In light of the Government’s announcement of a delay to the relaxation of social distancing laws last night, we are currently reviewing arrangements for the Future Champions Meet which is scheduled for 17/18th July.
We thank you for your patience. We will communicate further information as soon as we are able to do so.
Swim England East Region is today releasing the consideration times and race schedule for the British Swimming Festival of Swimming – Swim England East Region competition.
Consideration Times- Festival of Swimming- East Region
PARA Consideration Standards- Festival of Swimming- East Region
Schedule- Festival of Swimming- East Region
The Region would like to highlight that in line with the ever-evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be necessary to limit the number of athletes at the event, perhaps even at short notice. To this extent, the times being published today are consideration times rather than qualifying times, and they do not guarantee entry to the event. We thank you in advance for your understanding.
An online entry system will operate, with a link to the system being posted on this website soon. The entry system will be predicated on individuals making their own entries – club gala secretaries will not be required to do block entries for their club. A full entry pack will also be published when entries open. There will be a separate entry system for Para Swimming athletes – full details of both entry systems will be published at the same time.
Stage One of the entry process will enable those with consideration times achieved at licensed meet levels 1,2,3 and 4 between 01/01/2019 and 20/03/20 to enter. Stage One entries will close at midday on Friday 2nd July, at which time a review of entries will be conducted. If space is available in the meet, Stage Two of the entry process will commence, with consideration times achieved at licensed meet levels 1,2,3,4 and X between 01/01/2019 and the revised entry closing date being permitted for entry.
Online forms will shortly be published for those technical officials and event volunteers who are willing to assist at the meet. The Region will require a great deal of support to ensure that the events run safely and well, and we look forward to receiving applications from our members in due course.
Queries can be directed to [email protected]
As previously advised, Swim England East Region is today releasing the consideration times for the Swim England East Region Future Champions Meet. This information is being released prior to the Entry Pack to enable those clubs who need to carry out Level X Time Trials to plan them so that they appear on rankings before the entry closing date of 4th July.
Needless to say, if the Government alters its plans for the relaxation of COVID-19 safety measures, then it may be necessary to limit entries to the meet. As such, these times are to be regarded as consideration times rather than qualifying times, they do not guarantee entry.
The consideration times for the British Swimming Festival of Swimming will also be published this week.
On the final day of national volunteers’ week the region would like to thank all of our volunteers that undertake so many roles in our clubs, among these Sharyn Bord, who has recently been awarded the Harold Fern Award. Cambridge Dive Team President Sharyn Bord has said she is ‘surprised and amazed’ after being named winner of the Swim England Harold Fern Award.
Swim England has published details of the British Swimming Festival of Swimming. East Region swimmers and their parents may have noticed that Region has later competition dates than other regions. Unfortunately, it was not possible to book our optimum dates for very legitimate reasons, due to our regional long course centres being used for other purposes – one is being used as Covid vaccination centre, for example.
The Region, has however, fully embraced the concept of the Festival of Swimming and has some exciting news to announce.
There will in fact be three galas to look forward to for East Region swimmers during the British Swimming Festival of Swimming period, which formally runs from Friday 16th July – Sunday 8th August. Whilst it remains unclear whether spectators will be allowed, all events will be fully live streamed.
The first of these galas will be the Swim England East Region Future Champions Meet. This gala will be held in the afternoon and early evening of 17th/18th July in short course format at Basildon Sporting Village. The event will be for swimmers aged 10 and 11 (ages at 31st December 2021) and will comprise 50 and 100m races in all strokes, in Heat Declared Winner (HDW) format. It will be possible to qualify for this meet using old ranking times and Level X times – the qualifying times will be released on Monday 7th June, to enable clubs to run small Level X time trial events for those swimmers without a time on rankings in advance of the entry deadline of 30th June.
The event is intended to be a fun and COVID-safe opportunity for the stars of tomorrow to come together and race -perhaps for the first time- after a significant period of disruption. In order to ensure the safety of all competitors, athletes will be housed and marshalled outside, in a 700-seater covered grandstand and surrounding athletics track. Entrance to poolside area will be highly controlled.
The East Region section of the British Swimming Festival of Swimming will take place at UEA Norwich on 31st July and 1st August and at the London Aquatic Centre on 7th and 8th August. These will be long course events, for swimmers aged 12 and above (ages as at 31st December 2021). Swimmers will compete in 50m, 100m, 200m events in all strokes, plus 200m and 400m Individual Medley and 400m Freestyle. All events will be swum in Heat Declared Winner (HDW) format. This meet will be inclusive of Para swimming events.
