Guide to the four levels of licensed meets

All licensed meets are subject to Swim England Regulations and the Swim England Technical Rules of Racing. They are graded into four levels. Click here for details about licensed meets.

1. Level 1 Meets are long course (50m) only and cover National, Regional and County Championships. Their purpose is to enable athletes to achieve qualifying times for entry into National, Regional and County Championships.

2. Level 2 Meets are short course (25m) only and cover National, Regional and County Championships. Their purpose is to enable athletes to achieve qualifying times for entry into National, Regional and County Championships in short course.

3. Level 3 Meets are long and short course events. Their purpose is to enable athletes to achieve times for entry into Regional and County Championships and other Meets at Level 1 or Level 2.

4. Level 4 Meets are entry level events in pools 25m or greater. Borough Championships are an example. They are for inexperienced athletes and swimmers seeking to compete outside their club environment. If times are good athletes progress to Level 3 Meets.

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).

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.