Competition |

Putteridge SC Competitive Swimming Calendar

The swimming season runs from September to August, as in a football or academic year.

Our Competitive Swimming Calendar is designed to choose Open Meets at the right time in the training programme for our swimmers to be tapered at certain times during the year to primarily aim for County and Regional Qualifying times and then perform well at such events. Now bearing this in mind, as parents, I am hoping to get you into a position to plan. As coaches we will advise swimmers what events they should enter. We are aware as coaches what stroke and distances your child is better at, and due to our limited pool time these are our focal points and aims. Try and get involved with your child and keep and upto date pb list so they can see their achievements. I always have a copy on poolside wherever I am so they know they can see their pbs and in the next column their county time as their aim. Please encourage and praise them as I know you will do. To qualify for County, Regional National competition, times must be achieved at a licensed meet.

A Guideline to Types of Competition

Basically there are 2 types, Licensed open meets and Unlicensed events.

Licensed :

These are termed Open Meets and are run at

Level 1 National qualification meets
Level 2 for National and regional Qualification
Level 3 for club swimmers seeking regional and county qualifying times
Level 4 for club swimmers entering individual open competition

Now to enable you to enter these competitions each level has its own entry requirements. And the age is on day of event.

To illustrate this using Flitwick Open Level 3 Meet and 15 year old qualifying time for 100m breast so you can see the scope and development up to National Level:

Flitwick Open time boys 15 year old 100m breast entry time: 1.29.76

County Qualifying time for same event above: 1.23.1

East region Qualifying time: 1.15.81

National Qualifying time: 1.10.19 (LC)

British Champs Qualifying time: 1.04.73

Unlicensed: These events are seen as the fun events, checking performance and team events. At Putteridge this is Junior League. Arena League we compete in the London League which is licensed.

Club Champs

Putteridge Swimming Club, Club Champs are held 4 times a year. These, as of 2018, are held at our Home Pool Inspire and are licensed events for the 9 and overs and used for qualification times to Open Meets and Counties. Under 9’s are allowed to swim in 25m events. You can enter the event with NT (no time) which gives all swimmers a chance.

External Meets

To be able to qualify for Counties Championships, the swimmer must obtain the qualifying time at a licensed meet.

Entries to events are online and notification will be sent to you via Active works and you enter via your online portal.

Most Level 3 Open Meets operate on a 1st come 1st served basis so the earlier entries are in the better. As a Club we tend to put entries in 3 months prior to the event.

All results are submitted to Swim England and are held on their database. For reference if you need to know you childs current PB’s that is their fastest times, go on the link below, ensure you put in their date as of 31^st Dec and select the last 12 months. Its quite a comprehensive database, you can see where your child stands within the Club, County, Region and Nationally. You can also see all your Childs pb’s on one page by selecting Individual Best times.

https://www.swimmingresults.org/

Swim England membership and competing in England

Swim England membership is necessary to be able to compete in England. You can only gain full membership by being a member of a Swim England affiliated swimming club.

Joining a club offers swimmers a supportive community, access to ASA qualified teachers and coaches, and a structure with advice and guidance to ensure you develop as a competitive swimmer.

Types of Swim England membership needed to compete

To compete in England you will need Club Compete Membership. This is for members over 9yrs old, who want to compete in open competitions. It gives you everything you need to train up to an international standard.

Club Train Swim England membership is for people learning to swim or swimming but do not compete in open competitions. This offers you very basic benefits and ONLY allows you to compete in low level competitions. Not for the serious competitor.

To find out more about these and other

About pool swimming competitions in England (May 16, 2016)

Thousands of swimming competitions take place in England for kids and adults every year and most include swimmers with disabilities. Just get involved.

To do so you’ll need to be a member of a swimming club for the majority of swimming competitions in England, and a Club Compete member for the highest three levels of competition.

For most swimming competitions athletes are split into groups based on their age on 31 December that year. However, there are some competitions for which age groups are based on a swimmer’s age on the day of competition.

They take place in either a 25m or a 50m pool. The 25m events are called short course and the 50m long course.

Key swimming competitions in England

Getting into the sport of swimming you would start competing at lower level Licensed Meets.

As you progress you work your way to the bigger events. Here are some key English competitions. All these events are inclusive of swimmers who hold a current national or international classification for functional, visually impaired or intellectual disability (S1-S14).

Weeks 2 – 9: English County Championships – the beginning of each calendar year is marked by the staging of the respective English County Championships as well as the Welsh Regional and Scottish District events. There is no requirement for these competitions to be held in a 50m pool so some counties chose to stage their in a short course pool and some in a long course pool. Age Groups: 10/11 Years, 12 Years, 13 Years, 14 Years, 15 Years, 16+ Years
Weeks 14 – 22: English Regional Championships – the English Regional Championships take place during April or May, as do the Scottish and Welsh National Age Group Championships. Unlike the county events, the eight regional championships are all held in a long course pool. There is also a one year difference in the age groups and the addition of club relays. Age Groups: 11/12 Years, 13 Years, 14 Years, 15 Years, 16 Years, 17+ Years
Weeks 29 – 33: Swim England National Summer Meet – our National Summer Meet takes place in the week after the British Summer Championships and is a long course event. The event uses the same qualification window and rankings as the British Summer Championships and is for the top ranked English swimmers who did not qualify for the British competition. Age Groups: 12/13 Years, 14 Years, 15 Years, 16/17 Years, 18+ Years
Week 51: Swim England National Winter Meet – our National Winter Meet brings the calendar year to an end with Great Britain’s top swimmers battling it out in the short course pool.

Who Swim England are – The Swim England Strategy (13 March 2017)

We have a clear ambition. We want to create a society where everyone has the opportunity to learn how to swim, is supported to develop their skills, and enjoys the water throughout their lifetime. That is why we have launched our new Swim England strategy, Towards a nation swimming: a strategic plan for swimming in England 2017-21. Our strategy lays out our focus for the next four years. It reinforces our commitment to supporting everyone involved in swimming: our members, our partners, the swimming workforce, those learning to swim, and those who already swim regularly.

Towards a nation swimming

To support our vision of a nation swimming we have set the following strategic objectives:

Provide strong leadership and be the recognised authority for swimming
Substantially increase the number of people able to swim
Significantly grow the number and diversity of people enjoying and benefitting from regular swimming
Create a world leading talent system for all our disciplines
Deliver a high quality, diverse and motivated workforce within swimming
Strengthening our organisational sustainability for future generations