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.
The short answer for 2026 is that the version of Wavepower in force was published in January 2024, and it made five things mandatory that many clubs still treat as optional: an adult safeguarding policy, a complete ban on using mobile devices in changing rooms, Swim England’s own safeguarding training in place of any external course, the full safer recruitment process for paid roles in regulated activity, and a welfare officer who is independent of the chair and of the coaching team. If your club has not reviewed its practice since 2023, those five are where the gaps will be.
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 guide to Wavepower, Swim England’s safeguarding framework covers the foundations. Note that Wavepower is an England policy: clubs in Scotland and Wales work to a different regime, covered in our guide to swimming club safeguarding in Scotland and Wales.
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. Since the 2024 update, Wavepower is published digitally only. Swim England has confirmed there are no more printed copies, which is deliberate: it allows changes to be made and notified to members as they happen rather than waiting for a reprint.
That has a practical consequence for clubs. If your welfare officer is working from a PDF saved to a laptop, or worse a ring binder on a shelf in the pool office, they may be reading a superseded document without any signal that it has moved on. Work from the copy on the Swim England website, and make sure whoever holds the welfare officer role is the person receiving Swim England member communications.
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.
The 2024 changes still catching clubs out
The update published at the beginning of 2024 is the version clubs are working to now, and it is worth naming its five substantive changes explicitly, because each one turned something that used to be advisory into something that is required:
Adult safeguarding. For the first time, Wavepower includes an adult safeguarding policy alongside the child safeguarding one, with directions on reporting concerns about adults at risk of harm.
Mobile devices in changing rooms. The old rule banned taking photographs in changing areas. The current rule bans all use of a mobile device in a changing room or changing village during Swim England regulated activity.
Approved training. Swim England now accepts only its own safeguarding course for roles that Wavepower says require safeguarding training. A certificate from a generic external provider no longer satisfies the requirement at the point of renewal.
Safer recruitment. Following the full safer recruitment process set out in Wavepower is mandatory for paid roles in regulated activity, rather than something a club chooses to do.
Welfare officer independence. It is no longer best practice but mandatory that the welfare officer is not related to, or in a close relationship with, the chair or proprietor, or a coach or teacher at the organisation.
Each of these is covered in more detail below. If your last safeguarding review predates 2024, treat this list as your agenda.
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, filming and mobile devices. 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. The changing room rules that sit alongside it are covered in the next section, and they are stricter than most clubs realise.
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.
Mobile devices in changing rooms
This is the single most commonly misunderstood current requirement, and it is worth setting out in full because clubs that think they are compliant often are not.
Wavepower prohibits all use of a mobile device in a changing room or changing village during Swim England regulated activity. Not just photography, not just video: any use at all. Swim England’s safeguarding team defines a mobile device as a piece of portable electronic equipment that can connect to the internet, and says its concern is devices capable of taking pictures or recording video.
Swim England explained the change at the time by pointing to the volume of incidents it was dealing with: its safeguarding and welfare team had handled more than 40 cases in the preceding year linked to inappropriate use of mobile devices in changing rooms. That is the reasoning behind a blanket rule rather than a photography-specific one, since any use of a phone in a changing area blurs the boundary.
What this means in practice:
- Devices can be carried in, but must stay in the bag. Swim England is explicit that phones may be taken into a changing area inside a member’s bag. The standard to aim for is that nobody ever sees a mobile device in a changing area.
- Emergencies are exempt. Swim England has confirmed it would not penalise someone for using a device to get medical help or call the emergency services.
- Medical devices are allowed, with discretion. A member who needs a phone for a medical reason, for example a diabetes glucose tracker, can use it within the privacy of a cubicle. It is best practice for someone in the club to know that this arrangement is in place.
- Using a changing room as a meeting space needs paperwork. If your club uses a changing village as a meeting room at an event, the change of use has to be made clear, the club needs sole use of the space, everyone must be dressed, and the arrangement should be written into the club’s risk assessment and communicated to members. It is not enough to simply announce that phones are allowed today.
Put this in your club handbook, put it on the changing room door if the venue permits, and brief team managers before away fixtures, where the rule is easiest to forget.
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. Swim England is clear that where somebody holds more than one role and any one of those roles requires a check, the check must be obtained.
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, and note that there is a short window after the certificate is issued in which they can do so. Our guide to DBS check tracking sets out the current subscription cost, the deadline, and when a check can and cannot be reused between clubs. 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 requires clubs to renew checks at regular intervals, which for affiliated clubs means 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.
Safeguarding training: only the Swim England course counts
This is the change that has caught out the largest number of individual volunteers, because it invalidates a certificate people reasonably believed was fine.
