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Swim England
CategorySports governing body
MembershipAffiliated swimming clubs
Founded1869 (1869)
AffiliationBritish Swimming
Affiliation date2014
HeadquartersSportPark
Location3 Oakwood Drive, Loughborough,
Leicestershire, LE11 3QF
ChairpersonRichard Hookway
CEOAndy Salmon[1]
Other key staff20,000 Volunteers
255 Staff
Operating income£20.8 million (2013)
Official website
www.swimming.org
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 (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association), and Wales (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association). These three are collectively known as the Home Country National Governing Bodies.[2]

History

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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]

Function

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Clubs

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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

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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

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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

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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

Structure

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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.

Swimming championships

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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

Sponsorship

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In 2009 British Swimming announced a £15 million, 6-year sponsorship deal with British Gas, to cover the Home Country Associations too.[10][11]

References

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  1. ^ "Andy Salmon appointed Swim England CEO". Swim England. British Swimming. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  2. ^ ASA LEVEL 1 CERTIFICATE FOR TEACHING WATER POLO
  3. ^ "Swim England: Governing body ASA rebrands and launches four-year strategy". BBC Sport - Get Inspired. BBC. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Toxic culture of fear in swimming systemic - review". BBC News. 5 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  5. ^ "What is swim21 accreditation? | Swimming". Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2014. ASA’s 'Quality Mark' for clubs
  6. ^ [1] Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine New baby swimming guidelines launched
  7. ^ [2] ASA Teaching and Coaching
  8. ^ [3] ASA Subsidiary Companies/
  9. ^ [4] Archived 4 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine ASA Revenues 2009
  10. ^ Parsons, Russell (13 March 2009). "British Gas signs 15m swimming sponsorship". Marketing Week. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  11. ^ "Campaign:Pools 4 Schools" (PDF). ESA website. European Sponsorship Association. Retrieved 24 April 2014.[permanent dead link‍]
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