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Swim England is the national governing body for swimming, diving, water polo, open water swimming, and synchronised swimming in England. It forms part of British Swimming, a federation of the national governing bodies of England, Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association), and Wales (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association). These three are collectively known as the Home Country National Governing Bodies.[2]
 | |
| Category | Sports governing body |
|---|---|
| Membership | Affiliated swimming clubs |
| Founded | 1869 |
| Affiliation | British Swimming |
| Affiliation date | 2014 |
| Headquarters | SportPark |
| Location | 3 Oakwood Drive, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3QF |
| Chairperson | Richard Hookway |
| CEO | Andy Salmon[1] |
| Other key staff | 20,000 Volunteers 255 Staff |
| Operating income | £20.8 million (2013) |
| Official website | |
| www | |
 | |
The first governing body for swimming to ever be established in the world, it was previously known as the 'Amateur Swimming Association' and established in 1869, with headquarters at Harold Fern House in Loughborough. It was registered as a company on 18 May 1982. It moved in April 2010, along with British Swimming, to SportPark at Loughborough University, close to the A512 and junction 23 of the M1.
The ASA underwent a rebranding exercise in 2008 including a new logo and name of the asa. After negative reaction the logo was retained but the organisation returned to using The ASA in text form.
On 3 March 2017, a new strategy was released for swimming within England. Part of that was to again re-brand The ASA to its current name 'Swim England'.[3] At the same time Jane Nickerson was announced as the organisation's new chief executive officer.
In March 2024 a review, commissioned by Swim England in early 2023, found that there was widespread abuse and discrimination at all levels of the sport and that the governing body had threatened whistleblowers.[4]
Clubs
Swim England supports over 1,200 affiliated swimming clubs through a National/Regional/and sub-regional structure. It endeavors to ensure every athlete, regardless of age or experience, belongs to a club that provides the best possible support and environment. Swim England had introduced a Quality Mark for clubs, formally called 'Swim 21 Accreditation', now known as ‘SwimMark Accreditation’.[5]
Safety
In October 2015, Swim England partnered with Water Babies and Splash About International to introduce new national guidelines for baby and toddler safety in swimming pools.[6] The guidelines were published by the British Standards Institution and aimed to set industry-wide standards for swimming lessons and underwater photography practices.
Competitions
Swim England organises competitions throughout England, from age-group to elite level. The Age Group and Youth Championships are aimed at younger swimmers aged between 11 and 17 years and can attract more than 1,600 participants, whilst the SwimEngland (also known as SE, previously the ASA), National Championships and Summer Meets and the British Swimming National Championships are aimed at the elite swimmers.
Swim England also organizes the English talent programme that puts in place performance opportunities for swimmers to develop their skills and potential.
Participation
Swim England operates a Learn to Swim award scheme based on the National Plan for Teaching Swimming. Swimmers within the Swim England programme work their way through 7 stages where fundamental swimming skills are learnt, with progression then expected to be made through stages 8, 9, and 10 where swimmers learn how to train; club swimming; Diving (sport); rookie life guarding; Synchronised swimming; or water polo.
Swim England is not a provider of swimming facilities, but aims to act as a catalyst and facilitator to ensure suitable facilities, with appropriate access and programmes, are provided to meet the needs of the community and aquatic clubs.
Swim England operates certification and education programmes for teachers, coaches and officials.[7] It has created the UK Coaching Framework and e-learning programmes, designed to ensure the ASA has an appropriately skilled workforce for the whole swimming industry. Its education is provided by its Institute of Swimming
As well as being a governing body, Swim England also operates several subsidiary companies.[8] It is split into 8 regions:
Swim England's income for the year to 31 March 2009 was £11.4 million,[9] its largest sources of income being government grants (e.g. from Sport England) and revenue from its swimming award scheme.
Swim England holds three different indoor national swimming championships: one for Age Group swimmers (11- to 14-year-old boys and 11- to 13-year-old girls); one for Youth swimmers (15- to 18-year-old boys and 14- to 18-year-old girls) and one for Masters (age 25 years old plus) usually in July/August. Often the championships are merged. They also hold open water nationals each year. The following table shows the 'Open' Championships.
| Year | Dates | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | ?? May–?? June | Coventry | Commonwealth Games trials |
| 1987 | 29 July – 2 August | Crystal Palace | European Championships trials |
| 1988 | 27–31 July | International Pool, Leeds | |
| 1989 | 12–16 July | Coventry | |
| 1990 | 26–29 July | Crystal Palace | |
| 1991 | 1–4 August | International Pool, Leeds | |
| 1992 | |||
| 1993 | 10–13 June | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | European Championships trials |
| 1994 | 28–31 July | Crystal Palace | |
| 1995 | ??–23 July | Coventry | |
| 1996 | ??–?? July | International Pool, Leeds | |
| 1997 | ??–?? July | Crystal Palace | |
| 1998 | ??–?? July | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | Commonwealth Games trials |
| 1999 | ??–?? July | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | European Championships trials |
| 2000 | ??–?? July | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | Olympic trials |
| 2001 | |||
| 2002 | 28–30 June | Coventry | |
| 2003 | 18–20 March | Aquatics Centre, Manchester | |
| 2004 | 16–18 July | Aquatics Centre, Manchester | |
| 2005 | 4–9 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | Commonwealth Games Trials |
| 2006 | 1–6 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | |
| 2007 | 27 July – 1 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | |
| 2008 | 10–13 July | Picton Pool, Liverpool | |
| 2009 | 28 July – 1 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | |
| 2010 | 18–21 August | Sunderland Aquatic Centre, Sunderland | Commonwealth Games selection meet |
| 2011 | 14–17 June | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | Final World Championship qualification meet |
| 2012 | 20–23 June | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | Final Olympic qualification meet |
| 2013 | 30 July – 4 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | |
| 2014 | 5–10 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | |
| 2015 | 4–9 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | |
| 2016 | 1–5 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | |
| 2017 | 13–17 December | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | Switched places with 'Winter Meet'. Run Long Course due to Commonwealth trials. |
| 2018 | 14–16 December | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | |
| 2019 | 31 July - 4 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | SwimEngland National Summer Meet |
| 2020 | 29 July - 2 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | Cancelled due to “Coronavirus Outbreak” |
| 2021 | 14 - 18 April | London Aquatics Centre, London | Shortened due to COVID-19 Restrictions |
| 2022 | 5 - 9 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | Swim England National Summer Meet |
| 2023 | 2 - 6 August | Ponds Forge, Sheffield | Swim England National Summer Meet |
In 2009 British Swimming announced a £15 million, 6-year sponsorship deal with British Gas, to cover the Home Country Associations too.[10][11]
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