swimming competitions

Our guide to open meets, championship meets and galas

Open meets

These are swimming competitions in which individuals enter through the club’s entry process. These competitions are licensed - which means that times achieved at these meets will appear on swimmers Rankings on the Swim England database.

There is an entry fee charged per event. This is likely to range from £6 to £10, although can be more for 800m/1500m events. Different meets are aimed at different levels of swimmers, and most will have upper and / or lower limit times to ensure they get the right range of swimmer ability attending. You can find the list of open meets the club is planning to attend on the competition calendar, along with guidance as to who should be going to each meet, by squad. Swimmers should generally discuss with their lead coach which events to enter, PRIOR to submitting their entry.

The best way to do this is to print off the schedule for the meet - highlight the races/events you have qualified for - and circle the races/events you would like to enter. The coach can then discuss and advise. This advice will depend on many factors (time of the season, what your short and long term goals are, what qualifying competitions are coming up, etc), therefore this advice and discussion with the swimmer is not only imperative but also educational for the swimmer.

For open meets, ages can either be as of 31st of December of the year of competition OR Age as of the date the Open meet finishes. The details of this will be in the conditions and entry forms for each competition.

Open meet levels

Open meets may be one of four levels

LEVEL 4

Generally a single-club competition, or an inter-club competition of no more than 8 invited clubs. Results can be used for entry to the Hampshire County Championships and other licensed meets.

Our WCPSC Grand Prix Series is a Level 4 competition. This comprises several sessions running from winter through to summer aimed at our development squads. Swimmers from other squads will be invited to enter some events as time trials. This is down to the coaching team’s discretion and the additional time available at the event.

LEVEL 3

A multi-club meet with upper limit and (sometimes) lower limit entry times. Upper limit times are the times that swimmers cannot be faster than to enter the meet. Lower limit times are the times that swimmers cannot be slower than to enter the meet. Can be Short or Long course.

LEVEL 2

A higher level of competition, held Short Course (in a 25m pool) for which minimum entry times are required (i.e. swimmers need to be faster than the minimum entry times to enter the meet).

LEVEL 1

The highest level of open Meet you can compete in domestically. These meets are swam Long Course (in a 50m pool). Results can be used for entry to all of the National Championships. Again these meets have minimum entry times (i.e. swimmers need to be faster than the minimum qualifying time to enter) and rules regarding entering with official licensed times are enforced strictly.

Championship meets

Championship meets are the target competitions for the different levels of swimmers. These Championships can only be entered if the relevant qualifying times/criteria have been achieved in a designated time period. These are the meets that most competitive swimmers will be working towards qualifying for and, once qualified, competing well in.


Hampshire County Championships "Counties"

These are the championships for all of the swimmers in the county of Hampshire.

  • Take place in late January/early February each year.
  • Held over 3 weekends, split according to age groups. As of 2022, all long course.
  • Minimum qualifying times for the competition based on age groups.
  • The age groups for these Championships are: 10/11 years, 12 years, 13 years, 14 years, 15 years, 16 years and 17/Over.
  • Swimmers will be able to qualify for this event with times achieved in licensed level 1, 2, 3 and 4 meets. These times must be achieved since a specified date.
  • There will be CONSIDERATION qualifying times for this competition. A pre-determined number of swimmers meeting these times in each event will then qualify.
  • There are Finals for some of the age groups/events at County Championships.
  • There are also team relay events at Counties. Relay swimmers will be selected by the club’s coaching team and the swimmers/parents will be notified prior to the meet.
  • All ages are as of 31st December of the year of the competition.
  • For more information on Counties see www.swimmeets.org


South East Regional Championships "Regionals"

These are the Championships for all of the swimmers in the South East region of England.

