The British Swimming Championships are about to be back in full swing for the first time in three years - and around 1,500 swimmers are ready to take to the blocks at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre (5th-10th April).
When the opening heat of the Women's 50m Breaststroke dives into action at 9.30am on Tuesday, it will mark the beginning of six days of eye-catching competition, as athletes compete for senior and junior national titles, international team selections and test themselves and their training work after months of dedication and effort in the lead-up to the meet.
The contests in the pool will be accompanied by atmosphere from the stands too, as British Swimming welcomes spectators back to its flagship domestic meet after an enforced hiatus in 2020 and 2021. The mix of competition and crowd is set to produce a memorable event, as the likes of Adam Peaty, Freya Anderson, Tom Dean and James Guy prepare to go head-to-head with the next generation of British Swimming stars.
With such an expansive meet taking place, everyone involved in the event is ready for the exciting prospect of a platform for so many swimmers getting back into the competition pool on this highly-anticipated annual stage.
Tickets are now on general sale here for every heats and finals session of the meet. For those unable to attend or keen not to miss a second of the aquatics action, British Swimming Live – available on our YouTube page – will bring you every moment from the heats and finals, featuring 1988 Olympic medallist Andy Jameson and three-time Olympian Aimee Willmott on commentary duty, and with pre-and-post event chat and analysis with competing swimmers and guests from our poolside studio, as FINA and British Swimming presenter John Mason leads the coverage.
Results and start lists throughout the meet will be available here.
The 2022 British Swimming Championships is the key selection meet for June's World Championships in Budapest, when Britain's swimmers will look to build on a historic set of performances at last summer's Olympic Games. Selection policies for that event, and the rest of our senior and junior teams for the 2022 season, are available here.
In line with the Worlds selection policy and the relevant pre-selections that have been made (based on Tokyo 2020 performances), some athletes are adapting their plans for the British Championships. Molly Renshaw and Max Litchfield are among those not competing in Sheffield, while others may train through the meet, or swim in different events with an optimal summer performance focus in mind.
British Swimming would also like to confirm its intentions around the selection of international teams for the European Junior and World Junior Events. It is our current plan to select a strong and comprehensive representative team for the LEN European Junior Championships in Bucharest, Romania only, in line with the published selection policy, immediately following next week's meet.
In the absence of any published information from FINA on either the new venue or confirmed dates for the World Junior Championships, and the ongoing, unfolding political situation, British Swimming will not be immediately committing to announcing a team for that global event at this time. We will continue to review the situation in the coming weeks to determine the viability of selecting a team for the World Juniors.
A Commonwealth Games on British soil sits on the horizon too, with Birmingham 2022 getting underway in late July - and this British Championships will also provide athletes with the chance to earn selection to their respective Home Nations' teams.
Click HERE for British Swimming Championships 2022 tickets. Any queries can be directed to britishevents@swimming.org or The Ticket Factory helpdesk on 0333 300 3010.
As ever, make sure to follow British Swimming’s social media channels on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date with every moment from Ponds Forge and for exclusive, behind-the-scenes content.