Club's Frequently Asked Questions

Benefits of Club Affiliation to SwimmingSA (SSA) & Swimming Australia (SAL)

• Support and advice from the SSA team to assist with club administration questions, membership issues or talent development
• Inclusion in the electronic SSA Membership system which will provide clubs with seamless membership management such as renewals, adding new members and reporting
• Online entry facilities for club events including club nights through to major meets involving multiple clubs
• Insurance cover via MARSH SPORT insurance for competitive and recreational swimmers, parents, and other volunteers, as they participate in club duties and other club activities
• Performance Squad clinics for our Identified Talented swimmers
• Access to funding for equipment grants, travel subsidies etc
• Free access to online/attendance based courses to support Club Management such as:

• Swim Central training and support
• Meet/Team Manager training
• Play By The Rules training
• STARCLUB Club Development Program
• Access to Sports Community's free resource hub called "Club Spot"

• Access to Swimming Australia’s programs and services such as a free Club Website, Junior Excellence, Beyond the Black Line (Australian Swimmers Association)
• Hire of Dolphin Timing Equipment and Hearing Impaired Timing Start Systems for Club events
• Free supply of lap counters
• An opportunity to shape the sport. Club Delegates are eligible to vote at the Annual General meeting giving Clubs a say in the shaping of the future of Swimming in SA

SwimmingSA is your first point of contact on any matters.   Staff will assist where possible but if it is a matter that the staff cannot assist with the enquiry will be referred to the Chief Executive Officer.

The CEO will assist where possible and if the query can’t be answered Board Directors, the Office for Recreation & Sport, Swimming Australia and the Australian Swimming Coaches & Teachers Association (ascta) will be consulted to ensure the best advice is provided for the club to consider.

Other organisations such as Office for Recreation & Sport, Sport SA and Clubs SA may also be contacted by SwimmingSA pending the nature of the query/issue etc.

Payments are run on the 1^st & 15^th of each month nationally, but with all states processing memberships it can take up to a week to reconcile the payments before the payments land in accounts.

Swimming SA is able to help provide support for all clubs when affiliating.  

Should you need any assistance please contact admin@sa.swimming.org.au or (08) 7123 0848  and a staff member will be able to help you :).

SwimmingSA encourage it as best practice for any adult who is going to be involved in an official capacity to have a current WWCC.

A FREE working with children’s clearance with SwimmingSA, is a benefit for financial members only.

SSA will confirm the individual is a member on the Committee of an affiliated club and/or is a Parent Member.

Register for your Working with Children Check HERE

Swimming Australia has mandated that ALL Club committee members undertake Match Fixing & Anti-Doping Training.

It’s all about educating the sport as a whole.   Clubs are not singled out based upon size.   It’s a requirement to ensure the integrity of the sport.

Whilst only some people involved in our sport are at higher risk of being affected than others in relation to Anti-Doping & Match Fixing, Swimming Australia have policies to ensure the core values, good reputation and positive behaviours and attitudes are maintained across the entire organisation include member associations and affiliated clubs.

Sport plays an important role in the community. Confidence in the integrity of sport must be maintained to ensure the recognised health, wellbeing, safety and social benefits continue to be enjoyed by the public.

In addition to policies within the sport, the Office for Recreation & Sport recognises it must provide leadership to promote that the integrity of sport is maintained.

Sport integrity issues include, but are not limited to:

• match fixing and other unethical determination of outcomes
• illegitimate performance enhancement
• illicit drug use and off-field misconduct
• regulation and advertising of sports gambling
• bullying/harassment and sports associated violence
• perceived or possible conflicts of interest, which may harm the reputation or standing of a sport or an event
• association with or involvement in sports by criminal groups or individuals
• policies for participant welfare, such as concussion or over-use standards.

Education is the key in helping athletes, coaches, officials, administrators and the community understand issues surrounding the use of performance and image enhancing and illicit drug use

Yes!  All position holders must be members of the club committee.  This will cover them in a wide range of areas as well as have the benefits of being a SwimmingSA member.

All presidents and delegates must be a member to ensure their vote counts at the SwimmingSA AGM.

Payments are run on the 1^st & 15^th of each month nationally, but with all states processing memberships it can take up to a week to reconcile the payments before the payments land in accounts.

Clubs & Districts must apply each year to host a meet and for the meet to be approved and included in the SwimmingSA Handbook of Events.

All clubs are required to use Swim Central to accept online meet entries for their competition. To do so, clubs will need to have a functional website. There is not currently a requirement for clubs to accept entries via Online Meet Entries, however it is encouraged depending on the format of your competitions.

It is essential that all clubs and regions now host all event information and entry links/files on their own website. This gives your club/region complete control over information distribution and promotion. SwimmingSA will ensure that the Events Listing on the website sa.swimming.org.au links to the correct pages on your website (once your competition is approved on Swim Central).

Club and Regional competitions are endorsed as Participation Meets under the Participation Strand of the South Australian Competition Structure.

Please note that fees apply to host a competition and to hire the Dolphin Timing (SAT) System. This fee is determined by the Board of SwimmingSA and will be indicated on the Schedule of Fees.  All invoices will be issued following the approval of these fees.

At the completion of every club meet and open water swim the Nominations Officer or Meet Director is responsible for providing the following information to the SwimmingSA Events Team within 7 days of the meet concluding:

• Meet Manager (MM) Backup
• Team Manager (TM) Results File
• Point Score Report (via MM)

The Referees are responsible for providing the following information to SwimmingSA

• Swim Meet Checklist
• Referee/ Meet Director Report
• Rule Infraction Reports
• Meet Program

Support for Nominations Officers and Meet Directors is available from the SwimmingSA Club Meets Results Procedure document.

Times achieved at Short Course events cannot be used as Qualifying Times for Long Course events.

Play by the rules

Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing

Australian Sports Foundation