A bursary fund of £90,000 has been made available through the Kellogg’s Swim Active programme to support the education and training of swimming teachers and coaches through the Institute of Swimming (IoS). The bursary fund has been created to address the shortage of qualified coaches in the UK.

The Swim Active Bursary Fund is designed to provide financial assistance to those training in the area of swimming teaching and coaching, with specific allocations available for pool operators and club volunteers. Candidates can apply for up to 50% off the course price.

Delivered in conjunction with the asa, along with Scottish Swimming and Swim Wales, the programme represents part of a £3 million investment over three years from the cereal giant to support swimming and its aquatic disciplines from grass roots to the Olympic podium.

Today's announcement will help to address the current country-wide skills gap in swimming teaching and coaching and assist in delivering the combined aim of the asa and the IoS to create a first class team of highly qualified education professionals with the expertise to support potential gold medal winners in the lead up to the 2012 Games.

Minister for Sport Gerry Sutcliffe said:  “Good coaches are at the heart of our ambition to become a world class sporting nation by 2012. They are vital to talent development and can help increase participation in every sport, not least swimming. Top British swimmers Rebecca Adlington and Paralympian Dervis Konuralp may not have made it to Beijing without the support of their dedicated coaches. I applaud the asa and Kellogg's for their work in encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds to take the plunge.”

Bruce Learner, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Kellogg’s, said: “The Kellogg’s Swim Active programme aims to break down the barriers that prevent people participating in swimming. We’re hoping to train around 200 people UK wide as part of this programme which should go some way to ensure that more young people and their families have the opportunity to enjoy swimming as part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle.”

Melissa Barlow, Workforce Development Manager at the asa, said: “Training and education for teachers and coaches is so important so they have the knowledge and skills to provide a positive experience of the sport that in turn will encourage more people to swim regularly. I hope that pool operators and club volunteers take full advantage of this great opportunity which means that we are effectively able to offer them some of our most popular courses and seminars at half price.”

The funding is linked to the hugely popular back of pack Free Swim promotion run by Kellogg’s, which to date has seen over 350,000 redemptions by members of the public.  To apply for the bursary, candidates must work at one of the 650 pools that signed up to participate in the Kellogg’s Free Swim promotion.

For full details of how to claim a Kellogg’s Swim Active bursary click here.  For courses, dates and venues visit the Teachers & Coaches section of the British Swimming website here.  Course queries can also be made by email via customerservices@swimming.org or by phone on 0871 200 0928.  

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For more information contact the asa PR Assistant Claire Freeman on 01509 632238 or email claire.freeman@swimming.org

The Kellogg’s Swim Active Bursary
Pool Operators
To take advantage of up to 50% off the recommended retail price of the asa National Plan for Teaching Swimming continuing professional development seminars, Aquatic Fitness training modules and asa accredited Level 2 teaching and coaching qualifications, candidates must work at a pool that signed up to participate in the Kellogg’s Free Swim promotion.

Club Volunteers
Volunteers working in a Swim 21 accredited club (or a club who are working towards assessment) can apply for funding to receive up to 50% off the recommended retail price of an asa accredited Level 2 or Level 3 teaching or coaching qualification.  Applications for funding for Level 1 courses for disciplines other than swimming will also be considered.

The asa
The asa is the English National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, Open Water, and Synchronised Swimming. It organises competition throughout England, establishes the Laws of the Sport and operates comprehensive certification and education programmes for Teachers, Coaches and Officials as well as its renowned Learn To Swim Awards scheme. The asa supports 1,220 affiliated swimming clubs through a National/Regional/County structure. The asa aims to ensure everybody has an opportunity to learn to swim.

The asa Kellogg’s Awards Scheme is the most successful awards scheme in British sport and issues around two million awards every year to swimmers all around the world.

For more information about the asa Awards please see www.swimming.org

In order to comply with national education and training standards it has developed two separate and independent arms – the asa Awarding Body and the Institute of Swimming (IoS) - which represent the awarding and delivery channels for all asa qualifications.

The asa Awarding Body
The asa Awarding Body develops, assesses, awards and quality assures all asa qualifications. It is the equivalent of other awarding bodies such as City & Guilds and OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations). The asa Awarding Body is licensed by British Swimming to award qualifications in England and Wales. It also has the remit for quality assurance of all areas of UKCC standards.

