Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club has successfully achieved the standards of Swim 21 for:

What is Swim 21?

Swim21 Club Accreditation is a 'Quality mark', specifically designed for all ASA clubs, which recognises nationally and regionally the clubs that are committed to providing safe, effective and quality services for the benefit of their members.

Swim21 Club Accreditation is the ASA's Club Development model - a planning tool, based on the principles of Long Term Athlete Development, enabling clubs to help athletes, teachers, coaches and administrators to achieve their full potential. It focuses particularly on the needs of athletes - striving to provide them with the best possible support and environment.

Clubs work steadily towards the attainment of a series of outcomes all of which are seen as essential if the right level of support is to be provided at each stage of an athlete's development.

What do Clubs have to do?

Clubs aiming to achieve Swim 21 standards must first complete an audit of all their programmes and structures against a series of questions that are linked to nationally determined outcomes of good practice.

Then, based on their findings clubs must then produce an Improvement Plan that details the steps they need to take to address the gaps in their provision.

Finally, when they feel these have been addressed, they then apply to become an ASA swim21 Accredited Club by contacting their Regional Swimming Co-ordinator.

How Are Clubs Assessed?

Clubs are then assessed against three distinct criteria:

• Compliance (emphasis on good club management)
• Workforce Development (focus on training and development of people within the club)
• Athlete Development (concentration on the needs of the swimmer or water polo player)

Initially, clubs went through a process of self-assessment against a range of ‘elements’ against each of the above criteria and were required to score themselves against these criteria. Evidence was also collected to demonstrate achievement all of the measures and submitted to the ASA for approval by a Swim 21 panel.

However, the criteria for swim21 has been overhauled nationally and the process for obtaining accreditation has completely changed in London making it far less paper based more practical, and more rigorous; involving an 'Inspection' of the club's programmes ; procedures, coaches; health & safety etc., in which swimmers, coaches, helpers and parents are asked to

Each year clubs are required to maintain and update their action plan and submit it to the ASA for approval.

After four years clubs are required to apply for re-accreditation and go through the full process of audit and evidence submission for approval by the Swim 21 panel.

What level has Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club Achieved?

Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club is Swim 21 accredited at Teaching & Skill Development level in swimming; and at Teaching level in Water Polo.

What is Sport England’s Clubmark?

Clubmark is a cross-sport quality accreditation for clubs with junior sections, and signifies the Club’s commitment to being a safe, effective and child-friendly sports club.
Swim21 is recognised by Sport England as a Clubmark accredited scheme and therefore all clubs gaining swim21 accreditation automatically receive Clubmark status

Where do we go from here?

Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club is very proud of its Swim 21 achievements but it doesn't just end there.

Swim 21 is now fully embedded within the Club and is simply part of what we do; the everyday job of providing a rewarding and challenging environment for our 350+ swimmers and water polo players; supported by more than 40 volunteers.

Our aim is to continuously develop our swimming and water polo programmes and Swim 21 provides the framework for that development.