Important Open Water Guidelines Update

Jul 17, 2020

Swimming Canada has removed the document titled “OPEN WATER SAFETY GUIDELINES – Coaching a training group” from their website.  Swim BC has developed a replacement document to serve as a resource for your Club’s open water training activity. The document is can be downloaded here and is available on our COVID-19 Resources page. Swim BC Insurance Interpretation – Lifeguards: If your club is pursuing open water training, please take note of the following information regarding insurance coverage for lifeguards:
  • Certified lifeguards who are volunteering their services for your club are covered under Swim BC insurance;
  • Certified lifeguards who are employees* of your club are covered under Swim BC insurance;
  • Certified lifeguards who are sub-contractors or self-employed must provide proof of their own insurance.
* an employee is defined as an individual receiving payment where source deductions (tax, EI, CPP) are made.  If the lifeguard receives a lump-sum stipend or other payment without source deductions, they are considered self-employed for the purposes of this insurance interpretation.

Covid-19 Return to Swimming Update

Jul 17, 2020

There have been a few updates with regards to Return to Swimming. We had a call with viaSport earlier this week, and they are working towards the “Progressively Loosening” phase of their Return to Sport Guidelines. They have started work on what that phase is going to look like, and it will likely bring more opportunities for training and competition. We currently don’t have a timeline on when those guidelines will be available, as they will need to be reviewed by Public Health. Once viaSport releases their guidelines for this new phase, Swim BC will update our Return to Swimming Guidelines accordingly. You can access viaSport’s current Return to Sport Guidelines here. Additionally, Swimming Canada has released an updated version of their Return to Swimming Guidelines which is available here as well as on their website.

Swim BC Needs Your Help

Jul 17, 2020

Over the past few months, Swim BC has been quietly developing a new website! It is nearly ready for launch, but we need some help from our membership to add the final touches. Due to COVID-19, we were not able to take photos of our membership that were to be used as visual material on the website. If your club has any high resolution photos that you would be willing to share with us to be used on the new website, we would greatly appreciate it. Stock photos are great, but they don’t replace having our local swimmers on our front page. If you are interested, please reach out to sam.thoms@swimbc.ca for more information.

2020-2021 Registration Manual

Jul 3, 2020

Full Memo PDF With the end of the current season quickly approaching, the 2020-2021 Registration Manual is now available. The document has been revised to reflect the changes to this upcoming season. We understand that this fall isn’t going to be a normal registration period, but we are hopeful that we’ll be able to see everyone back in the pool at some point in the 2020-2021 season. Please ensure you review the Registration Manual as there have been some changes made to the registration process this season. They are briefly outlined below. With regards to payments, Clubs will no longer be able to set up credit accounts to pay for invoices. All invoices will need to be paid at the time the invoice is created. This change has been put in place to address concerns with regards to financial liability.

There have also been significant changes to the Coaching Registration process this season. The following changes have been put in place and apply to all coaches:

  • Coaches must take Safe Sport Training through either Respect in Sport and/or the Coaching Association of Canada
  • Coaches must submit a Criminal Record Check through the Criminal Record Review Program
  • Coaches must have their certification level verified and they must meet the certification requirements for their coaching classification
Further details on each step are outlined in detail in the Registration Manual. These steps are in place to ensure we are aligned with Swimming Canada requirements and current accepted Safe Sport practices expected of all Provincial Sport Organizations. Lastly, we have added the required Return to Swimming documents to the Club Registration. All clubs are required to have a Return to Swimming plan in place before they start club activities. If you have already submitted these documents, then you do not need to re-submit them. Please refer to Swim BC Return to Swimming Guidelines for information on creating a Return to Swimming Plan. All forms required for registration are included in the manual and will be available on the website. We will have a Masters Registration Manual available later in July. If there are any questions or concerns that come up during the registration process, please reach out to sam.thoms@swimbc.ca. Outstanding 2019-2020 Invoices With Swim BC’s fiscal year end approaching, please ensure all outstanding invoices for your club have been paid in full and all Club Grant reporting has been submitted by July 15th. Clubs with outstanding invoices have been contacted. If there is any issue paying your outstanding invoices, please reach out to Swim BC so we can work together on a solution.

Slight revisions to the “Swim BC Return to Swimming Guidelines”

Jun 19, 2020

As mentioned in the release of the Swim BC “Return to Swimming Guidelines”, we consider it a living document.  Since its release we’ve had great opportunity for closer scrutiny and have made subtle changes to consider the concepts of ‘suspected cases’ and impact on training groups.
  • There are edits to page 13 “Outbreak Plan” point 2; point 3, point 4 and point 5.
  • There are also edits to page 23 Illness Policy” point 5 (c and d have been deleted).
Thanks to Dr. Scott Tancon, Hyack Swim Club President, for his assistance. The revised document is Version 1.1 – June 19, 2020 and can be found here: Return to Swimming Guidelines Version 1.1

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