Minutes of the Scottish Annual General Meeting Saturday 27th February 2016, 10.30am Pathfoot Lecture Theatre, Pathfoot Building, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA

1. President’s Address: The President, Eddie Wilmott, extended a warm welcome to past presidents, life members, delegates and board members at the 117th AGM. The president thanked the Scottish Swimming staff for all of their preparations and organisation for the AGM and Stirling University for use of the facility.

Before continuing, the President respectfully requested delegates to stand and observe a one minute silence to commemorate the following Scottish Swimming members and supporters who have sadly passed away over the past year:  John McClatchey, Warrender BC Swimmer and dad to Caitlin McClatchey  Noreen Brown, wife of past president Douglas Brown  Sir Peter Heatly, SASA Life Member and Past President  Bill Murdoch, SASA Life Member and Past President  Sandra , Heart of Midlothian and Swimming Technical Official  Jack McQueen, Grove ASC  Lesley Turberville, SASA Life Member and Past President

The President asked delegates to advise if there were further intimation of names from the AGM and there were none.

The President moved on to outline the business of AGM and format for the remainder of the day including lunch and workshops.

The President then introduced the colleagues alongside him: Maureen Campbell, Chair of the Board of Directors Forbes Dunlop, Chief Executive Officer Elaine Mackenzie, Director of Services Deborah McGinniss, Finance Manager Elizabeth Stewart, Vice President

The President also took the opportunity to introduce the Council and Board members in the audience.

The President referred to his report as previously circulated and expressed that it had been an honour, privilege and pleasure to represent Scottish Swimming as President. He advised that he has been warmly welcomed by all, which had resulted in a pleasant year, and it has been great to attend various events and see the Scottish Swimming staff blending in well. The President thanked the Scottish Swimming staff for their work throughout the year and further expressed his appreciation to all Scottish Swimming members for their contributions.

Finally, the President introduced the annual report film, which was played for delegates and thereafter he paid tribute to those who contributed to the film, including Duncan McKinnell as narrator.

2. Minutes of the AGM of 28th February 2015: The minutes were accepted as a true record of the 116th AGM in 2015.

Proposed by Margaret Somerville, Vice President (2) and seconded by Cath Fleming, Portobello ASC.

3. Business from Minutes: None.

4. Correspondence: None.

5. Address: 5.1 Address by Company Chair and Chief Executive The Company Chair, Maureen Campbell, was then invited to present to the membership.

Maureen thanked the AGM for the opportunity to talk through the Annual Report. The Annual Report demonstrates the diversity of work in Scottish Swimming, none of which is possible without the contribution of all Page 1 of 7 AGM Minutes delegates, particularly staff and clubs.

Maureen highlighted the following three items within her presentation: 1. Equality work – various news reports are now looking at equitable access for everyone to take part in sport and educational training – amongst others. Scottish Swimming is committed to ensuring that it is one of the first SGB in Scotland to achieve the advanced equality standard. This requires Scottish Swimming to be open and accessible to everyone. All clubs need to think about how to adapt to ensure access to all. 2. National swimming framework – Maureen advised that Sharon MacDonald will cover this in more detail but Maureen’s day job is in a culture and sport trust which has welcomed the framework. Maureen passed on her congratulations to Sharon and her team for responding to the need of clubs and leisure providers. 3. Successes in performance – Scottish Swimming continues to punch above its weight and Maureen hopes to continue this momentum for the Olympics in Rio, both at top end of the sport and with the young swimmers coming through. Maureen said this was a credit to the pathway.

Development: The Director of Development, Sharon MacDonald, presented alongside the Director of Performance, Ally Whike.

Sharon advised the AGM that in the new corporate plan the vision of Everyone Can Swim remained the same and three strategic objectives were identified one around – participation, development and performance. Sharon would cover the first two as part of the development team’s work and Ally would focus on performance.

