ANNUAL REPORT
2019
Me and the water
1 Organisational Structure
Irish Amateur Swimming Association Company Limited by Guarantee. Trading as Swim Ireland. Head Office: Irish Sports HQ, National Sports Campus, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15
Telephone: 01-625 1120 | Website: www.swimireland.ie | Company number: 112024
2 We all have a relationship with the water. Our own perspective, our own ambition, our own goals and sometimes even our own fears. From our Olympic athletes, through to our Sunday morning swimmers, to the young children taking their first tentative paddles in the pool. We are united in our love of the water. The early mornings. The after school lessons. The first break of the waves. The tussle for the ball. The little voice that tells us to push on... to get back in the pool, go one more length, get out to the buoy.
___
Me and the water.
3 Table of Contents.
1. Governance 6 Executive Summary 6 Board of Directors 7 Chairman Statement 11
CEO Statement 12
2. 2019 Activities Report 13 Clubs And Communities 16 Strategic Goal
Mass Participation 21 Strategic Goal
Education 25 Strategic Goal
Performance 30 Strategic Goal
Leadership 36 Strategic Goal
3. Regional Highlights 41 Connacht Regional Report 2019 42
Munster Regional Report 2019 44
Leinster Regional Report 2019 46
Ulster Regional Report 2019 48
4 Me and the water
5 Executive Summary
As the National Governing Body for swimming and associated aquatics, Swim Ireland’s role, as set out by Sport Ireland, is to administer the competitive element of our sports and to encourage participation. We have articulated our Mission as to “encourage participation, develop excellence and regulate our sport”. On a day to day basis in practice this means that we:
• Organise and administer the sports of swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming in Ireland including training and deployment of coaches; organising representative level sport; provision of sporting opportunities and pathways leading from local sport to national and international competition
• Provide accredited aquatic qualifications
• Provide programmes to encourage participation in swimming
• Deliver on the aquatic actions and strategic objectives set by the Irish Government in the National Physical Activity Plan and National Sports Policy, one of which is identified as to ‘Get Ireland Swimming’
Our ambition for our sport is set out in our STRATEGIC PLAN 2017-2021 underpinned by our vision as to:
“be acknowledged as at the forefront of irish sports bodies in terms of best practice and standards”
The Strategic Plan sets out our ambitions under five different pillars:Member’s Participation, Mass Participation, Education, Performance and Leadership, and is supported by an Annual Operational Plan, approved and monitored by Sport Ireland and the Board of Swim Ireland. The mid-point of our current Strategic Plan was 2019, and we are pleased to be able to report that we are on target to deliver the ambitious goals set out in that plan, although the current uncertainty created as a result of the COVID Pandemic may impact our future outlook. 2019 was a record-breaking year in and out of the pool. Our athletes excelled in the water breaking a staggering 82 National records over the course of the season, 26 of these on the International stage. We ran more community programmes than ever before, and we saw our highest levels of income and expenditure in the company’s history to date. The range of activity across our organisation is vast and this report sets out the highlights from each area of activity under each of the strategic pillars in 2019, as well as looking at activity across our Regions.
Our Governance Structure Swim Ireland is the trading name for the Irish Amateur Swimming Association, Company Limited by Guarantee. We are a 32-county body, recognised at a National level by the Department of Tourism, Transport and Sport through Sport Ireland and in Northern Ireland by Sport Northern Ireland and by the Olympic Federation of Ireland. We are recognised at World level by FINA, and at European level by LEN.
We adopted the Voluntary Code of Governance in 2013 and were the first sporting NGB to be compliant with the Code.
The constituent documents of the Company are the Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A). The Swim Ireland M&A deals primarily with the functioning of Swim Ireland as a legal entity (i.e. as a company) but does not provide the level of detail required for the day-to-day operations of the organisation. A Rule Book deals with the more general operational aspects of the organisation. Copies of all of the governing documents and our Strategic Plan, are available on the Swim Ireland website: https://www.swimireland.ie/about/policies.
6 Board of Directors
The organisation is overseen by an 11 strong voluntary Board of Directors, elected annually at our Annual General Meeting (AGM). We have an experienced Board made up of individuals with a variety of skills and experience as seen in Table 1. The role of the Board is clearly defined in the Company Memorandum and Articles of Association and in a Schedule of Matters Reserved for the Board but in brief, it is to provide strategic direction and oversight. Responsibility for the day to day operations of the Company rests with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) supported by a staff of almost 40 (full and part-time) and a number of voluntary committees operating within Terms of Reference approved by the Board.
Board of Swim Ireland – November 2019
Back row from right to left; Gary Stoops, Peter Conway, Mariea Flanagan, Noel Hiney, Dara O’Mahony, Graham Beegan, Colin Morrissey
Front row from right to left; John Mullins, Mary Haughney, Eugene Hillick (President), Patricia Cleary, Paul Hannigan
7 Table 1: Board Biographies and Experiences
BOARD SPECIFIC DURATION ON BOARD SKILLS/QUALIFICATIONS MEMBER ROLE
Peter Conway Chairman Appointed Ordinary Director post-AGM 2016 Project Manager, Swim Coach at Aer Lingus and ratified AGM 2017. Masters Swim Club. Open Water and Masters swimmer Appointed Chairman 13 April 2019 (AGM ratified).
Graham Beegan Treasurer Appointed Treasurer May 2017 to date. Company Director, Chartered Accountant, Commenced first year of office May 2017 for experience in Risk Management 2-year term and 2nd 2-year term ratified AGM 2019. Mary Haughney Board Board Secretary May 2016. Professional background in medical science. Secretary Former Chairperson Munster Region of Swim Commenced first year of office as Board Ireland and currently actively involved in the Secretary officiating. May 2016 (2-year term). Re-appointed April 2018 FINA Referee. for 2-year term.
Patricia Cleary Board Director Appointed Board Director May 2017 for Retired-Swim Ireland Skills Coach, 2-year term. Connacht Region: Swim Teacher Special Needs, 2nd 2-year term ratified at AGM 2019. Team Manager, Gala Official, Competitions Secretary Treasurer Athlone SC. Technical Swim Ireland President 2008. Official National Judge. Board member of Athlone Regional Sports Centre
Mariea Board Director Appointed Board Director May 2017 for 2-year Solicitor, Member of Nenagh Swim Club. Flanagan term, 2nd 2-year term ratified at AGM 2019.
Commenced first year of office as Board Director May 2017.
Paul Hannigan Board Director Appointed Independent Director May 2016 College President of Letterkenny Institute of (Independent) Technology. Senior management experience (Commenced first year of office as in third level education sector. Experience of Independent Director May 2016). serving on high-profile Boards including the Higher Education Authority and the Central Applications Office
Noel Hiney Board Director Appointed Independent Director May 2016 Business Consultant- 25 years professional (Independent) (commenced first year of office as experience in leadership and advisory roles Independent Director May 2016). covering Public Affairs, Retail Strategy & Regulation, Digital Businesses, General Insurance and HR.
Colin Morrissey Board Director Appointed Ordinary Board Director Partner Horizon Sports Management April 2019 (AGM 2019). 2017-to-date works with Orreco Irish Sports Performance & Data Science experts.
Lifelong member Half Moon Swim Club - Div1 Water Polo player and former member Irish Junior and Senior Teams.
John Mullins Board Director Appointed Board Director 2-year term Retired Swim Ireland member. Level 2 Coach April 2019 (ratified AGM 2019). at Terenure Swim Club. Former swim Tutor
Dara O’Mahony Board Director Appointed by the Board as Board Director Company Director and owner of Dome 2-year term November 2018, to fill vacancy. Telecom extensive experience in sales, business & marketing strategy, strategic marketing planning in tech, e-commerce, IOT, retail and international markets.
Swim Ireland member, Open Sea and Masters swimmer, Committee member of Swan leisure.
Gary Stoops Board Director Appointed Board Director 2-year term April 2019 Adjustor in Insurance industry, Swim Ireland (ratified AGM 2019). member. Currently member of the LEN Swimming Technical Committee and FINA Referee.
8 SWIM IRELAND | ANNUAL REPORT 2019 8 The Board undergoes an annual training and induction programme following on from the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and before the first meeting of the incoming Board, in addition to undertaking an annual evaluation of performance. The Company M&A, supplemented by a range of policy and procedural documents underpins the working of the Board. A Schedule of Matters Reserved for the Board provides a clear division of responsibilities between the CEO and the Board and there are policies in place for dealing with conflicts of interest and of loyalty.
Meetings take place approximately every six weeks with all Board papers issued at least five days in advance, allowing Directors time to prepare for the meeting. The CEO attends meetings of the Board but is not a Director of the Company. The Company Secretary is a member of staff but is not a Director of the Company and may attend meetings at the request of the Board, often taking the Minutes of Board meetings.
The President of Swim Ireland, elected annually on a rotating basis from the four Provinces, represents the organisation at ceremonial occasions and attends Board meetings in an ex-officio capacity and is not a Director. Table 2 below show Director’s attendance at meetings between May 2019 and March 2020.
28 May 9 July 24 Sept 26 Nov 21 Jan 10 Mar 21 Mar NAME 2019 2019 2019 2019 2020 2020 2020
Peter Conway, Chairman Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Graham Beegan, Treasurer Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Mary Haughney, Board Secretary Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Patricia Cleary Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mariea Flanagan Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Paul Hannigan Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Noel Hiney No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Colin Morrissey Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
John Mullins Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Dara O’Mahony Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Gary Stoops Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Table 2: Board Attendances May 2019-March 2020
At the start of the year the Board approves the Annual Budget and Operational Plan and reviews the key areas of risk, and the operational key performance indicators (KPIs) that it wishes to monitor. There are a number of standing items on the Board Agenda including Finance, Risk Register and KPI update and the Board will undertake a deep dive into areas of strategic importance over the course of the year. The Board issues a ‘points of note’, information document to all members and staff following each meeting and engages with external stakeholders through meetings and attendance at events.
There are 11 Directors and, as vacancies arise, the Board will review its collective skill set and gender balance, and will set out the skill set that, in its view, the Director should hold. The M&A provide that nine of the Directors must be members of Swim Ireland. Individuals become members by affiliating through Clubs, of which there are 163 throughout the country. Two Directors must be independent of the Company. The M&A provides that a Nominations Committee will be convened to fill the vacancy of Chairperson and Independent Directors and sets out the nomination process for all Directors.
Terms of office for Directors, except for the Chairperson, is for two years, with a maximum of two consecutive terms allowed (following which a Director is ineligible to serve again for 2 years). The term of office for the Chairperson is 3 years with a maximum of two consecutive terms allowed. The lifetime limit of any Director is 12 years.
