Safeguarding requirements for swimming clubs do not stand still. Regulations are updated, guidance is refined, and expectations evolve as new risks emerge. Clubs that set up their safeguarding processes a few years ago and have not revisited them since may find they are no longer fully aligned with current requirements.
This post focuses on what has changed or been reinforced heading into 2026, and what your club should be doing right now to ensure your safeguarding practices meet the latest standards. If you are looking for a broader introduction to safeguarding fundamentals, our general safeguarding guide covers the foundations.
Wavepower: staying current
Wavepower remains the cornerstone of safeguarding for Swim England-affiliated clubs. Compliance is a condition of affiliation, which means falling behind is not an option.
Checking your version
Swim England periodically updates Wavepower to reflect changes in legislation, best practice, and emerging safeguarding risks. Your Club Welfare Officer should be checking the Swim England website regularly for updates and ensuring the club is working from the most recent version.
A practical step: add a recurring task to your committee calendar at the start of each season to verify that your Wavepower documentation is current. When an update is published, review the changes as a committee and identify any areas where your club’s practice needs to adjust.
Key areas of ongoing emphasis
While the full Wavepower document covers a wide range of topics, several areas continue to receive particular emphasis:
Codes of conduct. Every club should have clear, signed codes of conduct for swimmers, parents, coaches, and committee members. These should be reviewed annually and reissued at the start of each season. If your codes of conduct were last updated several years ago, review them now to ensure they reflect current expectations, particularly around online behaviour and social media.
Photography and filming policies. Clubs should have a clear, written policy on photography and filming at training sessions, galas, and club events. This includes who can take photographs, what consent is required, and how images are stored and shared. With the increasing use of social media and live streaming, this policy needs to be specific and actively enforced, not just a line in a handbook that nobody reads.
Transport policies. The guidance on transporting young swimmers to and from training or competitions continues to emphasise that clubs should have clear arrangements and that one-to-one transport by adults who are not the child’s parent or carer should be avoided wherever possible. If your club relies on car-sharing arrangements for away galas, make sure these are covered by your policy and that parents have given informed consent.
DBS checks: what clubs need to know in 2026
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks remain a fundamental part of safeguarding for anyone working with children in a swimming club. The process and requirements have seen several developments that clubs should be aware of.
Who needs a DBS check
The requirement has not changed in principle: anyone in a role that involves regular, unsupervised contact with children needs an enhanced DBS check. For swimming clubs, this typically includes coaches, poolside helpers, welfare officers, and any committee members whose role involves direct contact with young swimmers.
However, clubs sometimes overlook roles that have evolved over time. A volunteer who started by helping with timing at galas but now regularly assists with poolside coaching may have moved into a role that requires a DBS check without anyone formally recognising the change. Review your volunteer roles annually and assess whether the DBS requirement applies based on what people actually do, not just their title.
The DBS Update Service
The DBS Update Service allows individuals to keep their DBS certificate current and lets employers (or in this case, clubs) check the status of that certificate online. This is significantly more efficient than requiring a completely new DBS application every time someone changes role or joins a new organisation.
Encourage all coaches, welfare officers, and relevant volunteers to subscribe to the Update Service when they receive their DBS certificate. The annual fee is modest and it saves considerable time and paperwork for both the individual and the club. When a new volunteer joins, check whether they are already registered with the Update Service before starting a full new application.
Processing times and planning
DBS applications can take several weeks to process, and delays are not uncommon. Clubs should factor this into their onboarding timeline for new coaches and volunteers. Do not wait until the start of the season to submit applications for people who will be needed poolside in September.
Build DBS applications into your recruitment process from the earliest stage. As soon as a new coach or volunteer is identified, begin the paperwork. This avoids the situation where a willing volunteer is ready to help but cannot be poolside because their DBS check has not come through yet.
Tracking expiry and renewal
DBS certificates do not technically expire, but Swim England guidance recommends that clubs renew checks at regular intervals, typically every three years. Keeping track of renewal dates for every checked individual is essential and is one of the areas where clubs most commonly fall behind.
A spreadsheet can work for small clubs, but it depends on someone remembering to check it regularly. A membership management system that tracks DBS dates and sends automatic reminders when renewals are due removes this risk entirely. The data is always current, and nobody has to rely on memory or manual diary entries. Compare automated compliance features on our Coacha comparison or see pricing.
Online safety and digital communications
The way clubs communicate with young swimmers and their families has changed significantly in recent years. WhatsApp groups, social media, and messaging apps are now standard tools for many clubs, but they bring safeguarding considerations that are not always well managed.
Coach-swimmer communication
Coaches should not be communicating directly with young swimmers via personal messaging apps, social media, or text messages. All communication with swimmers under 18 should go through their parent or carer, or through official club channels that are visible to other adults.
This is not a new rule, but it is one that is frequently overlooked in practice. A coach sending a quick WhatsApp message to a teenage swimmer about a session change may seem harmless, but it creates a private communication channel that is exactly the kind of arrangement safeguarding policies are designed to prevent.
