It’s an exciting time for swimming, and the team at Swimming Victoria have been making important progress as we work towards the goals outlined in our 2021 – 2028 Strategic Plan, Swimming 2028 – Inspiring Victoria to Swim.
This important Plan supports Swimming Australia’s initiatives to ‘Inspire Australia to Swim’ as we look towards the 2032 home Olympic and Paralympic Games and provides an important framework for our operations as we move towards our 2028 operational goals in three vital areas:
- Safe and Inclusive Swimming Environments
- Quality Programs and Activities for All Members
- Strong and Collaborative Organisation
While the Plan is formally reviewed each year, Swimming Victoria assesses progress each six months against the KPIs we set, so we can report back to you on our progress and also set targeted operational plans for the next six months.
This week, we were pleased to release the Swimming Victoria – Inspiring Victoria to Swim Strategy Progress Report November 2022, which charts our progress over the past six months. You can find the November Progress Report here, but here are the highlights.
In moving towards safer and more inclusive swimming environments, we have published new, cultural safety resources for clubs and entities, provided statistics and information on membership and competitions which give us greater insights and understanding into our community, and have drafted a Diversity & Inclusion Action Plan which will be released early in the new year.
We have also continued to work towards improving the quality of programs and activities, gathering and publishing important data including competition attendance rates, how many Club and District qualifying competitions have been held, and the number of athletes, coaches and officials who participated in national competitions.
Our first Competition Insight survey was developed to help us better understand how engaged and satisfied members are in SV competitions, you can answer the survey here. We will use this feedback to continue to improve and grow our competitions. We also continued to investigate volunteer and employment rates for coaches and officials and to review education and training opportunities for those within the pathway.
Finally, we have done some important work internally to ensure Swimming Victoria remains strong and financially secure. This has included diversifying revenue opportunities, reviewing and updating our investment strategy to respond to current market conditions, and investing in our team through professional development opportunities.
There is still work to be done, of course. We are working on new KPIs to drive us forward and remain committed to being accountable to you. You can view our new goals and KPIs here, and receive a further progress update in May 2023.
We know we won’t hit every goal, every time. But we’ll always report our progress and achievements honestly, and provide clear plans on how we will continue to move towards our goals of growing participation and enhancing the experience of competitive swimming for all Victorians, well into the future. For all past Strategic forecasts and progres reports see our web page.