9 Some of the key discussions and decisions taken by the Board in 2019 are set out in Table 3 below:
SWIM IRELAND BOARD SUBSTANTIVE DECISIONS & DISCUSSIONS 2019
Approval of Governance Committee composition Approval of the Swim Ireland Safeguarding Policy 2019 and Term of Reference
Approval of Galway Swimming Pool Project as the Priority Project for the organisation under the Approval of the Water Polo Development Plan 2020-2025 Large-Scale Infrastructure Fund
Approval of Communications Strategy 2019-2021 Approval of changes to Water Polo Rule Book
Approval of the 2020 Olympic Selection Policy Approval of the appointment of an External Consultant to (Swimming & Diving) undertake a review of Board effectiveness
Approval of the terms of the sponsorship Approval of the 2020 Budget and Operational Plan contract with Tesco Ireland
Approval of the Regional Swimming Club Cluster Approval of updates to Risk & Controls Register Development Plan 2019-2022
Appointment of officials for LEN European Junior Approval of updates to Swim Ireland Finance Policy Championships and FINA World Championships
Establishment of Working Group to review the Seán Approval of Women in Sport Strategy 2019-2021 Mac Dermott Street Swimming Pool Pilot Project
Approval of the Get Ireland Swimming 3-year Changes to Organisational Structure recommended by Action Plan the HR and Renumeration Committee
Table 3: Board Substantive Discussions and Decisions
10 SWIM IRELAND | ANNUAL REPORT 2019 10 Governance Chairman Statement
While reflecting on my first year as Chairman of Swim Ireland, I felt a strong sense of pride in the achievements of our organisation at all levels throughout 2019. I was also anticipating an exciting year for our Aquatics community in 2020. In recent months, however, the arrival of COVID 19 has brought a halt to all sports activities, with a swiftness that few could have envisaged. In the face of the challenges we have faced, I am now even more proud of our organisation. Our staff, our volunteers and our members have united in their response to this crisis, with resilience and determination, coupled with enterprise and innovation, proving that the fundamentals of our sport are strong. I wish to recognise and acknowledge the tremendous work of all the staff on our team under the dynamic leadership of our CEO. Together we have developed plans and devised strategies for maintaining both the fitness and focus for our members and volunteers throughout the period during which they have been out of the water. I would also like to thank and acknowledge our senior athletes who have shown great solidarity and leadership through their engagement with members across our island via online forums.
A crisis such as this may bring out the best in people; it may also expose fault lines. The strength of our response is the result of planning and investment in capacity building. It has its roots in the strategic decisions that have been made in recent years. The focus on sporting systems, our investment in grassroots supports, in the development of online education facilities, allied with the development of our people have all contributed to our ability to respond, allowing us to remain true to our vision of being at the forefront of best practice in sport. Our prudent management of finances in recent years has brought us to a position where we have reserves to call on in challenging and difficult times, allowing us to provide vital support to our members. We are confident that, with support from Sport Ireland and our partners we will weather this storm. We also recognise that it will take some time for our sport to recover fully.
The current landscape of sport is dramatically different from that to which we are accustomed. As we steer our course back to more recognisable waters, I would like to reflect on the achievements of 2019. The Activities Report (in the following pages) outlines, in some detail, the level and the types of activity across Swim Ireland, documenting a year that is worthy of celebration. I invite everyone to remember, celebrate and share in those successes. We have seen great growth for our organisation in 2019 with the highest levels of both income and expenditure in our Company’s history to date. Notably we secured a valued partner and title sponsor, Tesco Ireland who are strongly aligned to our values. We look forward to continuing our work with them, promoting swimming and aquatics throughout Ireland as a life-skill and healthy activities. On our immediate journey toward a brighter sporting future, our achievements in 2019, reinforced by the relationships we have developed with our partners, will drive us on to realise our full potential. I would like to thank all of you who contributed to such a successful year.
We are now in Year 4 of our 5 Year Plan. The impact of COVID-19 will necessitate a reassessment of our strategy, both in the immediate future and as we plan for the next five years. Our sport and others will take some time to recover from the pandemic. As Chairman of the Board, I am confident that the fundamental strengths of our sport are such that we are well placed to lead that recovery.
In what has been a tumultuous and highly demanding period throughout our society, I would like to pay particular tribute to all who have served as frontline workers. Swim Ireland is proud of the work carried out on the frontline by our members and friends. We will be forever grateful.
I would like to conclude by thanking my fellow Directors, our CEO and Management Team, our staff, volunteers and especially our athletes for their contribution to a very successful 2019, as well as the fortitude and leadership they have shown in recent times.
Peter Conway
Chairman Swim Ireland ___
11 Governance CEO Statement
2019 seems like aeons ago now when we consider how much our world has changed over the last number of months. However, for us as an organisation, 2019 was a seminal year. 2018 had seen the publication of the first National Sports Policy in 20 years and Swimming was recognised as a priority sport within this publication. 2019 saw Swim Ireland develop our ‘Get Ireland Swimming Plan’ which we have commenced roll-out of and which we still hope to be able to continue over the coming years. On an internal staffing level, 2019 saw Swim Ireland staff numbers exceed 40 for the first time and the appointment of a part-time HR Manager as it was clear that we were now moving from a small to a more medium sized business. The staffing structure of the organisation was further developed to recognise the priorities of the Company Strategic Plan and we recruited an additional staff member onto our Participation Team (small but growing); we created a full time Disciplines Specific role focusing primarily on Water Polo to support the implementation of the newly adopted National Water Polo Plan; we restructured and increased our staff within the Education Team and released several new qualifications many of the blended nature (on-line as well as face-to-face) which has served us very well now in 2020 as we have had to move to online and virtual classroom delivery only. Our Membership Team has increased the number of workshop and other supports available to Members in 2019 and we had over 500 participants respond to our Member Survey - the results of which have been very encouraging. 2019 also saw the launch of the Regional Club Cluster Programme which is aimed at supporting Clubs within Regions to work more closely together in many different ways through a structured programme between Swim Ireland, the Regions and the Clubs. This is a very important programme that we believe could be transformational over time as we engage with our community in perhaps a more efficient manner but most definitely in a very cohesive and collaborative manner where we learn from and support each other. Bringing Tesco Ireland onboard as the first Swim Ireland title sponsor for many, many years was a very important milestone for the Organisation and a key element in the Strategic Plan as we aim to continue to become more self-reliant from government funding. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons there has been quite a ‘start and stop’ to our activation plans; however, we are working closely together and will look to further develop this partnership as we move through 2020. The Operational and Executive side of our Organisation has been well supported by our operational Committees and we welcomed the established of a new Governance Committee, re-constituted Audit & Risk Committee and the work that many others provide across the different areas of the business. We had a clean Audit in 2018 and also for 2019 which will be considered at the 2020 AGM. An independent audit of our business was undertaken by Deloittes, on behalf of Sport Ireland, and we performed very well in this which is important to give comfort to our Members and Stakeholders in terms of how we operate our business. We continue as an organisation to grow and to seek to further support different elements and facets of our community. New partnerships were developed in 2019 and by adopting a new Communications Strategy with a new Communications Executive now on board, we feel more confident in our ability to communicate at a wider level both internally and externally. It can be challenging to get recognition for the great work done within our sport with the wider sporting community and indeed public, however, we believe that our profile as a sport and an organisation is rising and we will continue to pursue this. 2019 saw some great results at a Performance level within the pool but also saw great engagement by our Clubs and the further development of Community and School Swimming Programmes. Across all of 2019 we operated the Seán MacDermott Swimming Pool in Dublin over the weekends on behalf of Dublin City Council and this partnership has worked incredibly well. It has been productive and exciting for us as an organisation to get closer to the day-to-day operations of a pool and we will consider our next steps in this regard, if any, in 2020 and beyond. I would like to finish by saying that we have an incredible Board led by Chairman Peter Conway who took over in 2019 from our excellent Chairman Clare McGrath and we are privileged to be surrounded by incredible Volunteers and Athletes in our day-to-day work. We have an exceptional team of staff who are dedicated to continuing to seek to build on the work of 2019 which was the half way point through our existing Swim Ireland Strategic Plan. As we look now in June of 2020 to prepare for our ‘Return to the Water’ it is fair to say that we will require the resilience, adaptability, discipline, commitment and enthusiasm that we gain from our sport to help us through these challenging times. Thank you to everyone in the Swim Ireland family for all that you do
Sarah Keane Chief Executive Officer Swim Ireland ___
12 2. 2019 Activities Report
The range of activity that takes place within the organisation is best seen in the context of our departments, and these are:
Clubs and Communities Supporting our clubs and members at grassroots level and providing a safe and secure environ ment to the young people involved in our sport.
Participation Driving participation in our sport at a community level, directed in particular at hard to reach groups who are a particular focus of National Sports Policy including: women & girls, people with a disability, older adults and those from the lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Education Delivering education to our own workforce of Swim Coaches and Teachers and also within the Leisure Industry.
Performance Providing a High-Performance Structure that supports our elite athletes.
Corporate Growing our financial base, improving the profile of the aquatics through marketing and promotion, contributing to the shaping of relevant National policies, stakeholder relationships.
13 Department Domain Department Services Key Support Staff
Clubs and Communities Providing support to Clubs and Head of Safeguarding, Ethics, & Youth Development Regions to deliver a high-quality Head of Clubs and Communities experience for their members at grassroots level and across all Club Support Manager disciplines Regional Support Officers Providing education and support to Competitions Manager volunteers Discipline Support Manager Running an Annual Competition Programme Membership Administrator Water Polo Education Administrator Managing a database of over 19,000 members Competitions Officer
Participation Delivering events and programmes Get Ireland Swimming National Coordinator aimed at general participation with a particular focus on Participation Officer underrepresented groups Women in Sport Development Officer Building effective Get Ireland Swimming Partnerships to help drive swimming activity
Education Provide affordable qualifications and Head of Swim Ireland Education, CPD opportunities for members Education Operations Manager Delivery of a comprehensive suite of programmes and qualifications National Pool Partnerships and Programming Manager to support the Long-Term Athlete Development Pathway Education Support Officers
Providing aquatic expertise and education opportunities to the leisure industry
Performance Providing a Performance System National Performance Director which can deliver sustainable results on the World Stage National Centre Dublin: National Senior Team & NCD Head Coach, NCD Senior Coach, NCD Coach Assistant, Providing effective National and Assistant Heads of Performance Services Regional programmes with a clear pathway from Club to National level National Performance Manager,
Sport Science, testing, performance National Performance Pathway Manager planning Regional Pathway Development Coaches
National Centre Limerick: Head Coach, Assistant Coach
National Diving Coach
Performance Research Manager
Corporate Delivery and tracking of monthly Chief Executive Officer, Personal Assistant to CEO, Head and annual financial statements, of Safeguarding department budgeting, creditor/ debtor management, cash-flow, Finance: Finance Director, Account Assistants banking, budget planning Operations: Operations Director, Operations Policy writing, grant applications, Administrator strategic planning, liaison with partners and stakeholders Communications: Head of Comms & Sponsorship Liaison, Director of Sponsorship, Social media, communications Communications Executive delivery, stakeholder communications, newsletters, HR Manager website, brand management
Staff training and development, employee welfare
14 ‘Me and the Water’ represents Swim Ireland’s ambition to ‘Get Ireland Swimming’. We believe in the aquatics. We believe in the value of all the sports that constitute the Swim Ireland family, and we believe that absolutely everyone has a relationship with the water that can be of benefit to them.