  • Take place in April / May each year. All sessions are swum as Long Course.
  • Held over three weekends, split into 15/Over Championships and 14/Under Championships. For 2022, the Region is also being split into a North and South section, as it’s presently the biggest in the country.
  • Qualifying times for the competition based on age groups: 11/12 years, 13 years, 14 years, 15 years, 16 years, 17/Over.
  • Swimmers qualify for this event with times achieved in licensed level 1, 2, 3 meets. These times must be achieved between 2 specific dates.
  • There will be CONSIDERATION qualifying times for this competition. A pre-determined number of swimmers meeting these times in each event will then qualify. 
  • There are Finals for most events.
  • There are also some team relay events. Relay swimmers will be selected by the club’s coaching team and the swimmers/parents will be notified prior to the meet.
  • All ages are as of 31st December of the year of the competition.
  • For more information see www.swimmeets.org


South East Regional Open / Junior Championships "Winter Regionals"

There is also another Regional Championships event in early November - this is the Winter Regional Championships which are typically Short Course, and have Open and Junior events only. Typically the older swimmers take part in this competition due to the qualifying times being aimed at Seniors.

  • Held in Winchester in 2021!
  • All ages are as of 31st December of the year of the competition.
  • For more information see www.swimmeets.org. 

National Championships

There are several National Championships throughout the season.


Swim England Winter National Championships

  • Typically in early to mid December, and Short Course.
  • Open and Junior Age categories. 


British Championships and Olympic / World / Commonwealth Games trials

  • Held in March/April each year for 4-8 days. These Championships are similar to the Winter Nationals in that they have Open and Junior Qualifying times.
  • These championships double as the qualifying trials for the major games of the year - which are either the Olympics, World Championships or Commonwealth Games. In addition these are also the trials for Great Britain Junior Team events also (European Juniors, European Youth Olympics, World Juniors and Commonwealth Youth Games, etc).
  • There are typically Open and Junior Finals at these championships. 


British Summer Championships

  • The Top 24 British Swimmers (top 18 swimmers in distance events) in each event in each age group qualify for the British Summer Championships.
  • These championships are held at the end of July with the following age groups: 12/13 (girls), 13/14 years (boys), 14 years (girls), 15 years, 16 years, 17/18 years and 19/Over.
  • The qualifying period for these championships varies every year, but is typically between March and May of the year of competition, in which swimmers have to post Level 1 licensed times.


Home Nations Summer Championships (English, Scottish, Welsh)

  • Following the Top 24 British Swimmers ranked, the NEXT number of qualifiers from each home nation English (20 swimmers) Scottish (numbers vary) and Welsh (20 swimmers) qualify for the respective home nations national summer meet.
  • These championships are held in England - Early August, Scotland - Early July. Wales - Early August with age groups ranging from 12 years to 19/Over.
  • The qualifying period for these championships varies every year, but is typically between March and May of the year of competition, in which swimmers have to post Level 1 licensed times.
  • To ensure you are eligible for the correct home nation - you have to provide the relevant information to Swim England, Scottish Swimming or Swim Wales by April of the year of competition. If you do not declare yourself, your “home nation” will be that of your ranked swimming club - In the case of Winchester - England.  

Galas

These are team competitions. The club will sort the entry, select a team appropriate to the level of gala, and send out invites to selected swimmers.

We currently participate in novice galas and also the National Arena Leagues.

There will be a mix of individual swims and relays at galas – the coaches will decide who swims in which races. Galas are great fun, a chance to improve on sprint PB’s, to meet swimmers from other squads, and to do some exciting relay swimming!


Arena National Swimming League (Arena League)

This competition takes place over 3 rounds in October / November / December and is the highest level of team gala Nationally. There are 3 divisions, which are then grouped in regions. The top teams in the top - Premier - division compete in National finals each year. WCPSC were promoted to the Premier Division in 2019


Junior Arena League

Introduced in 2021 (and running as a virtual league due to Covid restrictions) this competition takes place over 3 rounds in May / June /July. It is a National league for younger swimmers with age groups 9/10, 11 and 12 years. The top 8 teams will be invited to swim in the final which will be held in September.

Open meets, competitions, meets, guide