Open Water Swimming Insurance

General Liability coverages for open water competitions, clubs, camps, coaches swimming insurance. Offering up to 38% off programs.

General Liability Insurance

  • High limits from $1M to $6M
  • Affordable rates
  • Non-Owned and Hired Auto Liability
  • Sex Abuse and Molestation

Accident Insurance

  • Reimburse medical bills
  • Limits up to $100k
  • Deductible options

 

 

Why you need open water swimming insuranceFemale swimmer in a dam

Whether you run an open water swimming team, club, camp, or host a competition, you need to be covered. Open water swimming has many risks involved. Even if you try to mitigate the risks, your business could be liable if a swimmer ends up being injured 

It’s your obligation as the owner to ensure that your business has all the right tools to be successful. Therefore, applying an open water swimming insurance policy is necessary to help cover certain liabilities. 

 

What does open water insurance cover? 

At Sadler Insurance, we offer an open water insurance policy that is customizable to your organization’s needs. Implementing a customizable plan will help protect you most cost-effectively and efficiently. In addition, our insurance experts will help you determine what package is right to help mitigate the risks in your business. 

We recommend a solid General Liability and Accident insurance policy for open water swimming organizations. A General Liability policy can help protect you against various mishaps that occur in your business. For instance, a swimmer could drown or require hospitalization due to your open water swimming event. If a lawsuit results, you could be liable for the costs associated with the occurrence. These costs could include settlement, adverse jury verdicts, and legal fees. Furthermore, you could receive coverage for the medical expenses of the victims. 

A General Liability package can help mitigate your financial losses from costs associated with the lawsuit. 

In addition, adding an Accident insurance policy to your open water swimming insurance package can help:

  • Provide extra coverage for participant injury medical expenses.
  • Helps to prevent lawsuits if no out-of-pocket medical bills.

 

Is open water swimming a high-risk sport?

Open water swimming is still considered a high-risk sport by nature even if precautions are taken. It is important to note that open water is immensely different from swimming in a pool. A pool is a well-controlled area while an open water environment is not. The water environment itself adds additional risk to participating in this sport. 

Swimmers need to be aware that they will endure deceiving distances, cold waters, waves, currents, undertows, and obstacles. The cold temperature of open waters could cause hypothermia. In addition, there is potential for water-related injuries such as drowning. 

As with any workout, swimming can result in injuries. The physical injuries happen from muscle overuse due to repetitive stroke movements. The most common swimming injuries are:

  • Rotator cuff tendonitis and tears
  • Shoulder impingement syndrome
  • Tears in shoulder cartilage
  • Knee injuries 
  • Neck injuries 
  • Bicep tendonitis

Participating in open water swimming carries a lot of risk because of the mix of low temperatures and the water environment. Therefore, taking out open water insurance before hosting an open water swimming event, competition, or creating a club is highly recommended to protect your business against any eventualities. 

 

Risk management practices for open water swimmingDark stormy clouds over the river

Creating a risk management plan is a great way to mitigate your risks as an open water swimming organization. By applying proper precautions, you could help decrease the likelihood of incidents that result in bodily injuries. In addition, having a well-rounded protocol will help reduce your own personal negligence. The following are some risk management tactics your open water swimming organization can implement:

  • Monitor the water’s condition and the athletes while swimming to decrease the chances of drowning. 
  • Have a lifeguard on duty to rescue swimmers.
  • Have rescue boats if needed.
  • Only swim in open waters in ideal conditions, and avoid rain, lightning, cold temperatures, harsh winds, and harsh waves.
  • Ensure that the players warm up their muscles by stretching and performing plyometric exercises before playing. Warm-ups can help decrease the likelihood of strained muscles. 
  • Gradually increase the intensity of the lengths of swims to avoid overtraining.
  • Allow swimmers to have proper periods of rest between competitions and training sessions. 
  • Have both adult and minor swimmers sign a liability waiver to make them aware of the risks and possible negligence. 

Applying the above measures is an excellent start to decreasing both your negligence and your organization’s risk exposure. In addition to these tactics above, Sadler Sports and Recreation Insurance has in-house risk management programs that can be helpful to further your education about risk management tactics. We created our programs to give you a more profound knowledge of the different risks so you can lower the risks to your athletes. 

 

Risk management programs that apply to open water swimming: 

 

What is open water swimming?

Swimming is the sport or activity of propelling oneself through water using limbs and different styles of strokes. Some officially regulated include backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, and freestyle.

Swimming takes place in both indoor and outdoor bodies of water. Open water swimming is precisely what the name suggests; it is swimming in open water. The sport typically involves long-distance swimming races held on open water, like rivers, lakes, and oceans. 

Open water swimming is massively beneficial to an athlete’s health in various ways. However, there are serious, unpreventable risks involved. Therefore, you should implement a comprehensive swimming insurance policy to assist in remedying the unfortunate situations. 

 

Is open water swimming beneficial?Race to the beach for two swimmers competing in an open water swimming event in the ocean

There has been an increase in popularity in the sport mainly because athletes receive numerous health benefits. Overall, it is healthy for your physical and mental well-being as it naturally builds up muscles and releases endorphins. 

One of the main difficulties of open water swimming is one of the reasons that the sport is so beneficial. As mentioned above, this main challenge is the coldness of the water. As open water swimmers use outdoor waterways, they are susceptible to the weather and the water’s unadjustable, cool temperature. Although this poses a risk, it also has several health benefits, such as increased metabolic rate and mental calmness.

Other than reaping the benefits of swimming in open waters, the activity of swimming alone has significant health benefits, which can include:

  • Low impact workout taking stress off of your body 
  • Builds endurance, cardiovascular fitness, and strength 
  • Improves circulatory and respiratory systems
  • Total body workout

 

Get open water swimming insurance that protects you!

Comprehensive insurance plans can help your open water swimming organization succeed by mitigating the detrimental risks. Sadler Sports and Recreational Insurance offers customizable insurance coverage for open water swimming teams, clubs, camps, and other competitions. Our open water swimming insurance plan is customizable, so you can apply the policies that will help protect your organization. 

Request a quote today if you’re looking for hassle-free insurance and are ready to take your risk management strategy to the next level.