___ Me and the water.
15 Clubs and Communities Strategic Goal: To further support and develop our aquatic communities
Swim Ireland has over 19,000 members and 163 clubs spread across every county in Ireland. Our strategic goal is to provide support to clubs, regions and disciplines enabling them in turn to deliver a high-quality experience to our grassroots membership. Our Clubs and Communities Team is led by a senior manager and supported by regionally based club support officers (1 in each Region), a competitions officer, a disciplines support manager and a part time Water Polo administrator.
Regional Workshops Connacht, Munster, Leinster and Ulster 2019
The work is supported across different departments including the Performance Department where a Regional Pathway Development Manager oversees two Regional Pathway Development Coaches who work directly with Club Coaches and Regional Squads. The Head of Safeguarding, Ethics and Youth Development also plays an important role in providing support, guidance and oversight in respect of matters specifically relating to young people.
The schedule accompanying the 2019 Financial Statements (page 10) shows that our departmental expenditure exceeded our income by €70k. This is in keeping with our strategy of continuous investment in our members.
There are two main strands to our work. Firstly, our National Competitions Programme in which we have invested heavily over the course of this strategic cycle. This investment in competitions includes the training and development of our volunteer officials, online streaming of events and a professionalisation in the delivery of events, giving our athletes an experience that is commensurate with what they can expect internationally. Our 2019 goals for competitions included the live-streaming of our premier event, the Irish Open Swimming Championships, the provision of automated accreditation at all events and the rolling out of initiatives at our Summer Nationals to create more of a family event.
16 Our Competitions Manager, Pat Daly commented “Our focus for competitions is on delivering professional events that are at least as good as any national events that our athletes experience in other countries and we are proud to say that we have not only matched, but exceeded expectations”
The streaming of the Irish Open was particularly well received with 3,000 viewers per day. Free BBQ and Ice creams at Summer Nationals and Division 2 Competitions to say thank you to our volunteers, parents, and athletes was also warmly welcomed.
The second important strand to our support is the direct support we provide to our clubs. We believe strongly if we are to achieve our strategic vision of being acknowledged as being at the forefront of Irish sports bodies in terms of best practice and standards, we must support rather than simply direct. Our goal for 2019 was to provide relevant support and training opportunities to clubs and committees across all of our disciplines including, for example, to support the introduction of coaches onto committees, complaints and disciplinary training, support with affiliation, club officials training and governance training. Throughout the year our Club Support Team provides a wide range of supports in the form of training events, workshops, templates, advice, administrative support and undertook 90 club visits. We provided additional investment in a range of club supports throughout 2019 and our operating expenses for club support measures more than doubled from €20k to €46K.
The practical training workshops have been particularly well received by our members and recognising that some of our volunteers are time poor we have invested in the development of a series of online training modules that will be launched early in 2020.
Head of Clubs, Communities and Competitions, Adam Cox, stated
“We are seeing high levels of engagement from our Clubs in the practical workshops delivered by our Club Support Officers, particularly in online format, where we regularly see up to 90 people participating in sessions”
Swim Ireland Clubmark is an accreditation quality mark for Swim Ireland affiliated clubs providing them with a roadmap for development and 12 new clubs completed the Clubmark Award bringing our total to 55 clubs. Our goal for this strategic cycle is for all clubs to achieve the Award by the end of 2021. We have some work to do to achieve this and this will be a key focus through the latter half of the strategic cycle.
We had intended to roll out a new Leisure Membership category in 2019 and that has not progressed as we had hoped with other areas taking priority. Work on developing this category is ongoing with a general plan of action already developed. This will become a clear priority for 2020 and will be an important category if we are to achieve our strategic goal of 25,000 members over the lifetime of this strategic plan. We are encouraged that our existing membership base grew organically in 2019 and has reached an all-time high of 19,000.
We see the increase in popularity of Open Water Swimming as an important growth area for our sport. 2019 was a particularly important year as it was the 100th year of the iconic Liffey Swim. Leinster Open Sea Committee is a volunteer committee who lead on the running of the calendar in the Leinster Region, by far the busiest. There were 32 races on the 2019 Leinster Open Sea calendar alone, with one of the Blue-Ribbon events, the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Swim, attracting just over 500 adult swimmers and 105 children. Leinster Open Sea Clubs received over 9,000 entries for races over the course of the 2019 season, evidence of the popularity of Open Water Swimming.
Throughout the season we worked with the Leinster Open Sea Committee and supported them in running the Open water calendar. Along with event preparation and support, we looked to increase the growth of open water swimming around the nation. In 2017 we launched a special membership category including a joint membership with Triathlon Ireland, to encourage increased participation in our open water swims and this grew substantially in 2019 to a total of 1200. This is in addition to the 2,000 Open Water members affiliated through Swim Ireland Clubs.
Our Clubs and Communities Team has also been working closely to support the National Water Polo Committee to put in place a solid structure on which to develop the sport. In addition to an annual grant of €50,000, we recognised the need to develop the coaching structure for the sport and provided additional financial support in the form of free places on courses and direct capital investment into Water Polo. This is in addition to the dedicated Water Polo staff support to the National Committee and Clubs. 2019 was a significant year for the development of Water Polo with the appointment of a National Team Head Coach and the setting of a national standard as a guideline to coaches in what to expect of their players who aspire to make the National Team Squad.
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17
18 100th Liffey Swim, Women’s Start Line
Irish Senior Cup Final - Cathal Brugha Water Polo Club and St. Vincent Water Polo Club, Cillian Colvin Get Ireland Swimming lessons, Coolock Swimming Pool
Swim for Mile, National Aquatic Centre #WePlay Inspiring Women and Girls Conference, 2019, t-shirt 19 Highlights
Our work is so broad that it is always difficult to isolate the highlights, these are some of the most significant ones for 2019:
• Our membership numbers reached a new high of over 19,000 members, up from 18,000 in 2018
• The lead up to the 100th Liffey Swim was uncertain, but despite water safety concerns the event saw 363 men and 252 women complete the swim. First run in 1920, the Liffey Swim is the oldest continuously run annual swimming race in Europe. Over 500 swimmers of all ages, abilities and nationalities compete every year to win the coveted Cup. It is the most sought- after event of the Open Water Calendar, and with the 2019 event culminating in an impressive black-tie evening in the Mansion House it was indeed a momentous occasion.
• Clubmark is an accreditation quality mark for Swim Ireland affiliated clubs providing them with a roadmap for development and 12 new clubs completed the Clubmark Award bringing our total to 55 clubs
• We delivered a full programme of Workshops and Training events in all our Regions, including: Club Training Days, Complaints and Disciplinary Workshops
• 4 coach and committee relationships workshops delivered, one in each region attended by 73 coaches and 54 committee members representing 57 clubs
• Managing People, Situations and Conflict workshops were delivered in September and October as a coach CPD at 6 locations around Ireland with 97 coaches in attendance
• Affiliation workshops were delivered at 7 locations in September 2019 with 57 attendees, with an online webinar (19 attendees) also taking place. Additional webinars were held in November to assist with the training of new secretaries and membership secretaries in clubs, with 39 attendees
• We developed and launched a range of new resources and templates support clubs in their day to day operations, including: Coach & Committee Agreements
• Following collation of feedback from the annual club days and a follow up survey completed by coaches and committee members, the Coach and Athlete Agreement was launched by live webinar and is available to clubs to implement within their clubs. The Agreement is a template document that is agreed by coaches and committee members and signed by the Head Coach and Club Chairperson
• An extensive Club Support Survey was sent out in December 2019 with over 500 responses received. The aim of the survey was to review the support club volunteers felt they had received and sought input on support they would like in 2020. The feedback was shared with all departments and has shaped the resources and plans for 2020
• We began developing online resources for Clubs in 2019. We have two resources ready for launch in early 2020 and another eight in the pipeline. We think this will be a significant source of support to our members in the future as it will allow them to do training from the comfort of their own homes and at a time that suits them
• We piloted the use of online training webinars with clubs and this has been very successful and well received. This is an area that we will further develop in 2020, with monthly webinars on the first Tuesday evening (7.30pm) and Friday morning (11am) of each month. A wide range of topics is planned throughout 2020 with different target audiences throughout. Examples – Clubmark, Complaints and Disciplinary procedures and Chairperson Forum
• Our Competition Officer provided key support and leadership in the delivery of the National Diving Championships, Water Polo Senior Cup and Celtic Masters event
• We had a record number of competitors attending our National Competitions with 3,243 entries, compared to 2,787 in 2018
• Full streaming of Irish Open with approximately 3000 views per day
• New partnership developed between the Irish Down Syndrome Sporting Organisation and Transplant Team Ireland, provided support and guidance in the delivery of their National Championships
• New processes and procedures at National Competitions to improve the experience for members
• Water Polo – We have put in place a solid foundation for our National Teams under the guidance of a National Head Coach and secured additional investment for development over the next 5 years
• Competition delivery standards improved again in 2019 with a record number of trained officials operating on the poolside. We now have 91 Licenced Officials in total
• Free BBQ and Ice creams at Summer Nationals and Division 2 Competitions to say thank you to our volunteers, parents, and athletes
20 SWIM IRELAND | ANNUAL REPORT 2019 20 Mass Participation Strategic Goal: Get Ireland Swimming
There is great inequality in the participation levels in sport among specific hard to reach groups including people from lower socio- economic backgrounds, older adults, people with a disability and women and girls. Reducing these inequalities is a focus of National Sports Policy 2018-2027, and with the benefit of investment from Sport Ireland through Healthy Ireland and Dormant Accounts funding streams, one element of our strategy targets these groups specifically.