Participation – in relation to Every Child Can Swim. Last year started with the disappointing news that the top up programme funding would not be continued. Despite discussions with Government and sportscotland continued investment has not come to fruition. Scottish Swimming has been in discussions with SPORTA (the Scottish network of trusts) to consider how we can work together to address this. Discussions have also been held with the RNLI and RLSS, to support their national water safety programme – Swimsafe. A Parliamentary session is planned to ensure that Every Child Can Swim remains on the national agenda. Ensuring every child can swim remains a priority for Scottish Swimming, it is the beginning of the pathway and fundamentally important to the long term sustainability of our clubs and success at a performance level.

Quality Swimming Teaching Environments – the work on the national framework is linked to ensuring every child can swim. Through the corporate plan consultation it was found that youngsters are leaving learn to swim programmes without the core swimming skills required for club level. The programme was reviewed at the end of 2014 to develop an all-inclusive pathway with links to school swimming and performance if that level was applicable. The two main challenges facing trusts are developing sustainable workforces and having a balanced pool programme which caters for participation, development and performance whilst making most economic impact. The long term aim is for all 32 trusts to deliver the framework by 2021 – current 4 are delivering the framework with a further 11 signed up for 2016.

Sharon further presented to the AGM that the adult programme has had positive progress during 2015. Now under the heading of Swim Social the adult programme has a new sponsor in Scottish Water who came on board in September 2015. Sharon shared some of the participation figures with the AGM and the story of one swimmer, Linda Jordonson.

Clubs – Scottish Swimming’s focus in 2015 was to continue to develop stronger more sustainable clubs. SwiMark and SwiMark plus were reviewed to make them more meaningful development tools for clubs. Scottish Swimming is also currently working on online tool to enhance development, ensuring progressive pathways. The RSDMs worked with Ally’s team to review several performance development environments.

Membership – Scottish Swimming has seen a significant challenge in retaining members 12 years old and older. In 2015 two more clubs received sportscotland direct club investment, City of Glasgow Swim Team and Aberdeen ASC takin the total investment to over £300,000 in 11 clubs. The club development co-ordinator introduced in 2014 support 15 clubs to recruit and retain members. Still in its infancy this programme has yet to show its full potential and will be monitored closely during 2016. Sharon advised that in addition the RSDM team have continued to work alongside Scottish Student Sport and disability Sport to increase opportunities for students and youngsters with a disability.

Quality teacher p and coach education programmes are fundamental to Scottish Swimming’s success. Regional training events were undertaken in 2015, UKCC courses, a variety CPD courses, and a disability event were held. Scottish Swimming supported the national diving committee for a conference in September 2015. 2015 has also been spent engaging with the tutor workforce and the tutor training pathway is being reviewed in 2016. Sharon finished her presentation by advising the AGM of the new online licensing scheme. Sharon introduced Ally by emphasising the link with performance for seamless pathway – it is key that core skills are taught at early age.

Performance: Ally explained that the publication of the performance plan provides Scottish Swimming with a

Page 2 of 7 2016 AGM Minutes_Final_4May2016 strong foundation to work from. The overall strategic object is to continue achieving results at the top end of the sport whilst ensuring a strong pathway is in place for these results to continue. The plan incorporates four central lanes which interlink.

Quality coaching – fundamental across the pathway, continued working with the development and performance teams (including Alan Reid and Alan Lynn) working to improve the quality of coaches and coaching. Ally also highlighted the need for CPD, seminars, race analysis, and camps.

Technical excellence – Ally advised that this is often seen at the top end of the sport as a blocker. However, it is important to influence technique at the lower end through the National Framework and continuing through the pathway – video and race analysis is key to helping development in this area. Scottish Swimming will spend the next 12 months pulling together technical modelling in each stroke with the aim of influencing how strokes are developed through the pathway.

Performance/Performance Development Environments – aim in 2016/17 of establishing centres in Glasgow and Aberdeen alongside Stirling and . Environment is not only about access/facilities or equipment, rather leadership from coaches and the people running clubs – critical to success. Scottish Swimming is continuing with this work, particularly in diving, looking at a performance development coach to be placed in Aberdeen.

