Swim Club Management Software
Membership, automated billing, poolside attendance, and Wavepower compliance in one platform. Designed for volunteer-run committees, not IT departments.
Manage your club from your laptop or your phone at poolside.
The admin problem killing swim clubs
Running a swimming club in the UK is a volunteer effort. Chairs, treasurers, membership secretaries, and safeguarding officers give up their evenings and weekends to keep things running. But outdated tools make the job harder than it needs to be:
Spreadsheet chaos
Membership records in Excel, fee tracking in Google Sheets, attendance on paper. Nothing connects, nothing syncs, and nobody has the latest version.
Admin overload
Chasing late payments, reconciling bank statements, printing registers, emailing parents one at a time. Your volunteers spend more time on admin than on the club.
Volunteer burnout
Committee members burn out within a year or two. Knowledge walks out the door with them, and the next person starts from scratch.
Swim club management software solves these problems by bringing everything into one platform that any committee member can use.
What Swimly does for your club
Membership management
Centralised member database with swimmer profiles, family accounts, emergency contacts, and medical information. Parents update their own details through a self-service portal.
Automated billing
Collect fees automatically via Direct Debit through GoCardless. Different fee structures per squad, sibling discounts, and automatic invoice generation. Failed payments retried automatically.
Attendance tracking
Digital registers on coaches' phones, right at poolside. No more paper registers that get wet, lost, or forgotten. Session history stored automatically for safeguarding and reporting.
Wavepower compliance
Track DBS certificates, coaching qualifications, and safeguarding training with automatic renewal reminders. Compliance dashboard for Swim England inspections and SwimMark accreditation.
Communication
Send targeted announcements to specific squads or the entire club. Automatic session cancellation alerts, payment reminders, and renewal notifications.
Works poolside
Built mobile-first for 6am poolside sessions. Coaches take attendance on phones, parents check schedules on the go, and committees manage from anywhere.
How Swimly compares
| Feature | Swimly | SwimClub Manager | TeamUnify | Spond | Spreadsheets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for UK swim clubs | ✓ | ✓ | US-focused | Generic | — |
| Automated Direct Debit | ✓ | Limited | US payments | ✗ | ✗ |
| Flat monthly pricing | From £29/mo | Per-member | Per-member | Free | Free |
| Wavepower compliance | ✓ | Basic | ✗ | ✗ | Manual |
| Poolside attendance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Basic | ✗ |
| Parent portal | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | App only | ✗ |
| No annual contract | ✓ | Annual | Annual | ✓ | ✓ |
How to choose swim club management software
Not all club management platforms are built the same. Most were designed for generic sports clubs or for the American market, then awkwardly adapted for UK swimming. Here is what to look for when evaluating swim club management software for your committee:
1. UK-specific compliance support
Your software should understand Wavepower safeguarding, DBS tracking, and Swim England membership categories out of the box. American platforms like TeamUnify have no concept of Wavepower or SwimMark accreditation. Generic tools like Spond treat swimming the same as five-a-side football. Look for a platform that tracks DBS expiry dates, coaching qualifications, and safeguarding training automatically.
2. Direct Debit billing, not just card payments
UK swimming clubs collect monthly subscriptions, and Direct Debit is the standard. Standing orders require parents to set up payments manually and give your treasurer no visibility when someone cancels. Card payments mean higher fees. A proper swim club management system should collect fees via GoCardless Direct Debit automatically, retry failed payments, and give your treasurer a clear dashboard of who has paid and who has not.
3. Transparent, flat-rate pricing
Some platforms charge per member, which means your costs rise as your club grows. SwimClub Manager costs around £649 per year. Others hide pricing behind "request a quote" forms. Look for flat monthly pricing with no per-member surcharges and no annual lock-in. Swimly starts at £29 per month for clubs up to 200 members, and there is a free plan for clubs under 50.
4. Works on a phone at poolside
Coaches take attendance at 6am poolside sessions. Parents check schedules between school runs. If your software requires a laptop or a desktop browser, it will not get used where it matters most. Choose a platform that is mobile-first, works on any device, and loads quickly on a phone at the pool.