Our National Get Ireland Swimming Co-ordinator, supported by a Participation Officer is responsible for driving the implementation of these programmes and works with Community Groups and their leaders, Direct Provision Centres, Active Schools, Local Sports Partnerships and Local Authorities, Go for Life, Irish Down Syndrome Sporting Organisation (IDSSO), Men on the Move, Project Fun Direction, Garda Diversion Project, Dublin City Sport and Wellbeing Partnership, Irish Deaf Society, Special Olympics and many others.
Our goals for 2019 to increase participation in these hard to reach groups included the rolling out of Learn to Swim (LTS) Programmes in 50 Primary Schools and to engage with at least 600 children and adults through community aquatic programmes. Throughout 2019, almost €220,000 of Dormant Accounts and Healthy Ireland funding was invested in the programmes. We worked with more than 70 DEIS Schools and Community Groups across the country helping over 3,000 children and adults to learn to swim and become confident in the water.
We know there is a great appetite for swimming once the relevant supports have been put in place. James Mac Eoin, a teacher with Scoil Fhursa, Dublin outlined the importance of the programme to his young students.
“The majority of the boys of Scoil Fhursa started off their lessons with Swim Ireland not being able to swim. Through the continued support of Swim Ireland and the incredible relationships the boys have formed with their swim coaches the boys have developed a critical life skill. Knowing how to swim and how to safely navigate the water is something they would have never achieved had it not been for the amazing team at Swim Ireland.”
This enthusiasm is echoed by the swim teachers who deliver our programmes as they see first-hand the impact of their work.
Irish Minor Schools Competition 2019
21
Cara Mulcahy, Swim Ireland Swim Teacher stated “As a swim teacher in the Swim Ireland Schools Programme for a few years now and I can see first-hand how invaluable it is to the children participating. To see pure beginners overcome their fears to progress to swimming across the pool is immeasurable. Equipping the children with life-long skills to keep them safe around water and instilling a love of swimming is an absolute joy. The programme is great in that as the classes attending rotate in each school, we get to meet familiar faces again and help them to advance to higher levels. The children all love the end-of-term challenge whereby they get an opportunity to swim various distances and the sense of achievement is palpable.”
Learn to Swim Programme, 2019 Swim for a Mile National Aquatic Centre, the Boyd family
22 One of the hallmarks of 2019 was providing opportunities for continued participation beyond the initial programmes linking participants with other Swim Ireland programmes such as Swim for a Mile, Active Schools Week, Open Sea Races and others and on building relationships to facilitate programme delivery. We see this as an important element of our strategy as children and adults are more likely to develop a swimming habit if we provide them with follow on opportunities.
We see Open Water Swimming as one such opportunity. As an island nation we have an abundance of free natural resources. The Open Water swimming season runs from 1 June to 15 September each year. Recognising that a lot of Open Water Swimming takes place casually or in loose social groups, our strategy in respect of these groups as being to provide opportunities for participation and to advocate on behalf of the communities of swimmers to ensure that the environmental standards are such that they can swim safely. Environmental issues have become an increasing problem for Open Water swimming season. In 2019 several beach closures, bathing restrictions and poor water quality nationwide meant race cancellations. This had a significant effect on the Open Water season and caused disruptions to 9 of the 32 Leinster Open Sea races, and this was especially disruptive to the 100th Liffey Swim (September 2019).
Over the course of 2019 we worked closely with Leinster Open Sea Committee and others to develop a Children’s Open Water Series in various locations across the country to attract participants and drive promotion and awareness of Open Water Swimming.
The other aspect of our strategy to Get Ireland Swimming is to develop high-profile events targeted at general participation. Primary targets for 2019 included the continued roll out and development of Swim for a Mile and the expansion of our annual Inspiring Women and Girls in Sport Conference.
Swim for a Mile (SFAM) was delivered into secondary schools through Active Schools Programme and we developed and piloted a successful ‘pre-SFAM’ programme, ‘Swimmin Women’ with investment from Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport Programme, designed to give female participants the ability and confidence to participate in the SFAM Programme in 2020.
Recognising the priority given to Get Ireland Swimming in National Sports Policy in 2019, we developed a three year Get Ireland Swimming Action Plan aimed at increasing general participation which outlines principles and a vision for how to further develop the Programme. We see this as an important framework for moving forward and one which we hope will inform the development of a National Swimming Strategy which is a goal of National Sports Policy. In the latter half of 2019 we began working on a Programme Prospectus as a call out to partners present and future. The Prospectus was launched in early 2020 and shows the range of programmes that are available for partners to roll out for the priority target groups.
Some of the highlights from our 2019 Programmes:
• Collaborations with Waterways Ireland, Leinster Open Sea, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, Leitrim County Council and others to deliver a series of open water/sea swim events during the Summer of 2019 as a follow on to pool programmes and a way of encouraging participants to use the skills developed in the pool and to avail of the abundant free resources available along our extensive coast
• We ran our third #WePlay Inspiring Girls in Sport Conference during the Summer of 2019 (Wednesday 3 July 2019) at the National Indoor Arena. It was our biggest event yet with 300 attending from all corners of the country. The day included 19 different speakers, comprised of female athletes and sporting experts, from a range of sports (Motor Racing, Canoeing, Kick Boxing, Karate, Camogie, Water Polo, Swimming, Cycling, Badminton, Horse Racing and Gymnastics).
• We ran two successful 8-week beginner Pilot Programmes in October with four Local Sports Partnership. The first Pilot, Swimmin’ Women, focused on the basic swimming concepts, improving water confidence, swimming ability and progressing gently to complete 600m by Week 8. The second Pilot, Swimming 50s, is a swim programme for females aged 50+. The programme is similar to Swimmin’ Women; however, it aims to support females during the menopausal transition, by providing an exercise plan, educational workshops and information all within a weekly social gathering. Both programmes will become core programmes in 2020.
23
A comprehensive independent review undertaken by Cavill Associates on behalf of Sport Ireland into the Get Ireland Swimming, Cycling and Running Programmes, published in July 2019 concluded that
“National Governing Bodies (NGBs), for cycling swimming and athletics used the funding to deliver imaginative and focused programmes, mainly to young people” and
“NGBs appear to have delivered the programmes as intended, forged partnerships and used innovative recruitment methods to reach people from deprived communities. This has led to the delivery of a wide range of engaging physical activity and sport opportunities”.
24 SWIM IRELAND | ANNUAL REPORT 2019 24 Education Strategic Goal: Become recognised as the leading provider of accredited aquatic qualifications and programmes across the island of Ireland.
Our Education Department is headed by a Senior Manager and supported by Programme and Facilities Lead, Office Manager and two Office Administrators. As the leading provider of swim education on the island of Ireland, Swim Ireland endeavours to provide opportunities for the leisure industry, our communities and members to expand their knowledge of the aquatics. The development of blended and online education opportunities has been a key strategic goal and is proving to be a significant growth area as we are experiencing increasing demands for our online education with 80% of courses now delivered online or in blended format.
One of our Lead Tutors, Martin Kavanagh commented on the growth of online learning ‘Blended and Online learning allow flexibility for learners in many ways, on certificated courses and as part of the CPD process. As a lead tutor, I recognise that as STEP is developed, the possibilities exist for further learning methodologies to be incorporated, enhancing unique worthwhile experiences for the learners. As a tutor, who has witnessed the seismic change from “ chalk and talk “ to the digital age of learning I support STEPs introduction to the Swim Ireland learning platform, acknowledging that it is the embryonic stage of a more meaningful and richer experience for the learner’
Our goals for 2019 were to provide quality educational opportunities to our workforce and the leisure industry through qualifications, CPDs, conferences and programmes and to increase the number of Learn to Swim (LTS) partnerships in the leisure industry.
The growth in demand for online learning led us to revise some of our targets over the course of the year as we determined that it was strategically more important for us to devote our resources to development and delivery of online and blended learning. We therefore reduced our LTS partner target as we did not have sufficient resources to deliver across all areas. We have reviewed our departmental structure and determined that we needed an additional support to focus on Learn to Swim and we recruited an additional staff member in the form of a Facilities and Learn to Swim Programme Manager in late 2019. This additional staff member will support us in delivering our overall strategy goal in respect of being a leading provider of programmes in the lifetime of the current strategy.
As a result of this focus on course development we launched 4 new Blended Level 2 courses in response to the identified needs of our members. Throughout the year we released Teaching Swimming, Coaching Swimming, Coaching Water Polo and Coaching Open Water Swimming in blended format. This resulted in a significant increase in numbers completing Level 2 qualifications, with a rise from 135 learners in 2018 to 326 learners in 2019, an increase of 141%.
Our Head of Education commented on the growth of online learning
“We are very encouraged to see such significant growth in online learning and our ability to respond to the COVID -19 crisis was greatly enhanced by strategic investment in online education development over the course of this Strategic Cycle”
25 The Table below shows the Course Target Actual number of learners completing courses in 2019 far outstripped Level 1 Teaching/Coaching 500 599 the numbers targeted.
Level 2 Teaching/Coaching 160 326
Safeguarding 900 911
Officials 300 872
Team Manager 200 331
Table 4: Number of learners completing courses, target versus actual figures
26 Learn to Swim Programme, National Aquatic Centre, 2019 Additional Support Needs Swimming Teacher Course, 2019
Baby Swim Conference, 2019 Tutor Training Programme 2019
Learn to Swim Programme, 2019 Swim for a Mile 2019
27 In addition, the following courses were also launched:
Level 2 Autism Swimming Teacher Level 2 Additional Support Needs Teacher Level 2 Babies & Toddlers Swimming Teacher qualification
These qualifications were developed in response to industry demands, allow swimming teachers to expand their knowledge at Level 2 and specialise in areas of interest. We also saw an increase in the number of qualified coaches for both Diving and Water Polo, with ten new Level 2 Water Polo Coaches qualified, ten Level 1 Diving and 13 Level 1 Water Polo Coaches qualified. Of particular significance is the three-fold growth in learner numbers to date over the course of this strategic cycle, shown in the table below and evidence that we are delivering on our strategic objective.
Growth in learner numbers since the commencement of this strategic cycle.
