recognises for training and competition.

SwimMark is also a development tool that allows swimmers, teachers, coaches and those responsible for developing programmes to continually improve.

SwimMark is Swim England’s quality mark for Clubs!

SwimMark accreditation is Swim England recognised kitemark for the development of effective, ethical and sustainable affiliated clubs.

The opportunity to gain SwimMark accreditation is available to all clubs, across any aquatic discipline (including Masters), regardless of size and activity delivered. SwimMark is about creating the best possible swimming experience for all and raising the quality of aquatics provision across all areas.

SwimMark offers national recognition that clubs are providing a quality service for all members, which is recognised by Sport England i.e. all clubs gaining SwimMark accreditation will automatically receive Clubmark status. Clubmark is widely recognised by potential funders, schools and other partners that can assist with club growth and development.

In May 2013, SwimMark changed to a three module system for recognising quality in aquatic clubs:-

SwimMark club Essential is a key module which will support clubs to grow membership, develop volunteers and ensure the sustainability of activity in line with the objective of the club

SwimMark club Network is the second of the three modules to be launched. The aim is to quality assure clubs who work collaboratively to deliver the athlete pathway in their area, and ensure that athletes meet their potential and are retained in the sport. It will assist in identifying gaps in provision and opportunities available for clubs to increase and sustain membership. Each club in the network will be valued for their role. It is agreed between accredited clubs to work towards the following objectives:

  • To retain and increase Swim England club members
  • To retain and increase volunteers, teachers, coaches and officials
  • To raise the standards of performance across appropriate aquatic disciplines

SwimMark Performance Environment provides a benchmark for clubs coaching high level athletes across all four disciplines (Swimming, Diving, Waterpolo and Synchro). It is awarded to those clubs who can demonstrate that the pathways, physical environment, coaching practices and support services are all in place for athletes to reach the pinnacle of their aquatic sport, and that the club has historical evidence, to illustrate athletes regularly achieve success through this performance programme.

SwimMark Performance is assessed in three sections:

  1. Pre-requisite / Self Assessment Criteria
  2. Physical Environment Criteria
  3. Coaching Programme Criteria