Effective Athlete Development – as there is a limited population of Scotland, Scottish Swimming needs to continue supporting the development of athletes through investment in coaches and clubs. Ally used diving as an example by explaining that there is a need to develop a national programme and referred to Scott Quinn’s story, illustrating the how effective development, linking across the centre lanes and both Performance and development plans.

Ally concluded his presentation by advising the AGM that the Olympic and Paralympic trials are coming to Glasgow, which will be the first time events are being held in Scotland. Ally passed on his thanks to all involved.

Finance: The Finance Manager, Deborah McGinniss advised that the purpose of her presentation today was to summarise the accounts that had been presented in the Annual Business Document, provide an overview on the targets for the financial year ending 31 October 2015 then review the income targets for the year ahead. Deborah advised that in order to provide a comparative analysis she had split last year’s figures to include and exclude the revenue. The figures show that even without the Commonwealth Games revenue our turnover is down compared to the last financial year. Similarly with our grant income, which was also less however this is due to Scottish Swimming recognising more of the grant income to support the additional costs associated with the Commonwealth Games. Deborah reported that the increase in membership income was a fantastic achievement and assured the members that this money had been re-invested back into our sport in line with the strategic objectives that both Sharon and Ally had reported on. Overall our financial position continues to be extremely positive and demonstrated that our organisation is in good financial health.

With regards to financial targets, Deborah advised that at the start of the year Scottish Swimming set a number of challenging targets. Overall Scottish Swimming was pleased with the results but recognised that there was still a lot of work to do. A number of our targets were not achieved with membership and sponsorship target falling short by less than 2%. Scottish Swimming had been unable to secure a replacement for the British Gas sponsorship and the members were advised that we will continue to work with British Swimming to find a replacement sponsor, if possible, for the home countries. The focus around our awards was changed early on in the financial year with a priority around the introduction of the new National Framework for swimming in Scotland.

The return on investment was aimed at demonstrating to our members that Scottish Swimming continues to work hard for every £1 generated. The figures reported were again split to include and exclude the Commonwealth Games revenue. The members were advised that even without the Commonwealth Games revenue, the return was less than reported in the last financial year, but it was highlighted that as our membership income had increased we would expect to see the return on investment ratio being less than previous year.

There were a number of key highlights evident at the end of the financial year with our membership demonstrating that our members and clubs are supportive of our plans. Our clubs remain our core membership group and enable us to continue to provide support to our clubs resulting in a number of strong, sustainable clubs achieving SwiMark and SwiMark Plus accreditation. Scottish Swimming continue to focus on working with and building on partnerships with local authorities and leisure trust in return for support in implementing the National Framework for Swimming in Scotland, which we believe will provide a “multi aquatic, all-inclusive pathway” throughout Scotland. In addition to this Deborah advised the members that Scottish Swimming was delighted to welcome on board three new sponsorship partners Strathmore Water, Edinburgh Airport and Scottish Water and are hopeful that Scottish Swimming is given the opportunity to extend the partnership beyond the one year agreement that is in place for Edinburgh Airport and Scottish Water.

Deborah concluded by advising that our income targets for 15/16 continue to be challenging. Our application for the sum of £1.2M has been submitted to sportscotland and whilst Scottish Swimming is confident that our

Page 3 of 7 2016 AGM Minutes_Final_4May2016 application will be successful we will continue to work in partnership with sportscotland to deliver against a number of shared targets. Our membership target remains our key priority with a focus around recruitment and retention. Education is fundamental to the success of our sport and will be centred on quality and sustainability and finally the National Framework for Swimming in Scotland will be measured by improving the quality of learn to swim programmes being delivered throughout Scotland. All of this would not be possible without the commitment and support from our members and partners and Deborah expressed her gratitude for their contribution this year.

Services: The Director of Services, Elaine Mackenzie reported on the membership, self assessment audit, equality and Scottish Swimming culture and values – focusing on the continuity in delivering Scottish Swimming’s message. Elaine advised that the membership fees were set last year for four years and would be ratified later in the AGM. Elaine explained that before the new membership fees were brought to the AGM last year, extensive consultation with clubs was undertaken. The outcome was to continue the positive work. The membership targets are challenging and we narrowly missed our target although we are growing by almost 1000 members a year. Elaine requested help from the clubs to sell the message that swimming is a sport for life in order to grow. As part of Scottish Swimming’s work to modernise its systems and processes, streamlining databases and a new membership service will be rolled out and the club development tool will be rolled out by the end of March 2016.

