Revised Good Practice Guidelines for Open Water Swimming at Upper Bittell Reservoir and Barnt Green Sailing Club 2007

Introduction

The growing popularity of the sport of Triathlon has led to an increased demand for both open water events and access to venues for training. We are fortunate to have a licence with Barnt Green Sailing Club to enable open water swimming in Upper Bittell Reservoir as long as due care, consideration and courtesy are shown at all times.  By adhering to the good practice guidelines and the terms of the licence, not only are the health and safety of BRAT club members protected, but also Barnt Green Sailing Club members and other users of the reservoir know what to expect.

The BRAT Club Open Water Session Rules

Entry into the Water

1.      BRAT members only: Only paid up BRAT club members are allowed to swim for insurance reasons – there can be no exceptions to this rule.  All swimmers must sign the BRAT swimmer register before entry into the water and also at swim exit

2.      Leadership: Each session will have a designated session leader who will make themselves known to all relevant personnel.  This person carries absolute authority on behalf of the BRAT club with regard to the open water swimming session and has the responsibility to ensure that the good practice guidelines are adhered to.  The session leader may swim but needs to check that all who are signed in have left the water or made provision for another shore-based BRAT supervisor to stay behind to ensure there is never anyone left in the water without supervision

3.      Water entry: No entry into the water will be allowed until all safety arrangements are in place and the designated session leader has indicated that it is safe to do so. No diving into the reservoir at any time.  All entry and exit must be via the swimmers slipway as marked in blue on the attached  MAP  The concrete ramp can be very slippery: use appropriate caution when getting in and out of the water

4.      Lifeguard and observer: There must be a competent, certified lifesaver AND a designated observing BRAT club member present at all times.  The designated safety boat must be in the water and ready to be manned by these two persons wearing buoyancy aids at all times when on the water.  Note: one person must hold a RYA Powerboat Certificate Level 2 or equivalent and one person must be a qualified Life Guard (this may be the same person)

5.      Wetsuits: Wetsuits must be worn at all times

6.      Swim hats: An official BRAT swim hat must be worn by all swimmers

7.      Swim times: No swimming can take place before 6.00pm or after 8.00pm on the allotted Thursday evenings.  Swimming must cease at dusk if this occurs earlier than 8pm

Levels of swimming ability

1.      Level 3 (“Swimming Guide” – Red Hat). Strong swimmers who are able to adapt to emergency situations if and when they arise.  They must be willing to guide open water novice swimmers.  Strong swimmers must be experienced in open water swimming (i.e. they have completed at least 1500 metres of open water swimming in a wetsuit on at least 5 separate occasions) and also have completed either:

a.      A full Ironman distance swim (3800 metres), or

b.      An Olympic distance swim (1500 metres) in less than 25 minutes

2.      Level 2 (“Competent Swimmer” – Orange Hat). A swimmer who has shown their competence and confidence in open water swimming by having completed at least 1500 metres of open water swimming on at least 2 separate occasions without the need for close support from a “Swimming Guide”.

3.      Level 1 (“Beginner” / Not confident in Open water- Yellow Hat).  An open water beginner must have completed a continuous 1500 metre swim in a swimming pool before attempting open water swimming.  An open water beginner must be accompanied around the reservoir by a “Swimming Guide” (red hat swimmer) at all times

Swimming in Upper Bittell Reservoir

1.      Swimmers will use the defined course (see MAP ), which is starting at buoy 9 and swimming in an anti clockwise direction around buoys 6, 5 and 4 until arriving back at buoy 9. Swimmers must not deviate off this course and should swim within 10m of this boundary

2.      Swimmers must not enter any other areas for swimming

3.      Climbing out on banks or trying to hold onto water borne craft is only permitted in an emergency

4.      It is recommended by both the Royal Life Saving Society and the British Triathlon Federation that there is no swimming in open water when the water temperature is below 11’C

5.      In the case of emergency, raise an arm and shout for help from those on the shore. They will then need to raise an alert to close swimmers and plan a course of action to bring the person to safety

Additional rules to swimming in the Upper Bittell Reservoir

1.      At each session a First Aid kit must be available

2.      All swimmers must have paid a £4.00 swimming fee on each occasion they swim

3.      Before taking part in an open water training session swimmers must:

·         Provide the session leader with information about any medical issues

·         Provide their emergency contact details

·         Agree to the club’s good practice guidelines for open water swimming

·         Swim within their own ability and adhere to any directions given by the designated session leader

·         Be of a Minimum age of 14

The following insurance company warranties should be noted:

1.      Warranted that swimming takes place during daylight hours only

2.      Warranted that a manned safety boat is on the water at all times whilst swimming is in progress.

3.       Warranted that sailing/boating exclusion zone is enforced in area of swimming event throughout use by the BRAT club

Anyone not adhering to the good practice guidelines is risking the loss of swimming at Upper Bittell Reservoir for all BRAT members and we will have no option but to withdraw their privilege of open water swimming at Upper Bittell Reservoir for the remainder of the season