Once a child is 9 years old, they are eligible to compete in Open Meets. 8-year-old swimmers can compete in Club Championships and Club only Time Trials.
Getting into the sport of swimming you would start competing at lower level Licensed Meets and as you progress, you work your way to the bigger events.
Licensed Meets are swimming events licensed by Swim England. This means they have to meet certain standards to ensure fair competition. The English swimming licensed meets calendar contains a range of ‘open’ meets, designed to give all competitive swimmers in England the chance to achieve their true potential.
Guide to the four levels of licensed meets
All licensed meets are subject to ASA laws, regulations, and the ASA Technical Rules of Racing. They are graded into four levels: -
- Level 1 Meets are long course (50m) only, and cover National, Regional and some County Championships. Their purpose is to enable athletes to achieve qualifying times for entry into National, Regional and County Championships.
- Level 2 Meets are short course (25m) only and cover National, Regional and some County Championships. Their purpose is to enable athletes to achieve qualifying times for entry into National, Regional and County Championships in short course. Only times on ASA rakings will be accepted.
- Level 3 Meets can be either long or short course events. Entry is usually by UQTs. The Meet organisers have discretion how they apply this, so they can say swimmers have to have a time for the event entered (on ASA rankings), can enter with no time, or can use a coach advisory time. This will be stated clearly in the meet information. The level 3 purpose is to enable athletes to achieve times for entry into County and Regional Championships and other Meets at Level 1 or Level 2.
- Level 4 Meets are entry-level events in pools 25m or greater. Time Trials and the Club Championships can be of this level. They are for inexperienced athletes and swimmers seeking to compete inside or outside their club environment. Swimmers with no entry time for an event can enter. Having achieved a time, athletes can progress to Level 3 Meets. Times from level 4 meets can be used to enter the Somerset County Championships, but not Regional events.
Age Groups in Open meets
The ASA have ruled that all County, Regional and National competitions have the swimmers age at the end of the year in which the Competition takes place. Open meets, however, can choose age at the date of competition if they want to. Doing this gives Swimmers with DOBs at the end of the year the chance to compete against others in a similar situation.
Key Swimming Competitions in Somerset & England
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. Age Groups: 10/11 Years, 12 Years, 13 Years, 14 Years, 15 Years, 16+ Years The age of the swimmer will be their age at 31st December in the year of competition.
Somerset County Championships - These take place on weekends at the end of January and the beginning of February. To compete, you must have achieved County Qualifying Times which, when published, are available to view on the Somerset ASA website. Qualifying times can be achieved from 1st January in the previous year. Usually Somerset Championships take place at the Millfield School pool, and are swum LC.
English Regional Championships - The English Regional Championships take place during April or beginning of May, as do the Scottish and Welsh National Age Group Championships. The eight regional championships are held in long course pools. There is a one-year difference in the age groups from County Championships. Age Groups: 11/12 Years, 13 Years, 14 Years, 15 Years, 16 Years, 17+ Years The age of the swimmer will be their age at 31st December in the year of competition.
South West Regional (SWR) Summer Championships - Although these meets in the summer are Long Course, the QTs and CTs in the South West are currently given in Short Course times. Qualifying times should be achieved from 1st October the previous year. The Regionals are divided into:
- Age Group Championships for 14 years old and under, usually held in April and May over 2 weekends. Usually one weekend in Hengrove and one in Millfield. (Hengrove Park Leisure Centre, Hengrove Promenade, Hengrove Park, BS14 0DE)
- Youth Championships held in May for 15 and over age groups, usually over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend over 3 days in Plymouth. (Plymouth Life Centre, 40 Mayflower Drive, Plymouth, PL2 3DG)
- SWR Winter Short Course Championships, usually at the beginning of November, in Millfield, over one weekend. There are separate QTs and CTs for this event. Age Groups: Junior – 15yrs and under. Senior – 16yrs and over.
British Nationals - This is the major Meet of the year, which usually takes place in April. There are only Junior and Senior age groups. This is the meet used for Qualifying for International events.
British Summer Championships and National Summer Meets - These Meets take place in long course pools and end the season. The events use a qualification window, which lasts from March to May, with the specific dates set each year. The age of the swimmer will be their age at 31st December in the year of competition.
To qualify for the British Summer Championships a swimmer needs to be ranked in the top 24 of their age group in their event in GB. Age Groups are13/14yrs, 15yrs, 16yrs, 17/18yrs, & 19+yrs.
English swimmers who finish in the following 20 ranked places of their age group in their event qualify for the Swim England Summer Meet. Age Groups are Girls 12/13yrs, 14yrs, 15yrs, 16yrs, & 17+yrs Age Groups: Boys 13/14yrs, 15yrs, 16yrs, 17yrs, & 18+yrs.
The same qualification process is used for the Welsh and Scottish Championships, but the age groups differ.
Swim England National Winter Meet - The National Winter Meet brings the calendar year to an end in the short course pool in December.
Cotswold Series - This is a team competition and is between local clubs in the area, giving swimmers the chance to race. There are 4 Galas on a Saturday evening from January to April with the finals Galas at the end of April. The standard of swimmers taking part is just below Regional level. To enforce this there are times included for each event that swimmers should not exceed. If they do, the points gained are forfeited. This means that swimmers may not be able to compete in their fastest events, to ensure that points are not lost. The coaches carry out team selection, with all personal best times taken into account along with the conditions as above. If you are notified that your swimmer has been selected you will need to let the coach know ASAP if they are unavailable to attend.
Junior Arena League - This is a team competition so selection will be as above, but without the time limits.
