A reference for the swimmer and for the person responsible for other swimmers.
Swimming is unusual. Most of it happens in water somebody else treats, in a building somebody else runs, during a session somebody else leads. This publication is built around that fact.
What this publication is
Swimming SPF is a reference about swimming, written for two readers at once: the person in the water, and the person responsible for other people in the water. It exists because almost everything published about sun protection assumes a single adult making a single decision on a beach, and swimming is very rarely that. It happens in water somebody else treats, in buildings somebody else runs, in sessions somebody else leads, and a great deal of it involves children.
So the publication keeps returning to one question. Who owns this decision. Sometimes the answer is the swimmer. Often it is the session leader. Frequently it is the facility operator, and the swimmer cannot change it at all. Pretending otherwise produces advice nobody can act on.
What we publish and what we deliberately do not
We describe structure. We do not publish figures. There are no chemical concentrations here, no dosing values, no water parameter targets, no water quality numbers and no prices. Those are set by the operator against current guidance, tested on site and recorded in a log. Reprinting a number out of that context would be worse than useless, because a reader would carry it into a facility where it does not apply. Where a value matters, we name the instrument and the person who holds it: Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group and Health and Safety Executive, HSG179 Health and safety in swimming pools for pool water, the operator's own records for what is happening today.
We name no pool, no club, no swim school, no lifeguard training provider and no pool plant operator in the editorial. We have inspected nowhere. We hold no view on which facility is well run, because forming one would require an inspection regime we do not have and would not pretend to.
We give no clinical advice. Skin problems, ear problems, eye problems, infections, rashes that are not settling and anything that worries you belong with a pharmacist, a GP or NHS 111. When an article reaches that boundary it stops and says so, rather than easing across it.
How we are funded
Two lines, both declared, and nothing else.
One, a paid register. Pools, swim schools, clubs, lifeguard training providers and pool plant operators can buy a listing in the register. It is alphabetical. Every entry is marked as paid. It is not a ranking and will never become one. Entries carry only disclosed, verifiable facts, including governing body affiliation and pool plant operator qualification where that applies. A listing is not a safety endorsement, and it does not mean we have assessed anything, because we have not. The criteria, the rates and the things money cannot buy are published in full, including the list of things we refuse to list at any price.
Two, a newsletter sponsor line. The briefing carries one sponsor line per issue, always labelled as such, sold at a published rate. The sponsor does not see the issue before subscribers do, cannot select the subject, and cannot be mentioned in the editorial.
We recommend no products at all, including no sunscreen. We carry no affiliate links anywhere on this site, no display advertising and no paid search. Nothing on this site can be bought except a listing clearly marked as a listing and a sponsor line clearly marked as a sponsor line.
Who publishes it
Swimming SPF is published by Northbank Media. Editorial decisions sit with the editorial team and with nobody who pays us. If that ever changes, this page changes first.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it and say that we fixed it. Corrections are made on the page, dated, and described rather than quietly overwritten. Use contact.