Swim England, formerly the Amateur Swimming Association, 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.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.

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.

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.

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’. 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. 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.

Domestic 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.

International Competitions Swim England nominates the manager for the teams sent to international competitions. Andi Manley named as Head Coach for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

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. 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 Swim England operates through eight regions within England (East, East Midlands, London, North

East, North West, South East, South West and West Midlands). These are all independent

legal entities not owned by Swim England but affiliated to Swim England through its

regulations North East North West West Midlands East Midlands East South West London South East

Swim England's income for the year to 31 March 2009 was £11.4 million, 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.

YearDatesVenueNotes198631 May – 2 JuneCoventryCommonwealth Games Trials198729 July – 2 AugustCrystal PalaceEuropean Championships Trials198827–31 JulyInternational Pool, Leeds198912–16 JulyCoventry199026–29 JulyCrystal Palace19911–4 AugustInternational Pool, Leeds199211 - 14 JunePonds Forge, Sheffield199310–13 JunePonds Forge, SheffieldEuropean Championships Trials199428–31 JulyCrystal Palace1995??–23 JulyCoventry1996??–?? JulyInternational Pool, Leeds1997??–?? JulyCrystal Palace1998??–?? JulyPonds Forge, SheffieldCommonwealth Games Trials1999??–?? JulyPonds Forge, SheffieldEuropean Championships Trials2000??–?? JulyPonds Forge, SheffieldOlympic Games Trials2001200228–30 JuneCoventry200318–20 MarchAquatics Centre, Manchester200416–18 JulyAquatics Centre, Manchester20054–9 AugustPonds Forge, SheffieldCommonwealth Games Trials20061–6 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield200727 July – 1 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield200810–13 JulyPicton Pool, Liverpool200928 July – 1 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield201018–21 AugustSunderland Aquatic Centre, SunderlandCommonwealth Games Selection Meet201114–17 JunePonds Forge, SheffieldFinal World Championship Qualification Meet201220–23 JunePonds Forge, SheffieldFinal Olympic Games Qualification Meet201330 July – 4 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield20145–10 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield20154–9 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield20161–5 AugustPonds Forge, Sheffield201713–17 DecemberPonds Forge, SheffieldSwitched places with 'Winter Meet', ran long course due to Commonwealth Trials.201814–16 DecemberPonds Forge, Sheffield201931 July - 4 AugustPonds Forge, SheffieldSwim England National Summer Meet202029 July - 2 AugustPonds Forge, SheffieldCancelled due to “Coronavirus Outbreak”202114 - 18 AprilLondon Aquatics Centre, LondonShortened due to COVID-19 Restrictions 20225 - 9 AugustPonds Forge, SheffieldSwim England National Summer Meet20232 - 6 AugustPonds Forge, SheffieldSwim England National Summer Meet 202429 July - 3 AugustPonds Forge, SheffieldGoCardless Swim England National Summer Meet

Sponsorship

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

References

External links Official site