Elaine reported on the self assessment audit with sportscotland. Scottish Swimming’s achievements continue to be underpinned by good governance, the result of satisfactory and a governance result of 96% will continue to be worked on. Strong governance has to be ensured at all levels – 77 workshops have been held to date and this will be taken forward. Scottish Swimming continues to support clubs with child protection issues. In 2016, Scottish Swimming will be reviewing our complaints processes with Harper Macleod and rolling out the education elements with clubs and staff. Child protection is a key priority for Scottish Swimming and the Board.

Scottish Swimming started its equality journey in 2005 and is now one of five SGBs looking to achieve the advanced standard. The earliest to we can achieve this is March 2017 but Elaine asked delegates’ to work with us to help ensure that our sport is inclusive. There are nine protected characteristics within the Equality Act 2010. Scottish Swimming is looking to collate information through the membership renewal process. Scottish Swimming is focused on what has to be achieved and wants to ensure that we are creating a fun place for staff and members to grow and develop to be the best.

Elaine took the opportunity to comment on staff attendance at events, celebrating the fact that membership numbers remain healthy but need to work with clubs to remain sustainable and that she hopes to advise next year that the advanced standard will be achieved and Scottish Swimming will be one of the first SGB in Scotland to achieve it. Elaine concluded by thanking the AGM.

Corporate Plan: The Chief Executive, Forbes Dunlop, also thanked the staff team and reported that the first year of the new corporate plan was coming to an end. If Scottish Swimming is going to deliver against the plan’s objectives, then this needs to be done in conjunction with members and clubs. Forbes advised that the continued focus was on the excellent work of development and performance to give children the experience and opportunities to deliver. One of the biggest challenges is retention and there will be a number of new initiatives this year but we need to learn from pilots and want to see clubs doing more to retain members. Further, day to day governance is ever more important as there are lots of rules and regulations. Social media whilst fantastic does present challenges to clubs. Forbes asked clubs to keep working with Scottish Swimming through RSDMs.

Forbes concluded by reporting on the culture and values working within the staff team. The staff and volunteers are working together to deliver the corporate plan.

There was then an opportunity for questions to staff from members. Gina Logan, Life Member, Cupar & District swimming club firstly congratulated the management team on their work and the work being down with local authorities for national framework. Gina expressed the view that this is a big business venture and asked what input Scottish Swimming has in relation to budget cuts at local authorities.

Forbes explained the need to be closer to local authorities has been recognised, he and Sharon attended a Sporta meeting and presented to the forum. Forbes further reported on engagement with different leisure trusts and senior management teams of local authorities. Scottish Swimming has met with a number of local authorities in relation to challenges and these are being picked up at an operational level through access agreements.

Gail Smith, Swim Easy asked a question on retention following her announcement that Katy Stark was giving up and what is done when an athlete at that level makes the decision to give up.

Ally advised that a coach driven conversation would happen – he hoped this would happen with Katy Stark as she is a member of the national programme. Ally further advised that discussions would be undertaken with the athlete and their parents. He understands that often swimmers leave before reaching senior level due to academic commitments. Forbes also proposed the consideration of a twin option for athletes around 10-12 years old to be provided by clubs to keep them in the sport. Ally added that there needs to be a balance between

Page 4 of 7 2016 AGM Minutes_Final_4May2016 competition and skills which everyone needs to support.

Gail Smith asked a further question on the failure to meet the membership target. Forbes advised that there are survey figures showing the numbers and advised that he would be happy to sit down with Gail to work through the findings.

Gail Smith’s last question was on the numbers of swimmers within the Edinburgh leisure trust compared to independent swim schools. Forbes further advised that he would be happy to sit down with Gail separately to discuss these issues.

Duncan McKinnell, Life Member, Haddington & District ASC asked a question on retention and using volunteers within districts, he noted that the structure should be considered so that there is a focus on social aspects and participation.

