Skip to content
For swim schools & aquatics

Background checks for swim & aquatics volunteers — $5 each.

Instructors work one-on-one in the water, lifeguards watch every swimmer, and coaches share the locker room. Screen every adult on deck with an FCRA-compliant national criminal and all-50-state sex-offender check, plus identity verification, for $5.

FCRA-compliant No per-seat fees Results in minutes

On deck & in the water

Who's watching your swimmers?

Aquatics is high-contact and low-visibility — one-on-one in the water, poolside supervision, and locker rooms. These are the adults worth verifying.

Swim instructors

One-on-one in the water with young children.

Lifeguards

Eyes on every swimmer, in and out of the pool.

Swim-team coaches

Practices, meets, and the locker room.

Meet officials & timers

Poolside access at competitions.

Aquatics volunteers

Parent helpers on deck and at events.

Junior lifeguards (teens)

Under-18 staff — screened with guardian consent.

VolunteerBadge · Aquatics

Every $5 volunteer check

$5

Criminal records

650M+ county, state & federal court records

Included

Sex-offender registries

All 50 states + national registry

Included

Identity verification

Government photo ID + biometric selfie

Included

Address history

SSN-traced — free on every check

Included

Watchlists

FBI Most Wanted + OFAC / global

Included
Deck note: ~94% of volunteers come back with a clean record — you'll know the few who don't. Every hit is human-reviewed before it reaches you.

Cleared before the pool opens

Step 1

Send the application

Email a link or post a QR code for instructors and lifeguards. They apply from their phone in minutes.

Step 2

We verify + screen

Government ID + selfie confirms the real person, then the $5 national check runs. Under-18 junior guards get guardian consent automatically.

Step 3

Get a clear status

A green “verified” badge (or a flagged review) lands on your roster — with FCRA adverse-action built in.

On a program budget? Let staff cover their own $5.

Flip on volunteer-pays and each instructor or lifeguard pays for their own check at sign-up — screening stays free for the program, and you still get a verified result for everyone.

Get started

Screening for swim schools, teams, and aquatics programs

Aquatics is high-contact and low-visibility: swim instructors hold and guide young children in the water, lifeguards and coaches supervise in and out of the pool, and locker rooms are part of the environment. Screening every instructor, lifeguard, and volunteer coach is a basic duty-of-care step, and at $5 a check it is realistic to do for the whole deck.

VolunteerBadge runs a full national criminal background check spanning 650M+ county, state, and federal court records, sex-offender registries in all 50 states, FBI Most Wanted, and OFAC/global watchlists — with a free SSN-traced address-history check on every applicant, no per-seat fees, and no contract.

And because a name and date of birth anyone can type is not proof of identity, VolunteerBadge verifies each person with a government photo ID and a biometric selfie matched to the ID.

See your state’s volunteer screening rules

Build your aquatics screening policy — free

Generate a branded, FCRA-aware background-check policy in minutes.

Aquatics screening — questions programs ask

How much does a swim instructor background check cost?+

It is $5 per instructor, lifeguard, or volunteer through VolunteerBadge — a full national criminal check with a free address-history check and FCRA adverse-action workflow, no per-seat or monthly fees on pay-as-you-go.

Does it include a sex-offender registry search?+

Yes — all 50 states plus the national registry, alongside 650M+ court records, FBI Most Wanted, and OFAC/global watchlists, on every $5 check.

Can we screen teen lifeguards and junior instructors under 18?+

Yes. VolunteerBadge screens applicants as young as 14 and collects a parent/guardian authorization for anyone under 18 before the check runs.

Can staff pay for their own $5 check?+

Yes — turn on volunteer-pays so each instructor or lifeguard covers their own check, keeping screening free for the program.

How often should aquatics staff be re-screened?+

Most programs re-screen annually for anyone with ongoing swimmer contact; automated reminders make it simple.

Keep reading

Keep every lane safe

Set up your program in a few minutes and screen your first instructor for $5 — no contract, no per-seat fees, cancel anytime.

Screen a volunteer for $5