The qualifying times will be released very shortly, but the entry process will be different to the Future Champions Meet. When they are published, the qualifying times will look slower than usual. This is because they will be based on times registered by the athletes between 01.01.2019 and 20.03.20. This to ensure fairness to swimmers from all clubs, many of whom are still not able to run Level X time trials for their whole club in a variety of distances. Qualifying times will be based on short-course performances, but long course conversions will be permitted.
For the Festival of Swimming, there will be a two-stage entry process. In Stage One, athletes will be able to enter races using the times they recorded between 01.01.2019 and 20.03.2020 at levels 1,2,3 and 4. There will be a published entry closing date for Stage One, after which there will be a review of entries. If there is available space, entries will reopen, and at this point, athletes will be able to use times achieved since 20.03.2020, at levels 1,2,3,4 and X. The principle of having a two-stage entry process is to ensure that as many swimmers as possible get to benefit from the meet.
In view of its smaller capacity, both the 400m events and some of the 200m events will take place at Norwich, where we have also booked a 12-court sports hall to safely house the athletes and team personnel. The 50m, 100m and remaining 200m events will take place at the London Aquatics Centre, where a large number of athletes can be safely accommodated in the 2,200 seats on both banks of the pool hall, even if social distancing is required.
The final schedule will be released very soon and we look forward to communicating further information to you regularly from this point onwards.
Hopefully, barring any major changes to COVID-19 requirements, we will be able to reflect on a safe racing festival where very many of our swimmers got to restart their racing careers. In order to facilitate the event, the Region will also be seeking technical officials and event volunteers to staff the meet once entries open.
As part of National Volunteers’ Week, each day this week the Region will be showcasing a different role, and share with you the skills and enjoyment it brings. Each article is written by someone undertaking the role for their club. Take a look at their articles on our Volunteering webpage.
If you would like to volunteer some of your time and give back to your club, please contact your committee to see where you can help.
Whilst we negotiate the return to competition following the Covid-19 pandemic, adjustments have been made to the number of Technical Officials required for Licensed Meets and the level of qualification required for each role.
Congratulations to Jessica-Jane on her success in securing back to back golds at World Para Swimming European Open Championships in Madeira. Fresh from success in the Women’s S14 200m Freestyle on the opening night, Applegate – who trains under Alex Pinniger at City of Norwich SC – was in even greater control on the way to victory in the S14 100m Backstroke, leading from the first stroke to the wall.
Congratulations to Jacqui Kendall on her appointment as a FINA Open Water swimming Official. This four year appointment means that Jacqui may be invited to officiate at international events promoted by FINA or LEN, as well as taking senior roles at national events.
Further to the publication of swimming Return to Competition guidance document and the Swim England webinar to event organisers where they provided further support in relation to planning and delivering swimming meets, a set of Frequently Asked Questions has been developed.
Regional Open Water Championships
Following extensive discussions regarding the ability to safely stage the 2021 East Region Open Water Swimming Championships, it has been reluctantly decided that we are unable to go ahead with the event this year.
In arriving at this decision, the East Open Water Swimming Leadership Group examined all current Government, Local Authority and venue COVID limitations and restrictions, plus the Swim England “Return to Competition” guidance, to explore what options were available that would allow us to proceed in compliance with these conditions.
The Group took into consideration the open-air environment the event is held in, the venue design including the internal and external space, the anticipated numbers of participants and their supporters, and discussed measures that could be employed to maintain adequate separation for all throughout the process of delivering the event. Unfortunately, the conclusion reached was that the potential restrictions meant that it would not be possible to deliver the event in a COVID safe manner under the guidance available to us.
The East Open Water Swimming Leadership Group realises that its decision will be disappointing to athletes, coaches and parents but looks forward to welcoming everyone back to our Regional Championships in July 2022, when hopefully the pandemic will be a distant memory.
Swim England is reissuing its ‘Return to Water’ survey in an effort to better support clubs and help navigate them through their return to training following the easing of the third national lockdown.
The survey was sent via email to key club officers on Thursday 15 April, who will then be asked to answer questions relating to pool access, potential challenges they are facing and the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on their club.