3000
2750
2500 2016
2250 2019
2000 Number of Learners 1750
1500
1250
1000
750
500
250
326 550 911 112 331 156 872 1150 3039 286 599 46
Level 1 Level 2 Safeguarding Team Manager Officials Totals
An additional highlight for the Department was the success of the Seán MacDermott Street Project. This is a North East Inner City (NEIC) Dublin Taskforce, Dublin City Council (DCC) and Swim Ireland initiative aimed at increasing accessibility to programmed activities and public swimming for all members of the community. The project supports targeted programmes such as swimming lessons, swim discos, inflatable sessions, family swimming, GP Referrals and Aqua Fit/ Aqua Natal classes, all contributing to our strategic objective to ‘Get Ireland Swimming’. As a result of efficient and imaginative programmes, we have seen consistent numbers of users of the pool and real engagement with the programmes.
Without a professional and reliable workforce, we could not realise our strategy and each year we set targets for workforce development including running Conferences for our Tutors, Learn to Swim Teachers and Coaches. These were all very well attended in 2019 and will continue to be a feature of our annual education calendar. Our Tutor Training Programme aims to educate the next generation of tutors from among our qualified coaches and teachers and 12 new tutors graduated from the Tutor Training Programme in January 2019, with teaching, coaching and water polo amongst the disciplines covered.
Another strategic objective for 2019 for the Education Department was to increase number of Learn to Swim facilities and to upgrade current partner facilities with an education package through SkillsNet. Swim Ireland Accredited Swim Schools are located across the island of Ireland and these Swim Schools deliver the Swim Ireland Learn to Swim Programme in a partnership approach whereby we support the facility with ongoing staff training. By the end of 2019 we had 37 schools an increase of 11 schools from 2018. As referenced earlier, this number fell short of our original target but with a new member of staff in place for 2020 to lead in this are we are confident that we can deliver on the ambitions set out in our Strategic Plan.
28 29 Performance Strategic Goal: Provide an environment that helps our athletes perform to their best
The Swim Ireland Performance Department is responsible for the highest performing athletes (and the coaches and clubs working with/for them) in Ireland up to and including the Olympic Games - in both swimming and diving. The department oversees the Regional Squad programmes in all four provinces as well as the National Squad Programmes and Performance Pathway levels. It is also responsible for the selection of all National Teams at junior, youth and senior levels on an annual basis. The Performance team currently consists of twelve full time employees, two part time employees and seven part time contractors all working under the direction of the National Performance Director.
Our measure of success in respect of our strategic goal is a simple one; Are our athletes performing to their best? We can confidently say they are based on our results for 2019 and this report sets out our reasons why.
We continue to use the Irish Open Championships as our sole Trials for the summer international swimming meets and in 2019, we had a team of 13 athletes qualify to travel to the FINA World Championships (50m) in Gwangju (10 swimmers and 3 divers), 9 to the LEN European Junior Championships in Kazan (8 swimmers and 1 diver), 2 to the EOC European Youth Olympic Festival in Baku (swimming only) and 4 to the LEN European Championships in Kiev (diving only – and our largest ever team at this event). Each athlete has an identified summer benchmark meet and performances at this competition are used to select our teams for the winter short course international meets, and in 2019 we had a team of 19 athletes travel to the LEN European Championships (25m) in Glasgow. A team of 3 travelled to the FINA World Junior Championships in 2019, although this was not deemed to be a benchmark meet on this occasion.
Competition Venue No. Swimmers No. Divers
FINA World Championships Gwangju 10 3
LEN European Junior Championships Kazan 8 1
EOC European Youth Olympics Baku 2 -
LEN European Diving Championships Kiev - 4
FINA World Junior Championships Budapest 3 -
LEN European SC Championships Glasgow 19 -
Table 6: Number of Competitors at each major Competition 2019
30
Men’s Senior Team, European Short Course Championships Glasgow 2019 Clare Cryan Tesco Launch, 2019
Our primary measure of success in swimming at all benchmark international meets is that of ‘lifetime best performances when it matters’. At the World Championships, we achieved 39% lifetime best performances in Olympic swimming events and four top 16 positions (our best outcome ever at this competition), also placing two relays into provisional Olympic qualification berths.
Ireland have not featured an Olympic relay since 1972 and have never had a male relay at the Games. Our divers achieved three semi-final and two final positions at this competition, the first time Irish divers have ever featured in the later rounds of a World Championships with a team that featured our first ever female divers at senior international level.
At the European Junior Championships, our athletes achieved 46% lifetime best performances in Olympic events at the competition, reaching nine semi-finals and two finals; two medals at the European Youth Olympic Festival and a 75% lifetime best figure were excellent returns for us. Although the World Junior Championships was not a focus event for us, we achieved two semi-final and one final position at the competition.
The European Championships (25m) was also highly successful for us, with Irish athletes achieving 61% lifetime best performances in Olympic events, along with two podium finishes, nine Top-8 (Final) positions and sixteen Top-16 (Semi-Final) positions; we also won our first ever international Synchro diving medal at one of the FINA Grand Prix events in 2019.
31 Year Lifetime Best Season Best Irish Top 16 Top 8 Top 3 Performances Performances Records (Semi- Final) (Final) (Podium) (Olympic (Olympic (Junior &/ Events) Events) or Senior)
FINA World 39% 44% 7 4 0 0 Championships (swimming)
FINA World 0% 0% 0 3 2 0 Championships (diving)
LEN European 46% 46% 6 9 2 0 Junior Championships
EOC European 75% 75% 0 2 2 2 Youth Olympics
FINA World - - 1 2 1 0 Junior Championships
LEN European SC 61% 84% 22 16 9 2 Championships
Table 7: Performance results at each major competition 2019
32 National Records 2018-2019 2019-2020 (to 31st Dec)
Senior 48 44
Junior 34 22
TOTAL 82 66
Table 8: Number of National Senior and Junior Records over 2018/2019 season and 2019/2020 season (to 31st Dec)
During the 2019-2020 season, the Performance team launched a number of specific and discrete projects which are designed to enable and further club swimming, club coaching and Olympic prospects across all four regions.
The ‘Regional Swimming Club Cluster Plan’, which commenced in November 2019, could be and should be a significant gamechanger for club swimming in the nation. This Plan is at the core of the ‘root and branch’ interaction that the Performance department have with the sport, particularly as most Irish clubs find that acquiring and retaining the necessary resource for success is the most challenging aspect in enabling their own progress.
A significant number of our clubs have long histories of which they are very proud (and rightly so), and their distinct identity, club co- lours and club emblems are very important to them. There are several clubs within a given geography who are in competition with each other for the same resource/s. It is also apparent that whilst we are in this situation, one where we have a large number of clubs vying to service a relatively small swimming populous and where there is not enough pool time, space, or sufficient numbers of suitably qualified and experienced coaches to service this number of clubs, there is one key and satisfactory solution to help rectify these challenges – that of regular inter-club collaboration with Regional understanding and buy-in, serviced through Swim Ireland support.
Without this, it is believed that Irish club swimming will not progress and that the sport will continue to develop on a world-wide basis at a significantly faster rate than that of the sport in Ireland. As a response to this, all Irish clubs have been invited to form part of a ‘Cluster’ within their Region, a group of 4-7 clubs who have a similar geography and where it is felt that there are no natural barriers to collaboration, learning and sharing together (and supported as such by Swim Ireland) for the betterment of the athletes in their care. The Plan targets the development and education of coaches, committees and parents as the key stakeholders who can directly and positively affect the development of the athletes within a club and within a Cluster
Our National Performance Pathway Manager commented on the Club Cluster Programme:
“The Club Cluster Programme primarily offers localised learning opportunities for coaches, athletes and parents, and we are hopeful that it can support the development of stronger relationships between clubs.”
A second and important project, the ‘F4-24 Programme’ commenced in October 2019 with an objective to work with home programmes in the development a group of female athletes capable of qualifying a Female 800m Freestyle relay to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Three hubs have commenced work on this programme (Dublin, Limerick and Bangor) and over 50 young female athletes are receiving additional weekly resources to augment their home programme environment.
Overall, 2019 was a very successful year, giving us much to celebrate and to look forward to. Whilst the COVID-19 Pandemic is impacting on our plans for 2020, we are confident that we have a strong base from which to build our ‘new normal’.
33 Brendan Hyland, Butterfly
Anti- Doping Report 2019
Anti-Doping Programmes around the world continue to face scrutiny, and as a result of adverse findings in the samples of many individual athletes, sports as well as nations have suffered greatly. It is imperative that now more than ever, governing bodies and their members continue their efforts to ensure that sport is fair and clean for all from grassroots to high performance.
During the year our Sport Ireland Anti-Doping Tutors Aisling McKeever and Amanda Ní Ghabhann delivered Anti-Doping Education Workshops for all athletes on our swimming National Teams, National Squads, Regional Squads and Regional Skills Academies as well as for our National Diving Team and a number of our National Water Polo Teams. Our athletes are also required to complete the Sport Ireland Anti-Doping eLearning module each year.
We are looking to roll out an Anti-Doping Education Programme for our National Teams and National Squads across swimming, diving, water polo and masters with a view to also developing an updated CPD module that coaches, teachers, team managers and parents can avail of.
Swim Ireland would again this year like to extend its thanks to Betty Beattie who has continued her excellent and effective work as Event Contact Manager for all domestic Anti-Doping In-Competition tests.
2019 Anti-Doping Statistics
Total number of tests for all sports carried out by 1,303 the Sport Ireland Anti-Doping Unit
Total number of tests for swimming/diving carried 88 (covers in Competition, Out of out by the Sport Ireland Anti-Doping Unit Competition and Blood Test)
Number of Irish swimmers/divers on the 15 Registered Testing Pool
Table 9: 2019 Anti-Dop Table 9. 2019 Anti-Doping Statistics ing Statistics
34 Me and the water
35 Leadership Strategic Goal: Be recognised as an organisation that leads with integrity and operates to high standards in all areas.
Our consistently held belief is that excellence in governance is central to the overall effectiveness of our organisation. The Governance Code for Community and Voluntary Organisations (CVC Code), taken over by Sport Ireland in 2019 as the Governance Code for Sport, has been the framework within which we operate since being the first sporting governing body to be compliant with the Code in 2013. In 2019 we underwent a successful Governance and Finance Audit carried out by Deloitte on behalf of Sport Ireland resulting in minimal Financial Governance/Practices recommendations. Our relationship with Sport Ireland is good and we are recognised as a body that operates to a high standard.
