Swim England


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, and Wales. These three are collectively known as the Home Country National Governing Bodies.

History

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'. At the same time Jane Nickerson was announced as the organisation's new Chief Executive Officer.

Function

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 has introduced a Quality Mark for clubs called 'Swim 21 Accreditation'.

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. 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, while the ASA 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 ; 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. 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

Structure

As well as being a governing body, Swim England also operates several subsidiary companies. It is split into 8 regions:
Swim England's income for the year to 31 March 2009 was £11.4 million, its largest sources of income being government grants and revenue from its swimming award scheme.

Swimming championships

Swim England holds three different indoor national swimming championships: one for Age Group swimmers ; one for Youth swimmers and one for Masters usually in July/August. Often the championships are merged. They also hold open water nationals each year. The following table shows the 'Open' Championships.
YearDatesVenueNotes
1986?? May-?? JuneCoventryCommonwealth Games trials
198729 July-2 AugustCrystal PalaceEuropean Championships trials
198827-31 JulyInternational Pool, Leeds
198912-16 JulyCoventry
199026-29 JulyCrystal Palace
19911-4 AugustInternational Pool, Leeds
1992
199310-13 JunePonds Forge, SheffieldEuropean Championships trials
199428-31 JulyCrystal Palace
1995??-23 JulyCoventry
1996??-?? JulyInternational Pool, Leeds
1997??-?? JulyCrystal Palace
1998??-?? JulyPonds Forge, SheffieldCommonwealth Games trials
1999??-?? JulyPonds Forge, SheffieldEuropean Championships trials
2000??-?? JulyPonds Forge, SheffieldOlympic trials
2001
200228-30 JuneCoventry
200318-20 MarchAquatics Centre, Manchester
200416-18 JulyAquatics Centre, Manchester
20054-9 AugustPonds Forge, SheffieldCommonwealth Games Trials
20061-6 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield
200727 July-1 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield
200810-13 JulyPicton Pool, Liverpool
200928 July-1 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield
201018-21 AugustSunderland Aquatic Centre, SunderlandCommonwealth Games selection meet
201114-17 JunePonds Forge, SheffieldFinal World Championship qualification meet
201220-23 JunePonds Forge, SheffieldFinal Olympic qualification meet
201330 July-4 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield
20145- 10 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield
20154-9 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield
20161-5 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield
201713-17 DecemberPonds Forge, SheffieldSwitched places with 'Winter Meet'. Run Long Course due to Commonwealth trials.
201814-16 DecemberPonds Forge, Sheffield

Sponsorship

In 2009 British Swimming announced a £15 million, 6 year sponsorship deal with British Gas, to cover the Home Country Associations too.