Types of Competition
Open Meets
Open Meets are available for all standards of swimmer, from novice to senior international. Each meet has a licensing level according to the purpose of the competition and they all have qualifying or consideration times.
- Level 1: is aimed at National qualifiers, or swimmers close to National qualification who are looking to achieve National qualifying times.
- Level 2: is aimed at District qualifiers and swimmers who are looking to achieve Regional or National qualifying times.
- Level 3: is aimed at swimmers looking to achieve County qualification and are for all swimmers below Regional level.
- Level 4: is aimed at swimmers looking to achieve County qualification and are for all swimmers below County level. The Annual Club Championships is a licenced Level 4 Open Meet and all club members should maximise their entry into this competition.
*National qualifying times are accepted from meets licensed at level 1 & 2.
*District qualifying times are accepted from meets licensed at level 1, 2 & 3.
League Galas (eg Premier League, Hants Minor League, Junior Cup and The National Arena Swimming League, formerly Speedo League)
The club selects a team to swim against other clubs. This is an opportunity to practice racing, make friends and to enhance the team spirit. The swims usually comprise individual swims as well as relay swims. Premier League is for children aged 9 years to 12 years, while the National Swimming League is aimed at 10/11 years to 16 years plus. Check the notice board and Annual Fixture List for dates - and let the coach know whether you are able to swim by ticking against your name.
County Championships
This competition happens once a year, over several weekends, in February and March. Entrance to the Championships is through qualifying times. Swimmers can start competing at County level from the age of 9 years as long as they have gained the qualifying standard.
Regional Championships
The Region/District have three competitions per year, the Youth Championships for swimmers aged 15 to 19 & over (boys), 14 to 18 & over (girls), BAGCAT Age Group Championships for swimmers aged 10 to 14 years (boys), 10 to 13 years (girls), the Open Championships for Senior (aged 17 years & over), and Junior (aged 16 years and under) swimmers. The Youth Championships are held in May, the Age Groups in June and the Open Champs at the end of November.
All the competitions are Long Course, which means they take place in a 50m pool. Swimmers have to gain qualifying times from licensed meets in order to compete at these championships.
National Championships
These are the next step up from the Regional Championships; again swimmers have to attain the qualifying standard in order to compete. As with the Region there are three levels of competition. The first is the National BAGCAT Championships, for swimmers aged 11 years to 14 years boys and 11 years to 13 years girls and is usually held late July early August. Then there’s the National Youth Championships for boys aged 15/16 years and 17/18 years and girls aged 14/15 years and 16/17 years and these are usually held early to mid August and directly follow the Age Group Competition. Selections for all the World Class Start and Potential Programmes come from these competitions. The last National event is the ASA Long Course Championships, which is open to any age group attaining the qualifying times, but is mainly a senior event.
All National events are held Long Course (50m pool) and the venue is normally in Sheffield.
British Championships
The British Championships are held each year. The first is the Long Course (50m pool), held in March/April and doubles as trials for Olympic, World, European Championships, Commonwealth Games, European Junior Championships and European Youth Olympics.