Running header: UNIVERSITY SWIM PROGRAM RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN

University Swim Program Risk Management Plan

Kellen Beckwith
October 10, 2014
Coed 6150

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University Swim Program Risk Management Plan

Athletics are popular part of society, from little children playing any and every sport
possible, to young adults participating in high school athletics, and some elite athletes taking
sport and turning it into a career at the professional or international level. Swimming is a sport
done around the world both on the social and recreational level, but at the same time reaches the
college and Olympic levels too. With the increase of competition in the collegiate and the
inherent environment that a swim facility brings to the table, risk will play a large factor and
requires action. This paper will take a deeper look at the risks posed in a collegiate level swim
program, create policies to help mitigate the risks, and outline procedures to carry out these
policies. This process of creating an action plan, then taking action on the policies and
procedures, and controlling the plan is classified as the development, implement, and manage
(D.I.M) process (Cotten & Wolohan, 2010, p. 283). The risk management plan in a University
setting for a college swim program faces the challenges of facility oversight, shoulder injuries,
shallow water black out, transportation, overtraining, and sexual harassment.
One of the biggest risks in the sport of swimming is the facility in which the team trains
and competes. At the college level there is a large team of 90 athletes in an Olympic size
enclosed facility all training at the same time. This risk is sport specific because no other people
are required to observe other teams practices besides coaches. The risk of a swimming facility
has been known to cause injury, burns, and even death. These can be caused by one or many of
the following: lack of lifeguards, miscalculations on pool chemicals, leaving the pool deck
cluttered, and mismanagement of regular building upkeep. If not properly taken care of, this goes
against Martins (2004) legal duty of providing a safe physical environment for the athletes that
are being coached (p.407). To be able to train at an athletes best coaches need to make sure the

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facility is safe. The policy put in place to help counter these potential risks is to provide the
facility with proper and knowledgeable facility supervision. To put the rubber to the road
certified pool operators should be hired to handle the chemical balancing and the staffing for the
facility. They will hire certified lifeguards and have two of them attentively on deck during
practice surveying the entire pool. In addition to regular duties of pool surveillance, they will be
required to go through an in depth facility check list (see Appendix A for St. Michaels guard
check list) to make sure the area itself is safe. Guards are required to make sure the deck is clear,
the chemicals are within range, the lights are working, and nothing is out of order. This also
includes making sure that the patrons and athletes to rinse off prior to entering the water. Due to
the extra agitation of the team entering the pool and add to it the dirt from their bodies, the
chemical release is expedient and can cause breathing problems due to the air quality (USA
Swimming). If a situation would occur and this risk causes injury it would be classified under
public liability by negligence due to the fact of the University neglected to provide a safe place
for the team to train (Cotten & Wolohan, 2010).
A second sport specific risk for swimming is the potential for an athlete acquiring a
shoulder injury. A college level swimmer will do upwards of 20,000 arm receptions per week in
the pool, potentially putting them at risk of overuse. To fulfill the legal duties, coaches need to
provide proper instruction, warn the athletes of the inherent risk, evaluate the athletes for injuries
and incapacity, and supervise all activities closely (Martens, 2004). This risk holds a lot of
responsibility on the coach in many different avenues and requires a lot of work in policy. If
coach does too much yardage and over work the athletes, athletes can develop shoulder pain
(Sein, Walton, Linklater, Appleyard, Kirkbride, Kuah, & Murrell, 2010). This can cause
tendonitis, muscular tears, and could potentially require surgery or end a swimmers career. To

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help minimize the risk of coaches must implement a shoulder prevention program. To execute a
productive program it must include a weight training program to strengthen shoulders and
surrounding muscles, screen athletes prior to exercise to see if they are predisposed to injuries in
their shoulders, run classroom technique sessions, video analyze each athletes stroke mechanics,
always have an eye on athletes technique in practices, and set up practice for proper lane pattern.
A strong majority of the procedures are meant to educate the athletes on what is proper stroke
technique and break down how they are currently executing. Most of the other pieces of the
policy are placed on the coach to watch stroke technique and correct athletes. Additionally, the
weight program work is to help strengthen the weaker areas of swimmers and the lane pattern is
to minimize the opportunity for swimmers having their arms run into another swimmers when
circle swimming. If a coach fails to follow through these procedures, they can be found held
responsible in public liability caused by negligence (Cotten & Wolohan, 2010).
A third risk that is sport specific for college swim program is the potential for shallow
water black out. This occurs when a swimmer has held their breath for an extended period of
time, depriving the body of sensing CO2, which tells the body it needs oxygen (Shallow Water
Blackout Prevention Organization). Even the most talented swimmers in the sport can be
affected. If an athlete were to cecum to shallow water black, there is the risk of serious bodily
injury or even death. It is the legal obligation of the coach to make sure the coaches properly set
up the work out, inform the athletes how to hold their breath properly, and what the risk of
holding their breath too long could cause. To lessen the potential for shallow water black outs,
college swim coaches should put the policy of elongated breath holding. This includes coaches
not writing workouts forcing swimmers to hold their breath for more than 15 yards. Additionally,
work outs will be written to give athletes adequate rest between repetitions, as well as control the