Institute of Swimming (IoS)
The IoS is a licensed training provider, like a school or college. It is one of many asa Awarding Body Approved Centres.  The IoS is also a membership body for qualified swimming teachers and coaches, providing insurance, advice and learning opportunities to its members.

British Swimming
British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain.  It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (the asa), Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association) and Wales (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association).  British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

About Speedo®
Synonymous with swimwear, the iconic brand celebrates 80 years of dominance creating revolutionary new technologies, designs and innovations.  In the 1920s Speedo® made history with the Racerback: the world’s first non-wool suit. In 2008 Speedo® redefines swimwear again with Fastskin® LZR RACER®  - the fastest and most technologically advanced swimsuit ever created; meanwhile designer collaborations with Comme des Garçons put Speedo® at the cutting edge of design. As the world’s leading swimwear brand, Speedo® is passionate about life in and around the water, supporting swimming from beginners through to elite level, including the phenomenal Michael Phelps.  Speedo® is owned by Pentland Brands and distributed in over 170 countries around the world; to find out more visit: www.speedo.com. SPEEDO, the ARROW device, FASTSKIN, LZR PULSE and LZR RACER are registered trademarks of Speedo Holdings B.V. The LZR RACER suit has worldwide design rights and patents pending.

 

the asa (the national governing body involved in every component of swimming) and SkillsActive have been working in partnership to roll out a brand new online workforce development solution for sport.

By using the innovative ‘SkillsActive Analyser’ tool, the asa will be able to equip their staff – both paid and volunteers – with the skills and training they need to ensure that they are professionally qualified and able to coach and develop others at a consistently high standard, as well as meet the future challenges and training needs of the sector.

Designed by SkillsActive, the SkillsActive Analyser is an online tool, initially for sports governing bodies, county sport partnerships and sports clubs, which identifies training needs within the workplace and signposts training solutions. Through a specific analysis function, sports employers can identify the job roles where they have skills and training requirements.

Jane Nickerson, director of operations at the asa, said: “As an organisation we are always striving to ensure our workforce (teachers, coaches, administrators, volunteers and direct employees) are working to the highest standards and have both the skills and confidence they need to succeed. The SkillsActive Analyser will make it easier for us to identify and meet their training needs and provide appropriate training.”

Business services manager at SkillsActive, Claire Mitchell said: “I am delighted that the asa are pioneering the SkillsActive Analyser on behalf of the sports sector. SkillsActive has developed the SkillsActive Analyser specifically to meet the needs of the sports sector and the asa are a large governing body with huge numbers of people working for them. To be able to identify skills gaps across this workforce is essential for development for the future.”

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For more information contact the asa PR Manager Sharon Rose on 01509 632262, 07876 652318 or email sharon.rose@swimming.org

SkillsActive is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the sport and fitness, playwork, the outdoors and caravan industries – known as the active leisure and learning sector. For more information about SkillsActive, please visit www.skillsactive.com

The asa is the English National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, Open Water, and Synchronised Swimming. It organises competition throughout England, establishes the Laws of the Sport and operates comprehensive certification and education programmes for Teachers, Coaches and Officials as well as its renowned Learn To Swim Awards scheme. The asa supports 1,220 affiliated swimming clubs through a National/Regional/County structure. The asa aims to ensure everybody has an opportunity to learn to swim.

About Speedo®
Synonymous with swimwear, the iconic brand celebrates 80 years of dominance creating revolutionary new technologies, designs and innovations.  In the 1920s Speedo® made history with the Racerback: the world’s first non-wool suit. In 2008 Speedo® redefines swimwear again with Fastskin® LZR RACER®  - the fastest and most technologically advanced swimsuit ever created; meanwhile designer collaborations with Comme des Garçons put Speedo® at the cutting edge of design. As the world’s leading swimwear brand, Speedo® is passionate about life in and around the water, supporting swimming from beginners through to elite level, including the phenomenal Michael Phelps.  Speedo® is owned by Pentland Brands and distributed in over 170 countries around the world; to find out more visit: www.speedo.com. SPEEDO, the ARROW device, FASTSKIN, LZR PULSE and LZR RACER are registered trademarks of Speedo Holdings B.V. The LZR RACER suit has worldwide design rights and patents pending.