The qualifying window for the British Summer Championships and Home Nation Summer Meets will open tomorrow (11th March), with these major competition opportunities set to return to the aquatics calendar following a two-year, COVID-enforced absence.
As previously highlighted back in September 2021, the window in which athletes can post qualifying performances will open on Friday 11th March and run through to Sunday 8th May 2022.
Entry to the key, end-of-season events is by invitation only, from performances recorded in the designated qualifying window. The 24 top-ranked swimmers in each event in each age grouping will be invited to attend the British Summer Championships, except for the 800m and 1500m events, where the top 18 will be invited. In addition, following a review of the domestic competition structure that was carried out last year, there is one significant change to this year’s format, which is detailed below.
WHO ARE THE BRITISH SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR?
The meet ONLY caters for the following categories of swimmer:
- Swimmers who are currently eligible to represent and have Great Britain as their recognised country of international representation with FINA (irrespective of where in the world they live and train), and
- Foreign nationals who live and train in the United Kingdom for the majority of the calendar year in a British swimming club/programme.
No exceptions will be made - any athlete who does not sit within one of these categories will not receive an invite to compete.
Entries will only be accepted from competitors registered as members of a British Swimming Home Nation - Swim England, Scottish Swimming or Swim Wales.
CHANGE TO THE FORMAT
Following a consultation process with coaches, which included an online survey along with meetings with key Home Nation staff, we are pleased to announce that this year will see the first change to the age groups since the current format was introduced in 2014.
As a result of the feedback received, the 17/18 year age group will be split into two individual age groups for both males and females. This is a positive change to the format of the competition and will give greater opportunities for quality racing to a larger number of swimmers by having separate events for 17 and 18 year old swimmers.
HOME NATION MEET CHOICE
Swimmers can choose to be entered into a Home Nation Summer Meet in two ways:
- Country of their ranked club (first claim club in Scotland)
- Country of International Representation
Swimmers should note, however, that when identifying qualifiers for the Home Nations meets, the automated system in place assumes athletes wish to be categorised by the country of their ranked club.
There is no direct relation to any decisions you made to attend any of the December 2021 Home Nation Winter meets.
Swimmers wishing to be entered in to a Home Nation Summer Meet based on International Representation MUST email HNMeetChoice@swimming.org with the following information;
- Name
- Date of birth
- Membership number
- Current ranked club
- Registered Country of International Representation
- Clear declaration that they wish to be selected by Country of International Representation for the 2022 Home Nation Meets
Information must be received no later than 5pm, 17th April 2022. There will be no exceptions, and no changes will be made after this time.
INTERIM RANKINGS LISTS
This year, weekly rankings lists will be published on a twice weekly basis (Tuesday and Friday) once the qualifying window opens. A final draft rankings list will be produced on 11th May 2022, once the window has closed. If it is believed that any of the data contained in these interim lists is incorrect or there are missing results, please report it by emailing britishevents@swimming.org
OPTING OUT
A dual approach to opting out will continue to be taken. The idea behind the opt-out is to ensure that as many of the available places at the British Summer Championships are filled, with no empty spaces in events. Swimmers not wishing to compete in events are requested to withdraw to ensure other swimmers can be invited to the British Summer Championships and the respective Home Nation Summer Meets.
We will also be sending out reminder emails during the Window to encourage you to indicate your summer decision by using an automated reply system.
If swimmers wish to opt out of the initial invite list, please email HNMeetChoice@swimming.org by midday on 11th May 2022.
ENTRY MECHANISM
The initial invite list for all Summer Meet entries will be created on 16th May 2022 and invitations issued thereafter, starting with the British Summer Championships.
There will be a short window of 14 days for swimmers to accept their initial invites to compete at the British Summer Championships. If, by 5pm on 30th May 2022, swimmers have not entered the event, invites will be passed down to the next highly ranked swimmer to fill the place.
If swimmers receive an invite on 16th May for the British Summer Championships and want to compete at them, it is imperative that entries are confirmed by 5pm, 30th May 2022.
Following the completion of the process above, new invites will be sent out to fill any remaining places. Invites to the Home Nation Summer Meets will also be sent out at this point.
CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS REMINDERS
To ensure that your invitation arrives, can you please ensure your email address is up to date through your Home Nation online membership system.
Further reminders of key dates and milestones will be posted in due course.
The 2022 British Summer Championships will be held from 23rd – 28th July, with more information to be communicated in due course on the British Swimming website.
For details
about the Scottish Swimming Summer Meet, click here
For details about the Swim Wales Summer Open, click here
Check out the Swim England events page for updates on the Swim England Summer Meet here