Since January 2024, Swim England accepts only its own safeguarding courses for roles that Wavepower says require safeguarding training. Certificates from generic external providers are no longer approved. Swim England’s stated reason is that a bespoke course can be built around the trends, scenarios and risks specific to an aquatic environment, and that it cannot quality assure every external provider’s syllabus.
Which course each role needs
There are three courses, and clubs regularly book the wrong one:
| Course | Who needs it | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Swim England Safeguarding CPD, 3 hours | Anyone aged 16 or over whose role requires a DBS check | Online, tutor led |
| Welfare Officer Training (Time to Listen), 3 hours | Club welfare officers | Online, tutor led |
| Swim England Safeguarding Refresher | Anyone who has already completed the 3 hour CPD | Online, learner led |
The minimum age for the safeguarding course is 16, which matters for clubs that appoint junior coaches or young volunteers into roles requiring a DBS check. Booking is through Swim England Qualifications; Time to Listen is arranged through your regional office rather than booked directly.
The renewal cycle
Safeguarding training is renewed every three years. The cycle after your first Swim England course is: complete the course, choose a refresher at the three year point, then repeat the full Safeguarding course three years after that.
Two details save clubs a lot of confusion. First, if a volunteer holds an unexpired certificate from a previously approved external provider, they do not have to redo it immediately; they complete the Swim England course when their existing certificate comes up for renewal. Second, certificates are added to the individual’s Swim England membership record automatically, so there is no need to post them in, though everyone should keep their own copy in case a record does not appear.
Making training happen
Safeguarding training should not be a one-off event completed during onboarding and then forgotten. Schedule the three year renewals the way you would schedule DBS renewals, as a tracked date rather than a memory, and treat completion as a requirement for anyone in a safeguarding-relevant role rather than an aspiration.
Make training accessible by offering it at different times and in different formats. Not every volunteer can attend an evening workshop. The online delivery of the current courses makes this considerably easier than it used to be, but somebody still has to book people on, chase completions and record the certificates. That is a volunteer management job as much as a compliance one.
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 parent portal, 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.
Since the 2024 update, Wavepower draws a firm line between paid and voluntary roles, and clubs that apply one standard to both are getting it wrong in one direction or the other.
Paid roles in regulated activity
For a paid role in regulated activity, the full safer recruitment process is mandatory. Swim England sets out the required elements: an application form, two references, a written role description, an interview that includes questions on the candidate’s approach to safeguarding, a DBS check, safeguarding training and the appropriate qualifications for the role.
If your club pays a head coach, an assistant coach or a teacher, every one of those steps has to happen and has to be documented. Deciding that an interview is unnecessary because everybody already knows the candidate is not an option that Wavepower leaves open.
Voluntary roles in regulated activity
For voluntary roles, the picture is different. The full process above is best practice and worth following, but what is mandatory is narrower: the DBS check, safeguarding training, Welfare Officer (Time to Listen) training where the role is welfare officer, and the appropriate qualifications for the role. Those must be in place before the person starts.
That does not make the rest optional in spirit. 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, and the effort is trivial compared with the consequences of getting a recruitment decision wrong.
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.
The welfare officer role in 2026
Two things about the welfare officer role changed with the 2024 update, and both are the kind of structural requirement a club cannot fix in an afternoon.
Independence is now mandatory
Wavepower requires the welfare officer to be independent of the club chair, or the proprietor in the case of a swim school, and of any coach or teacher at the organisation. Being related to, or in a close relationship with, any of those people rules a person out. This used to be framed as best practice and is now a requirement.
Swim England allowed a transition period for clubs that had a conflicting appointment in place, and set 1 August 2024 as the date by which any transition had to be complete. That deadline has long passed, so a club whose welfare officer is also the chair’s spouse, or whose welfare officer coaches a squad, is not compliant now and should contact its regional team rather than waiting to be asked at affiliation. The welfare officer appointment is one of the items examined through Swim England Stronger Affiliation, so this does get checked.
Small clubs sometimes protest that there is nobody left who qualifies. That is a real constraint and worth raising with your region, but it is a recruitment problem to solve rather than a reason to leave a conflicted appointment in place.
Adult safeguarding and adult-only clubs
Because Wavepower now includes adult safeguarding, Masters clubs, university clubs and other organisations with no child members need to appoint an identified lead welfare officer as part of club affiliation. This is new for many such clubs, which historically saw the welfare officer role as something only junior clubs needed.
Two clarifications from Swim England are worth knowing. A club with both children and adult members does not need two welfare officers: one person can lead on both if they have the capacity. And there is no separate adult safeguarding course to sit, because the content is included in the Swim England Safeguarding training.