Our leadership strategic goal is based on leading with integrity and operating to high standards across all areas. Leadership is delivered at all levels across our organisation and in order to deliver on this strategic goal our organisational culture must be consistent at all levels. The Corporate Team monitors standards across the organisation and is overseen by the CEO, supported by five senior managers (Finance, Operations, Communications, Safeguarding and HR) and administratively by 1 full time and 4 part time members of staff. One of the key appointments in 2019 was that of a part-time HR Manager.
The Head of Safeguarding, Ethics and Youth Development oversees the overall safeguarding ethos within Swim Ireland, as well as developing and implementing initiatives for young people and members working with young people. This involves ensuring that Swim Ireland is at the forefront of implementing best practice, statutory and legislative requirements where and when required.
An important goal for 2019 was the updating and publishing of Swim Ireland Safeguarding Policies and Procedures in line with evolving legislation. These were launched in September 2019.
Aside from keeping the Swim Ireland Safeguarding Policy in an up to date and practical format, the Head of Safeguarding oversees the audit of our safeguarding standards within clubs and for members. The audit process includes ensuring the risk assessment and child safeguarding statement for each club are completed on time. Club auditing visits help Head of Safeguarding, Ethics, & Youth Development to provide guidance around any gaps and how to deal with issues.
A comprehensive analysis of issues is ongoing, with data starting from 2018 and this provides valuable insight into where potential problem areas occur and inform us of where supports are needed to assist members in the implementation of best practices for young people in line with our strategic goal, thus building on secure and safe club environment.
Other corporate goals for 2019 were based on Swim Ireland’s continuing drive to operate to best practice standards as set out in the Governance Code. Goals included the alignment of National and Regional bodies, reviewing and revitalising key monitoring committees including the Internal Audit Committee, Governance Committee and HR & Remuneration Committee. Each of these committees are up and running, and functioning well. Their reports are contained below.
Separate but linked corporate goals relate to growing the Swim Ireland financial base in line with a long-term strategy to increase the self-generated income. 2019 was a particularly significant year as Tesco Ireland came on board as the organisation’s first title sponsor, joining Arena and Kinetica.
Medium term strategies and plans were developed and approved by the Board of Directors for Water Polo, Women in Sport in addition to a Communications Strategy (2019-2021) aimed at providing consistent and transparent internal and external communication.
Key Governance Goals delivered in 2019 were:
• Successful Mid-Year and End Year Review Process with Sport Ireland. • Appointment of a new Internal Audit Committee with relevant Financial expertise and qualifications reporting directly to the Board. • Appointment of a Governance Committee with oversight responsibility for the Governance Code and reporting directly to the Board. • Appointment of our first HR Manager, recognising the company’s growth and investment in our people and the development of a companywide structured approach to staff training and development. • The launching of a new Employee Support Scheme with Laya Healthcare. • Initiation of the consultation process leading to the development of an Inclusion Policy, due to be launched in 2020. • Increased focus on supporting best practice governance in our Regions, including quarterly meetings and support in developing Regional Risk Registers and Regional Reserve Policies.
36 Some of our key governance committees report directly to the Board of Directors and a synopsis of their work for 2019 is as follows:
Governance Committee
The Governance Committee members are: Mariea Flanagan, (Swim Ireland Board Director), Clare McGrath, (former Swim Ireland Chairperson), Mary McMorrow, (Swim Ireland Company Secretary) and John McShane (Mid-West Corporate Services Ltd. and Independent member).
The Committee’s key role is to oversee company compliance with the CVC Code of Governance and to review and recommend any relevant changes to policies and terms of reference to the Board of Directors. The Committee held its first meeting in November 2019 and meets at least once every quarter. To date the Committee has:
• Reviewed Swim Ireland’s Governance Code Checklist
• Review a Report on Sport Ireland Pulse Audit undertaken by Deloitte in April 2019
• Reviewed the Status List of Company Policies and Procedures
• Reviewed and recommended a Director’s Travel Policy
Internal Audit
The members of the Internal Audit Committee are Paul Hannigan (Board Member & Chair), Keith Lynch (ACA & Water Polo Treasurer) and Andrew Bonehill (ACCA & External to Swim Ireland).
The Committee met in late 2019 to review the Company Management Accounts, 2020 Budget, Internal Controls Review & Sport Ireland Pulse Audit Report by Deloitte, Company Risk Register, Amendments to the Finance Policy and the Carmichael Ireland Annual Report & Financial Statements Technical Screening 2019. Following this review, the Committee was satisfied that Swim Ireland was operating to the appropriate financial governance practices.
Nominations Committee
The term of office of the two Independent Directors Paul Hannigan and Noel Hiney concludes at the 2020 Annual General Meeting. (AGM and The Board appointed a Nominations Committee for the purpose of identifying candidates for the roles. The members of the Nominations Committee are:
• Clare McGrath, former Chairman of the Board of Directors, representing the Board.
• Keith Bowden, Kilkenny Swimming Club, nominated by the Membership, and • Sarah O’Shea, Honorary Secretary of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Independent Member appointed by the Board.
The Committee met via video conferencing and was supported operationally by Mary McMorrow, Swim Ireland Company Secretary and Director of Operations. The Committee identified two candidates to fill the vacancies, based on the skill set requirements outlined by the Board. The two candidates will be presented for ratification at the AGM.
HR & Remuneration Committee
The HR & Remuneration Committee members are: Dee Maguire (Chairperson), Graham Beegan (Swim Ireland Treasurer) and Sean McHugh (Resource Employee Relations Ltd and Independent Member). Neither the Chief Executive Officer nor the HR Manager sit on the Committee although they attend Committee meetings and report at same.
The role of the HR & Remuneration Committee is:
• To determine and agree in consultation with the Chairman of the Board the framework or broad policy for the remuneration of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer for other members of staff; and
• To approve the HR strategy and oversee the implementation of same, including any broad reaching proposals for organisational design change.
A key focus for the Committee in 2019 was to review the reward strategy for the business and to recommend to the Board a fair and accountable approach. The reward strategy set out below was approved by the HR & Remuneration Committee and the Board in January 2020.
37 SWIM IRELAND | ANNUAL REPORT 2019 37 Reward Strategy
Swim Ireland considered the reward strategy for 2020 and beyond. The following criteria were approved for determining reward strategy:
a) Affordability and Budget: The overarching principle in considering the reward strategy for Swim Ireland will be the budgetary position and affordability: This will be determined in consultation with the Finance Director
b) Cost of living increase: Where affordability/budget permits, employees will be considered for a salary review based on the average rate of inflation (rounded);
c) Promotion/enhanced responsibilities: Where an employee is promoted and/or takes on additional responsibility, we will seek to review salary.
d) Market Rates / Retention: Our overall strategy is to be competitive with the market. In high demand areas (e.g. Performance) we will need to review the market for each position.
e) Outstanding Performance / Contribution: Where an employee has made an outstanding contribution to the business, we will seek to review salary to reflect this performance level.
The Committee reports formally to the Board at least annually and usually during Q1.
Complaints and Disciplinary
The Complaints and Disciplinary Policies and Procedures (2017) outline the complaints process within Swim Ireland. An externally appointed Complaints and Disciplinary Officer (CDO) oversees the process at national level. The CDO gives a written update to the Board at each meeting on the status of complaints in addition to an end of year review. The CDO undertakes an Annual Review, the 2019 review is as follows:
Complaints and Disciplinary Officers’ Review 2019
In 2019 there were 14 new cases brought forward to the Complaints and Disciplinary Committee, which comprised of 9 Complaints, 3 Appeals, and 2 Disciplinary Actions.
In the two Disciplinary Actions one went to Hearing and the Respondent was found to have breached one of the alleged breaches and did not commit the remaining alleged breaches. A sanction was applied. In the other action the Respondent accepted wrongdoing and sanctions were applied.
Of the 14 cases which were dealt with in 2019, they consisted of isolated complaints and incidents spread across different clubs and entities. Similarly, to 2018, the complaints received in 2019 were broadly spread across all clubs and types of complaints. There were 14 new cases received, representing a continuing average of approximately 13 to 14 cases per annum.
In 2019 no appeals were brought to the Sport Dispute Solutions (SDSI), this positively continues the downward trend of appeal to SDSI.
Irish Senior Women’s Water Polo, Cliona Colvin
38 Financial Governance
Our Finance Report and 2019 Financial Statements sets out our financial position in some detail and is presented as a separate document and available on our website.
2019 saw our highest levels of both income and expenditure in our Company’s history to date. Our finances are constantly monitored by the Board through monthly Management Accounts and corresponding Financial Reports and by our CEO and Management Team through monthly Departmental Management Accounts. The finances of our Regions and Water Polo are integrated in Swim Ireland’s finances but are ringfenced for their use and therefore their surplus/deficits and reserves are shown separately in the figures below.
Our 2019 deficit of €69,031 is broken down as follows:
Swim Ireland -€28,948
Water Polo €2,855
Leinster Region -€52,877
Munster Region €4,626
Connacht Region €5,313
Reserve Policy
Swim Ireland’s Operating Reserve Policy is to ensure the stability of the mission, programmes, employment and on-going operations of the organisation. The Operating Reserve is intended to provide an internal source of fund for situations such as a sudden increase in expenses, one-time unbudgeted expenditure, unanticipated loss in funding or uninsured losses. The impact of the COVID -19 pandemic which is only beginning to be felt across our nation will undoubtedly necessitate a drawing down of reserves. At the time of writing it is very difficult to estimate the exact nature of this impact.
Our 2019 Financial Statements show reserves of €854,520 at 31 December 2019 broken down as follows:
Swim Ireland €419,923
Water Polo €86,408
Leinster Region €98,781
Munster Region €169,421
Connacht Region €79,987
Risk Management
During 2019 we revised our Risk Register, identified 20 key risks and have categorised these according to the company’s risk tolerance and risk appetite. Future Outlook
At the time that our Financial Statements were signed off by our External Auditors our future outlook was very positive. No-one could have foreseen the impact of COVID - 19. At the time of writing it is very difficult to estimate the exact nature of this impact. Conclusion
In reviewing our 2019 we can be justifiable proud of our achievements. At the beginning of 2020 very much on track to deliver on our Strategy, having made some adjustments to our 2020 Business Plan to focus on areas where we felt that we needed increased attention, including the launch of a new category of membership and further development of our learn to swim partnerships. The ongoing COVID -19 will require us to review our Strategic Plan and determine if any of our ambitious targets will need to be tweaked in light of the impact of the virus on sport. This review is ongoing at the time of writing.
