SwimMark is Swim England's Club Development Programme, aimed at ‘providing appropriate opportunities for swimmers, in order that they will attain their full potential’.

SwimMark is, therefore, all about the needs of swimmers. The program is structured around four levels, all equally important: Teaching, Skill Development, Competitive and Performance.

Each level contains criteria that a club is required to meet in order to be accredited.  We obtained our accredition in 2020, this is subject to an annual review and a full renewal every 2 years.

Playing a proactive role will also mean gaining help from Sport England’s Active Sports programme, funded by the Lottery Sports Fund. One of Active Sports’ main aims is the identification of ability and potential in young people and, by providing the opportunities as well as granting aid to Local Authorities, they help to develop sound sports programmes for our youngsters.

SwimMark is an ongoing, all-encompassing process: it can be used to access resources to work within a National framework, provides closer links with Local Authorities and Swim England and, equally, it involves all members of the club, from the head coach right down to parent helpers.

There is no doubt that SwimMark is one of Swim England's most significant national programmes, “the outcome of which will be critical in shaping the future direction of club development in swimming”. Newbury District Swimming Club is proud of being abreast of future changes in the discipline.

If you are interested in this project and would like to get involved on behalf of Newbury District Swimming Club, or simply to know more, please contact one of our SwimMark co-ordinators, Steph Holland.

SwimMark accreditation is achieved through the implementation of three modules:

  1. Compliance Module – A Compliance Module deals with the management and governance of a club

  2. Workforce Development Module – A Workforce Development Module supports the training and development of the coaches/teachers, officials and other volunteers to ensure they are aware of the latest developments, issues and legislation

  3. Athlete Development Module – An Athlete Development Module concentrates of the technical aspects of the sport and the needs of the swimmers

The documents that have been created in order to satisfy these modules mainly come under the heading of:

  1. Policy Documents – NDSC Policy Documents relate largely to the Compliance and Work Force Modules

  2. NDSC Coaching Model and the Technical Programme – Documents detailing the NDSC coaching model and the technical programme which relate largely to the Athlete Development Module

Finally the most important part of our club is ensuring that children swim in a safe and protective environment. Child Welfare is vital. All of the documents in support of this aim can be found in the NDSC policy documents section.

For more details of the Swim England and NDSC Child Welfare Programmes please also see Swim England's Wavepower