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intensity of effort during the breath control sets. If an athlete is feeling uncomfortable or dizzy,
the set could be adapted to allow them to breathe more frequently with more intensity or even
add more rest between repeats. This also includes the coach educating athletes on the risk of
elongated breath holding and they are taught not to hyperventilate themselves. If these steps are
not taken, the coach can be found publically liable due to their negligence of informing and high
risk training methods for the athletes (Cotten & Wolohan, 2010).
At the college level, a swim team will have to travel to meets near and far. One of the
risks, not exclusive to swimming, is the mode of transportation in which the team travels to away
meets. With a large program of 90 athletes, it is a large undertaking to be able to get all the team
safely to the location. A popular form of transportation of college athletic programs in past has
been 15 passenger vans, cheap to rent and able to get a lot of people to the competition. While it
is cheaper, 15 passenger vans are instable, dangerous, and prone to flipping (Santandrea, 2002).
Typically coaches drive the vans, but if there are not enough coaches to drive then certified
athletes take the wheel. Coaches need to make sure that the athletes have a physically safe
environment and can be held responsible due to negligence if they take a risk on transportation in
a 15 passenger van (Martens, 2004; Cotten & Wolohan, 2010). Potential results of the risk
include serious injury or even death from the vans flipping or crashing. To ensure safety for the
team, this program will implement a no 15 passenger van policy. To help get athletes to
competitions, coaches will hire professionally driven charter busses and if absolutely needed
smaller vehicles, 12 passengers or cars. If smaller cars are required, they will only be driven by
qualified coaches and staff, not athletes. While this financially poses a problem, it is the safest
option for the team and decreases the opportunity for risk.

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Another non swimming specific, however rampant in athletics, potential risk includes the
chance of overtraining athletes or the entire team. While the ramifications of the overtraining risk
are lower on the scale, it is still important and could lead to potential other risks of public
liability due to a coachs negligence (Cotten & Wolohan, 2010). Baechle and Earle (2008) note
that overtraining is the excessive frequency, volume, or intensity of training that results in
extreme fatigue, illness, or injury (which is often due to lack of sufficient rest, recovery, and
perhaps nutrient intake) (p. 114). Other symptoms of overtrained athletes include lack of sleep,
appetite, motivation, and emotional state too. Due to all of these effects overtraining has on an
athlete; they maybe become injured during this period of training their body too hard. To help
prevent the likely hood the overtraining an athlete or team risk occurring, the policy of running a
periodization program both in the water and weight room work outs. Martens (2004) states it is
our duty as coaches to evaluate athletes for injury and incapacity. If an athlete is overtrained,
they are not in the capacity to be able to properly preform in an intense training environment. To
further implement the policy coach needs to build in regeneration periods to help growth and
recovery during individual work outs and season plan. Additionally, coaches will need to
continually evaluate using formative assessment during practices to be able to adapt when
needed. If they notice the next set might be too hard during the set prior, they need to be able to
adapt the work out to set the athletes up for success and safety. To add to the plan, coaches will
inform athletes on methods of properly fueling their body for the level of training and other
methods of managing the work load of academics and athletics.
Lastly, there is the potential risk of sexual harassment. While coaches are teach the sport,
they are so much more than that to the athletes whom they coach. They are mentors, leaders, and
people they trust and confide in too. In the college setting, coaches spend a lot of time during the

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recruiting process, sometimes upwards of 18 months before they get to school, and over four
hours a day with the athletes. The swimmers confide in the relationship and go to the coaches at
times of highs and lows. They look for comfort, hugs, to be consoled when troubled or dealing
with life issues. Moments of touching and one on one conversation put the coach in potential
risk. To avoid risk opportunities coaches will avoid private, one on one with athletes, and avoid
physical contact that could be seen in a sexual gesture. To help implement this, coaches will have
another staff member sit in on personal conversations to avoid allegations and protect
themselves. As for the physical contact piece, acceptable actions of high fives, fist bumps, and
short occasional hugs if and only if an athlete initiates. Martens (2004) classifies the potential
risk under public liability without negligence.
No matter what we do as coaches, there will always be risk. It is our job to set up a
program to best control and minimized the opportunities for these risks to occur. For a college
level swim program the risk management program should include certified lifeguards always on
duty, create a shoulder strengthening program, eliminate elongated breath control sets, transport
the team on a bus, give athletes adequate rest during season, and not engage in physical contact
with the athletes. If Athletes First, Winning Second is your philosophy, then you will want to do
all you can to protect your athletes. rely on yourself to provide a safe environment through
competent coaching (Martens, 2004, p.470).

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References
Baechle, T.R. and Earle, R.W. (2008). Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. 3rd ed.,
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.
Cotten, D. & Wolohan, J. (2010). Law for Recreation and Sport Managers. Risk management, Ch
4. pp. 281-285.
Crume, C. (2012) Daily head guard report. Head Guard Manual. Denison University
Martens, R. (2004). Successful Coaching (Chapter 20: Managing Risk). Retrieved from
Blackboard Materials
Santandrea, L. (2002). Ban the Van. American Journal Of Nursing, 102(8), 102-103.
Sein, M., Walton, J., Linklater, J., Appleyard, R., Kirkbride, B., Kuah, D., & Murrell, G.C.
(2010). Shoulder pain in elite swimmers: primary due to swim-volume-indueced
supraspinatus tendiopathy. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 44(2), 105-113.
Shallow Water Blackout Prevention Organization. (n.d.). Shallow water blackout prevention.
Retrieved from: http://shallowwaterblackoutprevention.org/
USA Swimming. (n.d.) . The air quality issue. Retrieved from
http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewMiscArticle.aspx?
TabId=1755&mid=7713&ItemId=3625

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Appendix A
Lifeguard Checklist for Trumbull Aquatics Center (Crume, 2012)

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