To Assist Athletes Who Are Deaf, Swim England Has Announced Changes To The Licensing Requirements

Deaf swimmers will now be able to compete on an equal footing, according to Swim England, which has confirmed the next round of licensing criteria changes.

All meets with Levels 1-2 licensing must start using secondary strobe lights at their competitions in September (unless it is impossible for technical reasons).

A secondary strobe is a tool that flashes to announce the beginning of a race so that deaf competitors have a clear indication of the time.

Swim England has been putting a lot of effort into making sure competitions can use this essential piece of gear, and we’ll keep working with our partners to make sure any facilities that are still lacking access to a secondary strobe do so as soon as possible.

The New Conditions

In regards to the changes, Swim England has sent the following statement to licensing officers.

“All meets licensed at Levels 1 or 2 MUST provide a secondary strobe where it is requested by an athlete at the time of entry for licensing applications received on or after September 1st 2022, unless a secondary strobe cannot be provided at the meet due to technical issues.

“A complete explanation of the reasons why a secondary strobe cannot be provided at the venue must be included with the licensing application and sent to the national licensing officer for recording purposes and to enable Swim England to conduct a thorough investigation.

“A secondary strobe will be provided where requested by the athlete at the time of entry, according to the Meet Conditions, which must make this clear to competitors.

“If this is impossible for strictly technical reasons, it should be specified in the conditions and a thorough justification should be included with the license application.

“Similar to this, all meets licensed at Level 1 or 2 MUST have a minimum depth at the starting end of 1.35 meters for licensing applications received on or after September 1st 2022.”

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Source: https://www.swimming.org/sport/swim-england-secondary-strobe-update/