5. Easy handover between committee members
Volunteer committees change every year or two. When a treasurer steps down, can the next person pick up where they left off? Your software should have role-based access so committee members see exactly what they need, audit trails so nothing gets lost, and a setup simple enough that a new volunteer can get started without training.
6. Data security and UK hosting
You are handling children's personal data, medical information, and payment details. Your platform should be hosted in the UK, encrypted in transit and at rest, and fully GDPR compliant. Avoid platforms that store data in the US or pass it through third-country servers without adequate safeguards.
Swimly was designed from the ground up with all six of these criteria in mind. It is the only swim club management platform built specifically for UK clubs by someone who actually sits on a poolside bench at 6am on a Saturday morning.
How Swimly works
Set up your club
Import your members from a spreadsheet or start fresh. Configure squads, fee structures, and training sessions. We handle the migration for founding clubs.
Invite your members
Parents receive an invitation to join the parent portal. They confirm their details, set up Direct Debit, and manage their swimmers' profiles themselves.
Run your club
Fees collect automatically. Coaches take attendance on their phones. Compliance stays up to date. Your committee gets their evenings back.
Who uses swim club management software?
Every role on a swimming club committee benefits from having one system instead of scattered spreadsheets, email chains, and paper registers:
Treasurers
Stop chasing subscriptions manually. See who has paid, who has not, and how much is outstanding, all in one place. Automated Direct Debit means fees collect themselves.
Membership secretaries
One centralised member database that parents update themselves. No more chasing forms, re-typing details, or wondering which spreadsheet is current.
Coaches
Take attendance on your phone at poolside. See who should be in the water, track session history, and know immediately if someone is missing who should be there.
Parents
Update your own details, check training schedules, see your payment history, and manage multiple swimmers in one family account through the parent portal.
Built by someone who gets it
Swimly was started by a swim parent and CTO who spent years watching volunteer committees drown in admin. We're not a generic SaaS tool trying to fit swimming into a template — we're building specifically for UK swimming clubs.
Data stored in the UK. GDPR compliant. No transatlantic data transfers.
Direct Debit powered by the UK's leading payment provider. FCA regulated.
Designed around Wavepower, SwimMark, and Swim England membership categories.
Frequently asked questions
What is swim club management software?
Swim club management software is a platform that centralises membership records, billing, attendance tracking, and compliance management for swimming clubs. Swimly is purpose-built for UK clubs, handling Direct Debit payments, session registers, squad management, and Wavepower safeguarding requirements in one place.
How is Swimly different from spreadsheets?
Spreadsheets require manual data entry, have no automated billing, create version-control problems when shared between committee members, and offer no compliance tracking. Swimly automates fee collection via Direct Debit, provides real-time attendance registers, tracks DBS expiry dates, and gives every committee member role-based access to up-to-date information.
How much does swim club management software cost?
Swimly offers a free Starter plan for clubs with fewer than 50 members. The Club plan is £29/month for 50–200 members with automated billing. The Performance plan costs £49/month for larger clubs with 200–500 members and includes advanced reporting and priority support.
Can Swimly handle competitive clubs and learn-to-swim programmes?
Yes. Swimly supports multiple squad types with different fee structures, training schedules, and coaching teams. Whether you run a competitive swimming club, a learn-to-swim programme, or both, Swimly adapts to your structure.
How does Swimly compare to SwimClub Manager?
SwimClub Manager is an established platform but charges per-member fees and requires annual contracts. Swimly offers flat monthly pricing, no per-member charges, and is built with modern technology for a faster, more intuitive experience. Swimly also includes automated Direct Debit billing via GoCardless at no extra cost.
Is there a free trial or pilot programme?
Yes. Swimly offers a free pilot programme for founding clubs, including 6 months free access and white-glove migration support. There is no commitment required — if it doesn't work for your club, you can leave at any time.
Does Swimly work with Swim England?
Swimly is designed to complement Swim England systems. You can export member data in compatible formats, track Wavepower compliance requirements, and maintain records aligned with Swim England's framework for SwimMark accreditation.
Learn more
Best Swim Club Software — 2026 Comparison
Side-by-side comparison of every platform available in the UK
Billing Software
Deep dive into automated Direct Debit fee collection
Membership Management
Database, renewals, waiting lists, and family accounts
Pricing
Transparent monthly pricing from free to £49/month
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