Forbes advised Duncan that there had been good discussions with the Council and agreed that the wider workforce needed to be used.

Cath Fleming, East District Past President, Synchro Committee commented on retention that other disciplines which do not train as much could be considered, for example, water polo and synchro. Forbes agreed and reiterated his earlier comments on a proposed twin track approach.

5.2 Company’s Annual Report The President thanked staff for their comprehensive reports and now referred to the national committee reports as previously circulated. He invited the Chairs to add to their reports.

Swimming Committee: Ian Fleming amended the number of records achieved since the AGM documentation was published: a further 88 national records have been ratified, totalling 231 records for the last year. On the European stage Hannah Miley won a silver medal in the 400IM at the short course championships in Israel.

Water Polo Committee: Alan Anderson submitted the following additions to his report: two teams won championships 1 and 4 in the British leagues and the women’s team is ranked in the top five. Alan further reinforced the messages from the AGM and advised that the committee is keen to work with clubs on member retention and implementing a joint approach. He thanked the CEO and Scottish Swimming team for their support.

Synchro: Phyllis McLean added to her report: Linda Atkinson has been selected as a judge for the junior European Championships in Croatia in June 2016; Elizabeth Bowmen and Linda Atkinson have been selected for the ASC British Championships in Nottingham in April 2016; and Phyllis has been invited to the London Championships as a technical official in May 2016.

Open Water: Les Rodger added to his report: advising that there was been a press release from FINA on changes to be made to the use of wetsuits vs swimsuits in low water temperatures (by which FINA means less than 20 degrees). Neither Scottish Swimming nor British Swimming as yet know what the new FINA regulations will say and we expect the final wording to be issued after the Olympics in Rio 2016. The committee will carefully consider how any changes to the FINA regulations should be reflected in the Scottish regulations once FINA release the amended wording. The FINA press release is available online and Les offered a copy to anyone at the AGM who wished to see this.

Masters: Eddie Riach commented on retention by advising the AGM that the average master’s swimmer member is over 50 years old but he was delighted to announce the introduction of an 18 years plus age group! Eddie added to his report, that while he was disappointed that Glasgow did not bid for the Euro Masters in 2018, London is facing significant challenges due to the unprecedented demand.

Technical Officials: Joanna Maguire intimated that there was nothing further to add to her report but it was worth noting that Susan Liddell has been appointed to the Paralympics in Rio 2016 as a technical official. With regards to retention, Joanna advised the AGM that young officials are in high demand and any athletes leaving the sport would be welcomed as officials.

The President opened the floor for questions: Helen Murray, Life Member, advised that she wants to see some mention of squads which are run by the association, including information on the national squads, training camps and competitions that they take part, given that she understands this to be part of the performance budget. She would also like to see details on the Sainsbury’s school games and where districts sit in ASA county championships.

Page 5 of 7 2016 AGM Minutes_Final_4May2016 6. Attendance and Apologies for Absence: Attendance:  Club Delegates: 57 East: 18, Midland: 10, North: 10, West: 19.  Clubs Represented: 39 East: 13, Midland: 7, North: 8, West: 11.  Life Members: 11  Swim Schools: 1  Council & Board of Directors: 8  Total Voting Delegates: total: 77 Also in attendance were: Staff - 18 Guest - 3 Apologies; Life Members – Ed Adam, Murray Anderson, Sophia Barclay, Bill Black, Mary Black, May Laidlaw, Danny McGowan, George Philps, Margaret Riach, Michael Sheppard and Pam Thomson. Board Members – David Carry. Council Members – Stewart Finlayson, Chris Warwick, Durno Jessiman, Ronnie Anderson. Committee Members – Judy Wardlaw, Sandra Westgate, Alistair Shields, Emma Miller and Gael Logan. Clubs: East – Arnadale Barracudas ASC, Broxburn ASC and Gala ASC. Midland – Brechin Beavers ASC and Montrose & District Seals. North – Aberdeen Dolphins ASC, Aberdeen Sports Village, Aberdeen University Swimming & WPC, Dyce (Aberdeen) ASC and Shetland ASC. West – Alloa ASC, Cumbernauld ASC, Falkirk Otters ASC, Kingston ASC and Merrick Mavericks ASC. Swim School – Life Active and Livingston & District Dolphins. Guest – None.

