Royal Life Saving Society UK partners with Sports Guardian to promote safer swimming

19/11/2025

The new initiative supports swimmers, clubs, and venues with an affordable emergency safety solution. 

The Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) and Sports Guardian have joined forces to promote improved safety for swimmers and participants in all water-based sports and activities. Sports Guardian provides an affordable safety solution for clubs, venues, and events. Its medical and emergency contact information app allows individuals to share their vital information safely in the event of an emergency.

Tragically, in the past five years, 90% of accidental drownings in the UK have occurred in open water sites - both inland and coastal¹. Many of these incidents were linked to a lack of awareness of open water safety. Additionally, a growing number of swimmers experience illness or medical episodes during or after participating in swimming.

Swimming is valued for its wide-ranging physical and mental health benefits, especially in open water. However, a significant number of participants have pre-existing medical conditions or allergies, take medication, or live with hidden disabilities. Clubs, venues, and event operators are often reluctant to store sensitive health data due to UK GDPR compliance concerns.

To help promote improved safety for swimmers and participants in other water-based activities, RLSS UK has partnered with Sports Guardian to promote awareness of their affordable medical and emergency contact safety solution for clubs, venues, events, and swimmers. This initiative will also promote awareness among operators, enabling them to offer reassurance and provide more effective responses to emergencies for their participants.

Initially launched as a pilot native app in 2021, Sports Guardian has since collaborated with its venues and swimmers to develop and launch an innovative progressive web app that facilitates rapid updates for its members.

Sports Guardian provides a smart safety solution for any activity, allowing individuals to store their medical and emergency contact information in a secure app.

In an emergency, the information can be accessed via a QR code on the wristband. Critically, anyone with a smartphone can scan the QR code and access summary medical information, harnessing the power of the public in ensuring that first responders are made aware of potentially life-saving information. Even if you have no known medical conditions, this is still helpful information for first responders. Key information is laser-engraved on the wristband as a failsafe.

For your privacy, the QR code is locked by default. It is only unlocked, making your information accessible, when your wristband is scanned to check you into a participating Sports Guardian club, venue, or event, or manually unlocked by you in the app when participating in any activity, at any time, anywhere.

Sports Guardian is a trading name of The ID Band Company Limited, which has provided medical IDs since 2010 and has been the official supplier of parkrun bands, tags, and fobs for over a decade.

Jo Talbot, Commercial Director at RLSS UK, says: “At RLSS UK, our vision is for communities to be free from drowning, and we're always looking for innovative ways to support people to enjoy water safely. Our partnership with Sports Guardian supports this mission by offering swimmers and operators a simple and affordable way to access vital medical information in an emergency. By combining innovation with practicality, we’re helping to improve safety and empower individuals and venues to take proactive steps in safeguarding lives.”

Paula Lingard, Sports Guardian, says: "We're thrilled to partner with RLSS UK to offer a secure medical and ICE contact solution in an emergency. Our parent company, The ID Band Company Ltd., has decades of experience providing traditional medical IDs, and we know from our customers just how useful these are. At Sports Guardian, we believe in making safety as affordable as possible for both participants and operators, so we offer all users a free bronze subscription level.

By providing an affordable safety system, we’re not only supporting individuals in protecting themselves and their loved ones but also offering a solution for operators that solves many of the complexities of GDPR compliance while adding value to their operations through enhanced safety for participants. Together with RLSS UK, we’re committed to improving the outcomes of medical incidents during and after swimming and other water-based activities.

Sports Guardian’s goals and values are driven by a strong ambition to provide essential medical and emergency contact information that helps save lives. We are committed to being a credible and trusted source of support, working collaboratively with our partners and venues to ensure the highest standards of safety. Through continuous innovation, we strive to create effective and practical solutions that protect and empower open water communities. Guided by a deep sense of responsibility, we aim to set new benchmarks in both safety and wellbeing.”

The partners will launch a series of initiatives to help educate swimmers about the importance of sharing medical information in emergency situations. The first joint initiative will see RLSS UK offering its own Sports Guardian branded band via its online shop or directly from Sports Guardian at https://shop.sportsguardian.com/rlssuk/getsafety. Future initiatives will include joint water safety education, particularly around open water swimming safety awareness, the importance of not swimming alone at non-lifeguarded sites, as well as the health benefits of regular aquatic exercise, fundraising, and more!

Through this partnership, RLSS UK and Sports Guardian aim to:

• Raise awareness of water safety risks and solutions.
• Provide reassurance to swimmers, participants, and their families.
• Support clubs, venues, and event organisers with improved tools to support in the event of an emergency.

¹Source: WAID 2020-2024. Data from 2020-2023 was enhanced in 2024 and may differ from earlier releases.