Swim England

{{short description|National governing body for swimming and similar water sports in England}}

{{Infobox sport governing body

|name = Swim England

|abbrev =

|logo = Swim_England_Logo.gif

|logosize = 230px

|sport =

|category = Sports governing body

|image =

|caption =

|jurisdiction =

|membership = Affiliated swimming clubs

|founded = {{Start date|1869}}

|aff = British Swimming

|affdate = 2014

|region =

|regionyear =

|headquarters = [http://www.sportpark.org.uk SportPark]

|location = 3 Oakwood Drive, Loughborough,
Leicestershire, LE11 3QF

|president =

|chairman =

|chairperson = Richard Hookway

|chiefexec = Andy Salmon{{cite web|title=Andy Salmon appointed Swim England CEO|url=https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/andy-salmon-appointed-chief-executive/|website=Swim England|publisher=British Swimming|access-date=23 August 2023}}

|vicepresident =

|director =

|secretary =

|coach =

|womenscoach =

|key staff = 20,000 Volunteers
255 Staff

|operating income = £20.8 million (2013)

|sponsor =

|year closed =

|replaced =

|prevfounded =

|url = http://www.swimming.org

|countryflag = England

|countryflagvar =

|countryflag2 =

|countryflagvar2 =

|countryflag3 =

|countryflagvar3 =

|more =

}}

Swim England is the national governing body for swimming, diving, water polo, open water swimming, and synchronised swimming in England. It forms part of Aquatics GB, a federation of the national governing bodies of England, Scotland (Scottish Swimming), and Wales (Swim Wales). These three are collectively known as the Home Country National Governing Bodies.[http://www.sportcentric.com/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,,5026-1-1-67735-0-file,00.pdf ASA LEVEL 1 CERTIFICATE FOR TEACHING WATER POLO]

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'.{{cite web|title=Swim England: Governing body ASA rebrands and launches four-year strategy|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/get-inspired/39490480|website=BBC Sport - Get Inspired|publisher=BBC|access-date=7 April 2017}} 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.{{cite web |title=Toxic culture of fear in swimming systemic - review |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-68475150 |website=BBC News |access-date=5 March 2024 |date=5 March 2024}}

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 had introduced a Quality Mark for clubs, formally called 'Swim 21 Accreditation', now known as ‘SwimMark Accreditation’.{{cite web |url=http://www.swimming.org/parents/what-is-swim21-accreditation |title=What is swim21 accreditation? | Swimming |access-date=2014-04-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107072009/http://www.swimming.org/parents/what-is-swim21-accreditation |archive-date=7 November 2012 }} ASA’s 'Quality Mark' for clubs

=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.[http://www.swimming.org/asa/news/general-news/new-baby-swimming-guidelines-launched/25257] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111453/http://www.swimming.org/asa/news/general-news/new-baby-swimming-guidelines-launched/25257|date=4 March 2016}} New baby swimming guidelines launched 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.[http://www.swimming.org/asa/teaching-and-coaching] ASA Teaching and Coaching 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.[http://www.swimming.org/asa/about-us/the-asas-subsidary-companies] ASA Subsidiary Companies/ It is split into 8 regions:

[http://asaner.org.uk/ North East]
[http://www.swimming.org/NorthWest/ North West]
[http://www.westmidlandswimming.org.uk/ West Midlands]
[http://www.swimming.org/EastMidland/ East Midlands]
[http://eastswimming.org.uk/ East]
[http://swimwest.org.uk/ South West]
[http://www.londonswimming.org/ London]
[https://www.southeastswimming.org/ South East]

Swim England's income for the year to 31 March 2009 was £11.4 million,[http://209.20.80.25/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,,5157-1-1-153237-0-file,00.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704121030/http://209.20.80.25/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,,5157-1-1-153237-0-file,00.pdf|date=4 July 2011}} ASA Revenues 2009 its largest sources of income being government grants (e.g. from Sport England) and revenue from its swimming award scheme.

Swimming championships

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.

class="wikitable"
Year !Dates !Venue !Notes
1986 \|31 May – 2 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 \|11 - 14 June \|Ponds Forge, Sheffield \|
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 Games 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 Games 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', ran long course due to Commonwealth Trials.
2018 \|14–16 December \|Ponds Forge, Sheffield \|
2019 \|31 July - 4 August \|Ponds Forge, Sheffield \|Swim England 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
2024 \|29 July - 3 August \|Ponds Forge, Sheffield \|GoCardless Swim England National Summer Meet

class="wikitable"

Year

!Dates

!Venue

!Notes

1986

|31 May – 2 June

|Coventry

|Commonwealth Games Trials

1987

|29 July – 2 August

|Crystal Palace