Why we're creating an ambitious roadmap to redefine the purpose of coaching

By Craig McCulloch, Swim England head of coaching

Swim England is committed to positive change as we collectively strive to make a brighter future for aquatic sports and the many people so closely associated with them.

You will no doubt be aware that the new swim England strategy was recently launched under the banner of One Swim England. The strategy was developed as a result of the listening report carried out in 2023, and the subsequent Values and Vision roadshows that our chief executive Andy Salmon undertook around the country earlier this year.

One Swim England is our unwavering commitment to lead and serve an aquatics community to enable safe, enjoyable and successful experiences.

As part of the changes and collaborative approach, we are co-creating a new coaching strategy that I firmly believe will help to reshape the future of coaching across all aquatic sports.

The Co-creation of the Future of Coaching will create an ambitious roadmap that I’m convinced will redefine the purpose of coaching and what good coaching is – but we cannot do it on our own.

Coaching belongs to everybody – Swim England won’t change coaching alone. Only by the community joining together can change be made.

Fundamentally, the new strategy is about culture change. It is about being clear on the purpose of coaching and what we all value.

It is about the future generations and what we all want for them, and it is about understanding what coaching is and, more importantly, what it isn’t.

We want to create better experiences for athletes and coaches, whether that is by creating meaningful coach education and impactful learning and development, or by helping our sports understand what coaching entails so they can provide support to those on the front line.

Our aim is to evolve coaching where coaching success is not only measured by medals and times but through effective and ethical coaching, creating inclusive, safe environments for athletes – and coaches – to flourish in their chosen sport and as individuals.

Collaboration at its heart

We want all coaches to be valued and will strive to elevate the status of coaching at all levels so good practise is recognised, regardless of who is involved.

So, how are we going to co-create such an ambitious and inspiring coaching strategy for the future?

Collaboration will be at the heart of its development, and we plan to meaningfully engage with coaches and coaching stakeholders in a process that creates a sense of belonging and shared ownership.

We will consult on five areas:

• Coaching
• Coach education
• Support and recognition
• Coach development
• Diversity of workforce

This will be achieved through four phases of data collection:

• Phase one: online qualitative survey (coaches and athletes)
• Phase two: workshop sessions
• Phase three: interviews
• Phase four: online community

We anticipate that phase one will get underway in January, we will therefore reach out to you again in the New Year and would urge you to get involved if you possibly can.

This is our opportunity to learn from past mistakes – as well as success stories – to give the entire aquatic community a clearly defined roadmap for the future.