Research that found swimming coaches often feeling overburdened, under-appreciated, and lacking essential resources has brought Britain's leading sports organisations together in an agreement with national coaching associations to prioritise welfare of the professionals who work longer and more closely with athletes than any others.

In a heartening joint statement, the British Swimming Coaches Association, where the work of Brian McGuinness led to the BSCA commissioning the research from Nottingham Trent University, Aquatics GB, Swim England, Scottish Swimming and Swim Wales, have joined forces "to improve coach welfare and help clubs and programmes to create environments where every coach can thrive".

Glenn Smith, the Chair of the BSCA welcomed the cooperation, stating:

"The BSCA Ltd are grateful that all UK Aquatic governing bodies are jointly committed to ensure this research and the outcomes from it, will be crucial to help coaches to be better supported. As we know the coaching profession is one of the corner stones of our sport and it's vital that coaches feel that their concerns are being heard and responded to. I would also personally like to thank Nottingham Trent University for their expertise and their analysis of the findings."

The move follows a series of disputes between coaches, clubs, programs and England's national association that led to inquiries and court challenges that found against authorities in favour of coaches who were treated appalling.

Joint Statement - Research into the Mental Health and Well-Being of Swimming Coaches in the United Kingdom

The British Swimming Coaches Association (BSCA) commissioned Nottingham Trent University to conduct research examining the mental health and well-being of swimming coaches in the United Kingdom. This was driven by an observation that increasing numbers of BSCA members were seeking greater support for their mental health and well-being.

As a result of this piece of work, the BSCA, Aquatics GB, Swim England, Swim Wales and Scottish Swimming have agreed to work collaboratively to improve coach welfare and help clubs and programmes to create environments where every coach can thrive.

All parties are united in their commitment to the welfare and development of coaches, believing that coaches and coaching are essential to improving the sport and enhancing the experiences of those involved. They would like to extend sincere thanks to Nottingham Trent University for their valuable work, which has highlighted some of the challenges faced by swimming coaches today.

The research identifies that coaches often feel overburdened, under- appreciated, and lacking essential resources. These findings suggest that employers of coaches and organisations responsible for coaching should review and possibly reform how coaches are supported in the future.

This may include establishing a better understanding of the stresses and expectations coaches come up against.

All aquatic governing bodies in the UK are committed to making coach welfare and coach development an important priority. This joint statement and the recommendations coming from it, are a crucial step in positively evolving the coaching landscape. With coach welfare and coach development central to our work, we aim to foster more coaching environments and cultures that genuinely value, support, and empower aquatics coaches to flourish.

Glenn Smith, the Chair of the BSCA stated:

"The BSCA Ltd are grateful that all UK Aquatic governing bodies are jointly committed to ensure this research and the outcomes from it, will be crucial to help coaches to be better supported. As we know the coaching profession is one of the corner stones of our sport and it's vital that coaches feel that their concerns are being heard and responded to. I would also personally like to thank Nottingham Trent University for their expertise and their analysis of the findings."

In the rest of this free article (simply register as a 'free' subscriber):

• the kind of cases at the heart of dispute and the healing Swim England is engaged in after costly mistakes and missteps along the way
• the Weston Report and what I told us
• Archive of our coverage of research into coach welfare across many sports - from a fine presentation at the World Aquatics Development Conference in Lund, Sweden

After a period in which coaches have felt the worst impact of poor and amateur governance, healing is underway. In a heartening move, coaches and authorities have joined hands to build that brighter day after the BSCA turned to Nottingham Trent and asked it to investigate the impact of daily challenges get on the lives of the professionals who work with athletes and programs day-in, week-out, month-in, year-out, decade-in.