7. Financial Report 2014/15, Budget for 2015/16 & Membership Fees for 2015-19 Proposed by John Mason, Stirling Swimming and Board Director and seconded by David Downie, Life Member.

The membership fees were ratified for 2015-19.

8. Company Fees & Fines for 2016/17 The Company Fees and Fines for 2016/17 were proposed by Colin Kennedy, Livingston & District Dolphins and seconded by Alan Fletcher, Life Member.

9. Alterations to the Governance Documentation SASA Constitution Before debating the proposals the President confirmed the voting rule: at least a two thirds majority of those present and voting must be secured before an alteration can be adopted.

The President then asked if further clarification was needed or if there were any objections from the floor.

Proposal PC1: Carried

SASA Articles The President asked if further clarification was needed or if there were any objections from the floor.

Proposal RA1: Carried

Company Rules Before debating the proposals the President confirmed the voting rule; a simple majority of those present and voting must be secured before an alteration can be adopted.

The President then asked if further clarification was needed or if there were any objections from the floor.

Proposal PR1: Carried

10. Matters the SASA needs to consider as sole member of the Company: None.

11. Notices of Motion: None.

12. Appointment of Members of SASA Council: The President advised that the appointment of members of SASA Council were listed within the Annual Business Document. There were no objections to these and the AGM approved the appointments for the coming year.

Page 6 of 7 2016 AGM Minutes_Final_4May2016 13. Endorsement of Members of National Committees The President advised that there was one change notified to the Open Water Committee – “Jennifer Davis” should read “Jennifer Davies”.

There was also a change notified by the Synchro Committee – “Yvonne Main” should read “Yvonne Allan”.

Subject to the changes above, the endorsement of members was approved by the AGM.

14. Confirmation of Appointments: The President advised that the appointments were listed within the Annual Business Document. There were no objections to these and the AGM approved the appointments for the coming year.

15. Installation of President: The President reiterated his earlier comments that it had been a great pleasure and thanked all from the committees, Board, Council and Scottish Swimming staff.

The President installed Elizabeth Stewart with the role of President.

The outgoing President shared some background information to Elizabeth’s devotion to Scottish Swimming. Elizabeth has been involved in swimming for around 25 years, supporting the West Dumbartonshire region. Elizabeth started as a timekeeper, becoming a Scottish qualified referee in 2005 and serving on committees, including the national STO committee. Elizabeth became a West District life member in 2012 and was awarded the Hugh C Dobbie memorial award in 2015.

Upon installation as President, Elizabeth advised the AGM that she looked forward to serving and introduced Margaret Somerville and Alison Low as Vice Presidents as her first act in the role of President.

16. Presentation of SASA Life Membership: Having shared background information on each of the worthy recipients, Life Memberships were bestowed on:  Eddie Wilmott  Brian Bain

Eddie started his life in swimming as an STO official at St Thomas, in the midlands. Eddie has served as a timekeeper, judge, starter, recorder and referee, qualifying as a FINA referee in 2012. He has also served on committees, including the national STO committee, the Council for four years and has chaired the jury of appeal for national events. Eddie was described as a great ambassador and mentor for swimming and he thanked everyone when presented with life membership.

Brian started swimming at an early age and achieved many competition records within the open water discipline. Brian has achieved many results including the British University champion, 11 national open water titles, three ASA titles, and bronze and gold medals in the World Championships. Brian has also served on the national open water committee and co-ordinated national events. Brian was described as a well deserved recipient and he reiterated comments from the AGM on retention and open water swimming in receipt of his award.

Prior to conclusion, Elizabeth Stewart confirmed the following dates for diaries: 1. Awards Dinner on 1 October 2016 at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh; and 2. The next AGM on 25 February 2017.

The AGM meeting concluded at 12.45 hours.

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