Establish clear guidelines: coaches communicate with parents, not directly with children. Use official club communication channels for session updates, squad information, and other routine messages. If your club uses a communication platform, this becomes straightforward because messages are sent through the system to the parent’s account rather than to personal phone numbers.
Social media policies
Your club’s social media policy should cover both the club’s official accounts and the personal accounts of coaches and volunteers. Key points to address include:
- Coaches and volunteers should not accept friend or follow requests from swimmers under 18 on personal social media accounts
- Official club social media accounts should be managed by at least two people, so that no individual has sole control
- Content posted on club channels should comply with your photography and filming policy
- Comments and direct messages on club accounts should be monitored
Online training and video sessions
If your club offers any form of online coaching, land training via video call, or virtual team meetings for young swimmers, these sessions should follow the same safeguarding principles as in-person activities. Sessions should be supervised by at least two adults, recordings should not be made without explicit consent, and parents should be informed about when and how these sessions take place.
Safer recruitment practices
Recruiting volunteers and coaches safely is about more than running a DBS check. It is about having a structured process that reduces the risk of unsuitable individuals gaining access to children through your club.
Application and interview process
Even for voluntary roles, clubs should have a basic application process. This does not need to be as formal as a job application, but it should include a role description, an application form that asks for references, and a conversation (in person or by video) with the applicant before they start.
Asking for two references and actually following them up is a step that many clubs skip because it feels awkward or unnecessary for a volunteer role. It remains one of the most effective safeguarding measures available.
Induction and probation
New coaches and volunteers should receive a safeguarding induction before they begin working with young swimmers. This should cover your club’s codes of conduct, reporting procedures, and the role of the Club Welfare Officer. It should also make clear what behaviour is expected and what is not acceptable.
A probation period, during which the new volunteer works alongside experienced members and is observed, provides an additional layer of assurance. It also gives the volunteer a chance to ask questions and build confidence in the club’s way of working.
Creating a culture of safeguarding
Policies and procedures matter, but they only work if your club has a genuine culture of safeguarding. This means that everyone, from the head coach to the newest parent volunteer, understands that protecting young swimmers is their responsibility, not just the welfare officer’s.
Regular training
Safeguarding training should not be a one-off event completed during onboarding and then forgotten. Schedule regular refresher sessions for all coaches, volunteers, and committee members. Swim England offers training courses at various levels, and completing these should be a requirement for anyone in a safeguarding-relevant role.
Make training accessible by offering it at different times and in different formats. Not every volunteer can attend an evening workshop. Online options make it easier for people to complete their training without having to find a babysitter or take time off work.
Open reporting culture
Swimmers, parents, and volunteers should feel confident that they can raise a concern and it will be taken seriously. This requires more than having a reporting procedure written in a policy document. It means actively communicating that concerns are welcome, that there will be no negative consequences for raising them, and that they will be handled properly.
Display your Club Welfare Officer’s contact details prominently on your website, on your noticeboard, and in your member communications. Introduce the CWO to new families when they join. Make the process of raising a concern as simple and non-intimidating as possible.
Record keeping
Accurate records of safeguarding matters are essential. This includes DBS check dates, training completion records, incident reports, any concerns raised, and session attendance registers that demonstrate duty of care. These records need to be stored securely, with access limited to those who need it.
Paper records in a filing cabinet can meet this requirement, but they are vulnerable to loss, damage, and access by unauthorised individuals. Digital record-keeping with appropriate access controls is more secure, more reliable, and easier to audit. If your club’s membership system supports secure document storage, use it for safeguarding records as well.
Building your 2026 safeguarding checklist
Here is a practical checklist for clubs to work through as you review your safeguarding position this year:
- Confirm you are working from the latest version of Wavepower
- Review and reissue all codes of conduct
- Audit all volunteer and coach roles to confirm DBS requirements are met
- Check that all DBS certificates are within their recommended renewal window
- Review your photography, filming, and social media policies
- Confirm that coach-swimmer communication follows your guidelines
- Schedule safeguarding refresher training for all relevant volunteers
- Test your incident reporting process with a tabletop exercise
- Review your safer recruitment practices, including references and induction
- Ensure safeguarding records are stored securely with appropriate access controls
Working through this checklist will not take long if your club’s safeguarding practices are already solid. If you find gaps, address them promptly. Safeguarding is not an area where “we will get to it eventually” is an acceptable approach.
Keeping safeguarding manageable
For volunteer-run clubs, the administrative side of safeguarding can feel overwhelming. Tracking DBS dates, chasing training completions, maintaining records, and keeping policies up to date is a significant amount of work on top of everything else the committee handles.
This is one of the areas where the right tools make a genuine difference. A system that tracks DBS expiry dates, stores safeguarding documents securely, and sends automatic reminders when action is needed turns a stressful, error-prone process into a manageable routine.
Swimly is currently accepting clubs for its pilot programme, and safeguarding compliance tracking is one of the features we are building with club welfare officers in mind. If your club would benefit from a simpler way to manage safeguarding admin, find out more about joining the pilot.