None of our achievements would have been possible without the commitment and dedication of thousands of volunteers throughout the country in our Clubs and Regions. We thank them all sincerely and applaud their dedication to our sport. There is a new normal on the horizon for our sport but there is no doubt that we will face it together and in the spirit that has driven us throughout the 126 years of our organisation’s history.
39 SWIM IRELAND | ANNUAL REPORT 2019 39 Ellie McCartney, Irish Summer Nationals 2019, National Aquatic Centre
Irish Summer Nationals 2019, National Aquatic Centre Irish Open Championships 2019, National Aquatic Centre
40 3. Regional Highlights
Regional Committees have been established in Connacht, Leinster, and Munster for the purposes of running Regional Squad Programmes and Regional Competitions. In the case of Ulster, this is the responsibility of Swim Ulster, established as a separate legal entity to Swim Ireland, funded by Sport Northern Ireland. All Region’s elect a nominee to the Board of Swim Ireland. Such nominee is entitled to attend, but not to vote at Regional meetings.
There is alignment between our National and Regional structures, strategies and competitive pathways and regular communication takes place regarding all aspects of the sport. Quarterly meetings take place between the leaders of the Regions and Swim Ireland senior staff to discuss areas of strategic importance and prior to the implementation of decisions.
The Regional Executives themselves meet at least once a quarter with full meetings of all clubs in the Region taking place at least twice per year, driven by the needs of the Region. Regionally based staff provide operational support at a local level with Swim Ireland providing additional support as required through head office.
The Regional structure is as follows:
Regional Executive Members Connacht Munster Leinster Ulster
The Regional structure is as follows: Chairperson Katie Maher Brendan McGrath Ashley Godden Tanya Martin
Secretary Tracy Boland Leona Blackwell Orla Mullen Stephen Cuddy (Company Secretary)
Treasurer Jo McCormack Tom O'Brien Connor McKenna Nick Berryman
Regional Club Children's Officer Michelle Delaney Leonie Galland Julie Morgan Paul Grey
Swim Ireland Board Nominee Patricia Cleary Mairea Flanagan John Mullins Gary Stoops
Competitions Representative Michael Foley Caroline Bentley Frank Stevens
Technical Representative Louis Hanley Mick McCarthy
Additional Members Natasha Walsh Gerard Fleming Ciaran McGurk (PRO) (Gala Secretary)
Regional Staffing Support
Regional Club Support Officer Vincent Finn Aisling McKeever Ruth McQuillan Damien Regional Administrator Mary Dunne Fitzpatrick Kinny Bolton Linda Stoops
Regional Pathway Development Sarah Fellner Mark Lappin Mark Craig Coach
41 Connacht Regional Report 2019
Meetings:
Throughout 2019, the Executive Committee held 10 meetings in addition to facilitating two Club Delegate sessions as forums for all clubs to contribute to the Region. The Competitions Committee oversaw the practical aspects of running swim meets, while the Technical Committee considered qualification times and meet conditions.
Regional Highlights:
Four Connacht clubs achieved the Swim Ireland Clubmark status, in 2019. Clubmark is a quality mark for Swim Ireland affiliated clubs. The aim of Clubmark is to support, recognise and reward Swim Ireland affiliated clubs by providing them with a roadmap to develop their services and ultimately achieve the highest of club standards. The accreditation programme focuses on attaining and keeping pace with best practice and introducing best-in-field ideas. The clubs who received the Swim Ireland Clubmark Award for the Connacht Region were, Laser Swimming Club Galway, County Sligo Swimming Club, Bluefin Swimming Club and Atlantic Masters Swimming Club.
A significant highlight for Swim Ireland Connacht was the awarding of two prestigious awards to Mary Dunne, Ballina Dolphins. Mary first won the Swim Ireland Volunteer of the Year Award and was presented with her Award at the Annual Awards Ceremony in Carton House, by Declan Harte, Swim Ireland President in September. Mary was then nominated by Swim Ireland for the Federation of Irish Sport, Volunteer in Sport Awards for her tireless work on behalf of swimming and won the overall Outstanding Contribution to Sport Award. Mary was presented with her Award by Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin TD at a ceremony in Farmleigh House. Mary created a big impression on the attendees at the ceremony, representing the Connacht Region and Swim Ireland in an exemplary manner and dedicated her Award to the countless swim parents up and down the country who give so much of their time to our sport.
Congratulations are also in order to Atlantic Masters Swimming Club who were awarded the Swim Ireland Regional Club of the Year, and to Niki Henson who was awarded the Regional Volunteer of the Year Award at the Swim Ireland Annual Awards Night.
We would like to thank the ongoing and incredible support that all our volunteers, coaches, parents and members provide to the organisation. As an organisation we aim to support our communities as effectively as we possibly can, and in return we have also received invaluable support over the years.
Connacht Competitions:
Swim Ireland Connacht Region Competition Programme consists of Development Meets, for the younger swimmer right through to Regional Championship Meets which are qualifying events for National Championships. The lack of facilities suitable for running Swim Meets has always been a challenge in the Region and the opening of a new facilities at Lough Lannagh Castlebar in 2019 was much welcomed. The eight-lane pool has provided some relief in the Connacht region in terms of providing pool hours for club and squad training in addition to running swim meets. The region has developed a strong relationship with the facility management team and hopes that this can continue to grow.
Throughout 2019, 34 competitions took place throughout the Region and we would like to acknowledge and thank our dedicated band of volunteers who give up their weekends to help run our competitions. Without you, we would not be able to run a programme.
One of the key goals for the Connacht Region in 2020, is to encourage more people to become more involved in the running of competitions. Events require a lot of human resources and most importantly, trained officials and currently there is an over reliance on a limited number of qualified officials, which is unsustainable for the region. In 2020, there will be a drive to ensure that each club has enough trained Level 1 and Level 2 Officials on pool side. This, in turn, will improve the running of our events by increasing the professionalism with which they are delivered. Connacht Region Performance Pathway:
The Connacht Regional Squad Programme, which is the Region’s Programme for swimmers who are on the development pathway between club and national level was successfully rolled out. The Connacht Region now has 37 swimmers regularly attending the
42 Connacht Region Performance Pathway:
The Connacht Regional Squad Programme, which is the Region’s Programme for swimmers who are on the development pathway between club and national level was successfully rolled out. The Connacht Region now has 37 swimmers regularly attending the Regional Skills Academy, 16 swimmers on the Regional Coaching Squad and 23 swimmers on our Regional Development Squad. The administration of this important programme has been enhanced through a part time contractual arrangement supported financially by Swim Ireland.
In November of 2019, a Connacht Coaches Forum was run as an opportunity for Coaches to upskill, share experiences and insights from Swim Ireland coaches. The forum was very well attended, and feedback was very positive. Swim Ireland Connacht would like to acknowledge and thank Swim Kit for their support at this forum, they provided ‘goodie bags’ for each coach who attended the forum.
Athlete clinics were held in Claremorris, Blue Fin & Sligo in 2018-19 season, and club visits from the Regional Pathway Development Coach were made to all Connacht clubs.
In the 2019-20 season we formally launched the Cluster Clinic Programme, with 3 clusters of clubs in Connacht. The Club Cluster Programme promotes regular inter-club collaboration through the sharing of resources. Clinics were held in Q4 of 2019 in Castlebar and Galway (Laser), with delivery components for swimmers, parents and coaches. Virtual meetings have been held for all clusters to provide a forum for discussion and support during the Covid shutdown period, and delivery of the theory components of the planned 2020 Q1 & Q2 clinics is ongoing, with participation from most clubs. Challenges overcome in 2019:
One of the key goals for the Connacht Region in 2018 was to run and officials’ schools, and this programme was run in 2019 with the aim of increasing the number of trained officials. Unfortunately, the programme did not deliver the targeted numbers of new Officials. As a result, there remains an overall reliance on a small pool of national officials and this is a challenge. In order to rectify this, a training programme will be reviewed in early 2020.
SWIM IRELAND | ANNUAL REPORT 2019 43 Munster Regional Report 2019
Meetings: In 2019, regular meetings were held to ensure continuity and proper discussion on all matters. One of the key outcomes from these meetings was that the written Terms of Reference for each Regional Committee were reviewed, amended accordingly and are now operational. In addition, protocols with regard to sub committees reporting to the Munster Regional Management Committee are now in place and operational. The focus on financial reporting and controls continued, our Munster Treasurer Tom O’Brien agreed the Munster Financial Reserve policy with Swim Ireland. Munster Competitions Highlights
The Region ran 18 competitive meets in total as follows:
• 11 Development Meets – these are the first step on the competitive ladder and included meets for the most inexperienced swimmers
• 3 Regional Qualifying Meets – these are the second step on the competitive ladder and serve as qualifying meets for Regional Championships
• Munster Short Course Championships
• Munster Long Course Championships
• Munster Minor and Senior Schools Championships – these are different to our club meets and swimmers enter through their schools and do not have to be a member of a club to enter
• Over the course of the year approximately 4,000 swimmers from the region competed in various events Meet Standards and Criteria
The Munster region also reviewed the qualifying time standards for our Regional Meets and implemented changes for the 2019/20 season. At the time of writing this, it is too early to say yet if these changes have been successful and a review will take place later in 2020. Regional Squads
The Munster Regional Squads consisted of the Skills Academy (age 11 - 13), the Development Squad (ages14-17), and a new squad, the Regional Coaching Group, (age 13-18). In 2019-20 season, Development Squad contact time was increased with the introduction of additional training sessions which took place every 4 weeks in UL Arena. Weekly virtual Workshops and Strength and Conditioning sessions have been held since April 1 to support the Development Squad athletes during the COVID-19 lockdown.
In June 2019, 14 swimmers from the Regional Development Squad travelled to Aberdeen to compete at the Scottish Nationals LC Championships.
The National Centre Limerick (NCL) has seen a very successful season under the guidance of Coach John Szaranek. Numerous athletes in Limerick are participating in the InTouch programme and the Trainability group which both operate as part of the NCL programming.
The following athletes represented the region at international meets under the Swim Ireland Regional and National umbrellas: Eoin Corby; Liam Doyle; Cillian Melly; Andrew Feenan; Finn McGeever; Cadan McCarthy; Alan Corby; Alfie Kelly; Uiseann Cooke; Rory McEvoy and Jeremy O’Connor.
The new National F4-24 Programme, which targets swimmers with relay potential for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was launched based on selection from Irish Summer Nationals. There are currently 16 swimmers from the Munster Region participating in the Programme.
