South Australia’s largest-ever investment in swimming volunteers and club development will be powered by OllyGo Vision AI-enhanced timing systems, as part of a new two-year program launched today by SwimmingSA.
The Swim Forward program, backed by a $235,000 grant from the South Australian Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing under the Sector Success Program, brings together technology, volunteer pathway development and club support in a coordinated state-wide initiative. Four OllyGo timing systems will be deployed across competitions at every level and every venue in South Australia.
The timing systems directly address one of the sport’s most persistent operational challenges: the number of volunteers required to run a competition. OllyGo reduces timekeeper requirements from three per lane to two operators per system, improving the accuracy and integrity of finish decisions while making competition delivery more sustainable for clubs already stretched thin.
Critically, the systems are portable — designed to travel across metropolitan Adelaide and all seven country regions, so clubs outside major centres get the same access to modern timing technology as those in the city.
“We built OllyGo to make accurate, reliable timing accessible to every level of the sport, not just the top end,” said Ben Ramsden, Founder of Olly Timing. “Seeing it embedded in a program of this scale in South Australia — one that’s genuinely focused on making life easier for the volunteers who keep swimming running — is exactly the kind of impact we set out to have.”
As part of Swim Forward, local volunteers across the state will be trained as Olly Timing Champions and Operators, creating a distributed network of people who can support others in their region. Training will be delivered through seasonal workforce development sessions and in-region outreach visits over the 2026/27 and 2027/28 seasons.
The Swim Forward program launched during National Volunteer Week 2026 and sits at the centre of SwimmingSA’s Strategic Plan 2024–2032.
For more information about Swim Forward, visit sa.swimming.org.au.