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.
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.
One barrier worth removing is the worry that a concern is not serious enough to report. Swim England distinguishes between a safeguarding concern (abuse, neglect, or serious and sustained bullying or harassment, or anything needing referral to a statutory agency such as the LADO or the police), a welfare issue (a lower level matter or breach of Wavepower causing some element of harm) and a code of conduct breach. Importantly, it does not expect members to be experts in telling them apart. Say that out loud to your club: if in doubt, tell the welfare officer and let them classify it.
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 your welfare officer is working from the current online version of Wavepower, not a saved PDF
- Confirm your welfare officer is independent of the chair and of every coach and teacher
- If you are an adult-only or Masters club, confirm you have appointed a lead welfare officer
- Check that everyone in a role requiring safeguarding training holds a current Swim England certificate, not an external one
- Check that no safeguarding certificate is within a few months of its three year renewal without a booking in place
- Review and reissue all codes of conduct
- Brief coaches, team managers and parents on the changing room mobile device rule, including away fixtures
- 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
- Confirm your recruitment process meets the mandatory standard for any paid role
- Test your incident reporting process with a tabletop exercise
- 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.
Frequently asked questions
What are the current Wavepower safeguarding requirements for swimming clubs?
Wavepower is Swim England’s safeguarding policy and every affiliated club must adopt it. The version in force was published in January 2024 and introduced five changes that clubs are still catching up with: an adult safeguarding policy, a ban on using mobile devices in changing rooms, mandatory Swim England safeguarding training in place of external courses, mandatory safer recruitment steps for paid roles in regulated activity, and a requirement that the welfare officer is independent of the chair and of any coach or teacher.
Can swimmers use mobile phones in changing rooms at a swimming club?
No. Wavepower prohibits all use of a mobile device in a changing room or changing village during Swim England regulated activity, not just taking photographs. Swim England defines a mobile device as portable electronic equipment that can connect to the internet. Phones may be carried into a changing area inside a bag but must stay there. Swim England allows two exceptions: calling for medical help or the emergency services, and a device needed for a medical reason such as a glucose tracker, which should be used inside a cubicle.
What safeguarding training do swimming club volunteers need?
Since January 2024 Swim England accepts only its own safeguarding courses. Anyone aged 16 or over whose role requires a DBS check must complete the three hour Swim England Safeguarding CPD. Welfare officers additionally complete Welfare Officer Training, known as Time to Listen. A learner led Swim England Safeguarding Refresher is available to people who have already done the three hour course.
How often does Swim England safeguarding training need renewing?
Every three years. After the first Swim England Safeguarding course you may choose a refresher at the three year point, then repeat the full course three years after that. Certificates are added to your Swim England membership record automatically, so there is no need to send them in, but keep your own copy.
Can a club welfare officer also be the chair or a coach?
No. Wavepower requires the welfare officer to be independent of the club chair, or the proprietor of a swim school, and of any coach or teacher at that organisation. It also rules out anyone related to or in a close relationship with those people. This became mandatory rather than best practice with the January 2024 update, and Swim England set 1 August 2024 as the deadline for clubs with a conflicting appointment to transition, so there is no grace period left.
Does Wavepower cover adult safeguarding as well as children?
Yes. The January 2024 update added an adult safeguarding policy and reporting routes for adults at risk of harm for the first time. Masters and other adult only organisations now need to appoint an identified lead welfare officer as part of club affiliation. A club with both child and adult members does not need two welfare officers, and there is no separate adult safeguarding course because the content sits inside the Swim England Safeguarding training.
What is the difference between a safeguarding concern, a welfare issue and a code of conduct breach?
Swim England defines a safeguarding concern as physical, emotional or sexual abuse, neglect, or serious and sustained bullying or harassment, meaning anything that has caused or could cause significant harm, or that needs referring to a statutory agency such as the LADO or the police. A welfare issue is a lower level matter or a breach of Wavepower causing some element of harm. A code of conduct breach is a breach of the club’s own code or of Swim England’s Code of Ethics. Clubs are not expected to classify these perfectly, so pass anything you are unsure about to the club welfare officer.
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 and safeguarding certificate renewals, stores safeguarding documents securely, and sends automatic reminders when action is needed turns a stressful, error-prone process into a manageable routine. Both cycles now run on three years, so a club that tracks them properly gets years of quiet instead of an annual scramble.
Safeguarding compliance tracking is one of the features Swimly builds with club welfare officers in mind. If your club would benefit from a simpler way to manage safeguarding admin, find out more about the founding clubs programme.