44 In the 2019-20 season we also formally launched the Cluster Clinic programme, with 4 clusters of clubs in Munster. Four clinics were held in Q4 of 2019 & Q1 of 2020 in Waterford, Ennis, Limerick, and Mallow, with delivery components for swimmers, parents and coaches. Virtual meetings have been held for all clusters to provide a forum for discussion and support during the COVID-19 period period, and delivery of the theory components of the planned 2020 Q1 & Q2 clinics is ongoing, with participation from most clubs. Waterford, Splashworld and New Ross are operating collaboratively with all three clubs running a weekly training session and are an example of how individual clubs can benefit by working with other clubs in their cluster area. Education:
In 2019, there was a significant focus on the upskilling of teachers and coaches in the Munster Region. We would like to thank the Regional Working Group that advised the Region on the educational needs for clubs and assisted with the planning of courses.
The busy calendar of activity run throughout the year included:
• 4 Swimming Teacher Level 1 courses
• 4 Swimming Coach Level 1 courses
• 3 Swimming Teacher Level 2 courses
• 3 Swimming Coach Level 2 courses
• 6 Team Manager courses delivered (with 87 participants)
• 18 Officials courses delivered (with 287 participants)
• 6 Munster participants completed the Officials School and are now licenced as Probationary Officials
• 23 attendees from Munster a Swim Ireland Complaints and Disciplinary Workshop
• 22 participants at Regional Club day in UL, Limerick
• 31 participants attended two Swim Ireland Club Children’s Officer Forums
Region Goals for 2020: The key Regional goals for Munster swimming for the coming year are, firstly to review the competition structure and qualifying times to implement these for the upcoming season. Secondly, to review the meet structure and adjust competitions accordingly.
Finally, to support Educational needs of clubs and regional volunteers, and encourage more members to attend the Officials School Programme.
45 SWIM IRELAND | ANNUAL REPORT 2019 45 Leinster Regional Report 2019
The Leinster Executive meets regularly over the course of the season and also hosts two general club meetings including a calendar meeting which determines where club meets will sit in the season calendar.
Leinster Competitions The Region runs a very busy competitive programme and we are very lucky to have the National Aquatic Centre as our venue for events, albeit there have been issues with the booking system in the facility. On an annual basis in addition to our Regional Championships (Long Course and Short Course), we run Development Meets for the less experienced swimmers in October and January and Qualifying Meets for Regional Championships in October, January and March. We also run Regional Schools (Minor and Senior), open to non-club swimmers who compete on behalf of their schools. Some of the highlights within the Leinster Competitions have been:
• The addition of more opportunities to swim 200m freestyle and 200m IM events • Amendments to the format of Schools competition to provide for School Team Awards at Junior, Intermediate and Senior levels in both Boys and Girls. • Trial of a League for Leinster clubs incorporating Development & Qualifying meets only. • Awards system introduced for all levels as: Development Level – wristband system; Qualifying events – medals in age bands; and Regional Championships – Medals in age bands. • The Region ran a new Regional Masters Meet ran in 2019. A proposal to run in 2020 over the same weekend as Division 2 didn’t get the chance to be finalised. We are hoping to roll this out in 2021.
There are some challenges that need to be addressed in the Region, including the fact that competitions are often oversubscribed. The Region does rely on a few very dedicated senior officials’ people, trained Meet Recorders and it is intended that these will be addressed by the incoming committee.
Leinster Region Performance Pathway Highlights The Leinster Regional Squad Programme, which is the Region’s Programme for Athletes who have qualified to be on the Development Pathway, and which supports the Athletes between Club and National level was successfully rolled out.
Regional Programme comprises of three levels this season and they are:
• Regional Skills Academy (Male 11-13 Years and Female 11-12 Years) with 41 Athletes in attendance at each intervention • Regional Coaching Group (Male 14-17 and Female 13-17) with 25 Athletes in attendance at each intervention • Regional Development Squad (Male 14-18 Years and Female 13-18 Years) with 31 Athletes in attendance at each intervention
In September of 2019, the Leinster Coaches Conference was re-established and was supported by 75 Coaches from Leinster, the topics covered were varied and delivered by Swim Ireland staff and the keynote speaker was Russ Barber, double Olympic Coach with Great Britain and Director of Swimming at City of Sheffield Swim Squad.
The event was well received and presented some new challenges for the Coaches and things to consider as they worked with the Athletes going forward, the event was also kindly supported by Arena.
Over the course of the season there has been a continued support provided to the clubs within the Region from the Regional Pathway Development Coach (RPDC), Mark Lappin who has supported Athletes, Coaches, Parents and Programmes on many challenges ranging from planning, reviewing plans and staff recruitment, just to name a few. 19 clubs received visits from the RPDC and more were planned, but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. These will be listed as a priority over the next few months as we return to the poolside.
46 2019 also saw the launch of the Club Cluster Development Plan, having been first approved by the Swim Ireland Board. There are 6 Clusters within the Leinster Region and they are:
• Dublin South • Dublin North • Dublin Central • Leinster West • Leinster North • Leinster South
The Club Cluster Development Plan promotes regular Inter-Club collaboration through the sharing of resources. Clusters were held in Q4 of 2019 with delivery components for Athletes, Parents and Coaches.
To maintain the contact between the Regional Pathway Development Coach virtual meetings have been held for all clusters to provide a forum for discussion and support during the COVID-19 period, and delivery of the theory components of the planned 2020 Q1 & Q2 clinics is ongoing. We are aiming to be on track with delivery virtual to ensure we align the programme when we can get back meeting face to face and on poolside. To conclude on a positive note, the Region’s Swim Team won the Interprovincial Schools Championship Cup after a 13-year gap and that it something that we will be looking to retain.
47 SWIM IRELAND | ANNUAL REPORT 2019 47 Ulster Regional Report 2019
Competitions: The Region ran a successful competitive programme, with a strong number of entries throughout the calendar of competitions. We are very grateful to Linda Stoops, the competition committee, officials, and volunteers for running all our galas throughout the year.
Aquasprint League The 2019-2020 is Forest Feast’s 10th Year of the sponsorship of the AquaSprint League and Swim Ulster would like to thank Forest Feast for their continued support, a very popular competition with our young swimmers. There are 26 clubs competing in the league this year. Aquasprint is an introduction to competitive swimming and many of our elite swimmers who have competed at the Commonwealth Games, European Championships and indeed Olympics started their road to success in this league. Schools Cup & Championships 2019 Swim Ulster’s fourth annual schools cup and Championships were very successful with 1400 athletes competing from 280 schools. Pupils were able to qualify for the Swim Ireland Minor Championships and Senior Interprovincial Competition from this gala. Club Development Report Clubs are the heart of Swim Ulster, creating a safe, fun and friendly environment where young people are given the opportunity to participate in a sport, enjoy being part of a team, make friends, reach their full sporting potential and learn life skills through sport.
Coaches, parents, and volunteers are essential to clubs and the Region delivers workshops to equip them with the skills necessary to manage clubs and deliver a holistic programme of activities. The main events throughout the year were as follows: •3 Supporting Clubs Conference •3 Coaching Conference • Club Development Workshops (committee training, development planning, annual planning, squad structure & criteria, managing conflict & financial procedures & guidance • Enniskillen and Lurgan Clubs successfully completed Clubmark this season, 16 Clubs now have gone through the programme and been accredited •3 232 attended Safeguarding courses delivered throughout Ulster •3 Club Children’s Officer (Safeguarding 2 & 3) Club Children’s Officers training and forums delivered twice each season •3 56 Team Managers completed the Club Team Manager • The Regional Officials Programme is running very well and we have an active team of National Officials in Ulster. We have a Senior Referee on the LEN Technical Swimming Committee and an additional referee officiating at international events. •3 Continuous Professional Development courses ran around Ulster to clubs, over 170 coaches attended these workshops • Coach Education: The Swim Ulster Legacy Programme is still running – This has greatly benefited the clubs and 210 candidates have qualified through this process. • Coaches Engage Programme: This is a workshop which we deliver to coaches and teachers about the importance of engaging with the parents of the athletes they coach. •3 Parent Programme: This is a workshop which we deliver to parents about how they can best support their child in a sports club •3 Youth Engagement Training – This workshop is to train personnel on various ways to engage with the young people in the club • Club Captains in Youth Sport – provides guidance and training for young people for the role of Club Captains, equipping them with skills which will help them to develop as club •3 Anti-Doping: Anti-doping workshops have been delivered to Squad Members and coaches. •3 Over 400 Competitors participated across the two open water events •3 Skills Meets were positively received by clubs
48 Ulster Region Performance Pathway Highlights •3 IPC World Championships – Bethany Firth 4 medals plus a World Record in the 4 x 100m Mixed Freestyle S14 Relay • European Short Course Championships – 1 medal (Mona Mc Sharry), 5 top 8 finishes (Mona, Jack Mc Millan, Jordan Sloan, Men’s 4 x 50m MTR, Mixed 4 x 50m FTR), 4 top 16 finishes (Jordan, Danielle Hill)
Ulster Water Polo Report The 2017-21 Ulster Water Polo Development Plan identifies three core priority areas which should be the focus of water polo development in Ulster during the lifetime of the plan, these are; Skills Development, Competitions and Education. Excellent progress has been made in all areas and we are thankful to our Water Polo Development Officer for all his hard work in this area.
Talent Pathway Our Talent Pathway system continues to develop with engagements throughout the region happening 4 times a week. Our skills camps and National preparation training continue to be very beneficial to our member clubs.
National & Regional Squad Programme The Regional Programme continues to deliver local programme of testing, education, training and in the case of the Regional Development Squad an overseas competition experience. Two swimmers from the Regional Squad Programme achieved selection to represent Ireland at the Summer Internationals in 2019.
In 2019 we ran the inaugural Skills Academy Interprovincial as part of the Irish LC Nationals in April and will continue to offer this as a racing and learning opportunity for this group. This season we have added the Athletic, Technical and Skills Development Programme that brings National and Regional Squad athletes together once per month to develop their athleticism in the gym and further enhance their technique and skills in the pool.
49 SWIM IRELAND | ANNUAL REPORT 2019 49 Swim Ireland Awards Night 2019
50 51 The Manifesto Toe in the water. Face in the water. Staying afloat. Touching the bottom. One length without stopping. Fifty lengths without stopping. Diving from the 10 meter board, without a toe out of place. Wading in amongst the horde, without running back out again. Lying flat on my back. Out to the buoy and back. Holding my breath. Holding court. Relaying. Relaxing. Getting used to the water. Getting fit. Getting faster. ___
Me and the water.
Me and the water
52 Me and the water
53