Open meets

Throughout each season we attend selected open meets and competition appropriate to swimmers abilities and stages of their development.

Overview

Once our swimmers are Category 2 registered and members of the Comp A or Comp B squads, they are eligible to compete in open meets.

These are events licensed by Swim England, which meet certain standards to ensure fair competition. The English swimming licensed meets calendar contains a range of meets, designed to give all registered swimmers the chance to compete.

We select appropriate events from the ASA licenced meet calendar which we feel are best suited to our swimmers. Swimmers can also attend open meets not on the club supported schedule, but we request that the open meet manager is kept informed. 

If a swimmer is looking to achieve county / regional qualification, then these times need to be achieved at an ASA Ranked level 1-4 meet.

Open meets

There are 4 Levels of open meets licensed by the ASA. The general rule is ‘the higher the level, the faster the qualification time’ – where level 1 is for the fastest swimmers. Then times achieved by the swimmer are recorded in the ASA Rankings list, which can be found here: www.swimmingresults.org/individualbest

Open meets are run by swimming clubs and swimming governing bodies and include the Wiltshire County Championships, South West Regional Championships and National Championships.

A full list of UK open meets can be found here:

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LEVEL 1

These are long course (50m) only and cover National, Regional and County Championships. Designed to enable athletes to achieve qualifying times for entry into National, Regional and County Championships.
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LEVEL 2

These are short course (25m) and cover National, Regional and County Championships. Designed to enable athletes to achieve qualifying times for entry into National, Regional and County Championships.
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LEVEL 3

These are long and short course events, designed to enable athletes to achieve times for entry into Regional and County Championships and other Meets at Level 1 or Level 2.
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LEVEL 4

Entry level events in pools 25m or greater. They are for inexperienced athletes and swimmers seeking to compete outside their club environment. If times are good athletes can progress to Level 3 Meets.

As a club, we get involved in three different types of competitions:

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Swimming club open meets

These are run throughout the year and swimmers are encouraged to attend the club supported meets organised by the Open Meet Manager.  Entry packs are issued for each Open Meet providing full details of the Level of the meet (i.e. 1, 2, 3 or 4), qualification times, schedule of events, venue etc.

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Wiltshire county championships

These are for those swimmers that have qualified through an Open Meet licensed at level 1, 2, 3 or 4. Wiltshire Swimming sets qualifying times. The competition is run in a 25m pool, and is usually held in Jan/Feb each year. It is split into 4:

  • Youth championships – 14 years and over (age as at 31st Dec)
  • Age Groups Championship – 10 years – 13 years (age as at 31st Dec)
  • Sprints – All ages
  • Long Distance – All ages
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South West regional championships

These are for those swimmers that have qualified through any Open Meet licensed at level 1, 2 or 3 and covers the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. The ASA South West Region sets qualifying times and the competition is run in a 50m pool, usually held in May/June each year. It is split into 2:

  • Youth championships – 15 years old (age as at 31st Dec)
  • Age Group championships – 11 years – 14 years (age as at 31st Dec)

What kind of things to bring along

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Two swimming costumes

Or a race and warm up suit.

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Goggles

One race pair and a spare.

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Food to last the session/day

We recommend bananas, cereal bars and dried fruit. Try to avoid too many sweets.

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Warm clothing

For poolside and pre-race registration.

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Two towels

One to keep you warm and one to dry off afterwards.

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Lots of water

At least two litres of water/squash. No fizzy drinks.

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Footwear for poolside

and pre-race registration (flip flops).

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Compulsory club kit

consisting of at least a t-shirt and swimming hat.

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Entertainment

iPod for music or a book.

Parents

There is usually a small entry fee, so bring some cash. A programme is generally on sale at the entry desk, so pick one up so you know when your child is swimming.  Make sure that your child is with the group and knows where you will be in case of emergency and please provide the coaches poolside with a contact mobile phone number.

Bring plenty of food/drink to last the day, it can be a long day sat watching.

Please stay in the designated spectators areas and do not cross over into the swimmers/coaches area.

Please supply your child with the correct club kit as per the uniform policy.

Results

Results will usually be posted in a central location for parents and swimmers to see. It is important to record your child’s times as these will be needed to enter other meets.  You need to have the most up to date record of your swimmers achievements.