Hillingdon Swimming Club Open Meets

Hillingdon Swimming Club hold a number of very popular Open Meets throughout the year, all are held at our home 25m/50m pool at the Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex.

Open Meets

Open Meets are swim meets that are available for entry to all swimmers. Hillingdon SC operate a competition calendar to advise swimmes which open meets to enter based on the squad they are in. The Coaching team and Admin team will send emails to the respective squads ahead of opening the entry for meets with information pertaining to each meet and guidelines on which events to enter.

All entry fees will be collected by GoCardless, with an admin fee of £2 per swimmer added.  By committing a swimmer(s) to a meet, you are agreeing to pay the fees due and you accept the meet Promoter's terms and conditions.  No cash or cheques are accepted.  Meet entry fees are non-refundable unless entries are rejected or there are extenuating medical circumstances.

Open Meets are categorised into one of four different competitive levels:

LEVEL 4 Meets are entry level swim meets (galas), local development meets or Club Championship events. Swimmers generally do not need to meet a set qualifying standard to enter with these meets specifically being used as a gentle introduction to racing for the novice swimmer. Level 4 meets are always held in a short course swimming poll (25m).

LEVEL 3 Meets are generally meets which accept entries from multiple external club swimmers. Hillingdon SC run 2 Level 3 Meets per season. Level 3 Meets will generally require swimmers to have raced an event previously and have a licensed time listed on the Swim England national database. Some meets may accept entries from swimmers for events which they have not previously swum - our coaches will advise swimmers in advance if this is the case. Level 3 Meets will sometimes have Upper Limit Times - these restrict entries so that national level swimmers are unable to enter. Level 3 Meets can be contested in both short course (25m) and long course (50m) swimming pools.

Both Level 4 and Level 3 Meets allow swimmers to achieve times that can be used to qualify for the Middlesex County Championships.

LEVEL 2 Meets are the highest level of short course meet with qualifying times applied that generally restrict entry to athletes of a fast swimming ability. All County Championships that are swum in a short course pool are licensed at Level 2. Times achieved at Level 3 and Level 2 swim meets are eligible for use to qualify for the London Region Championships.

LEVEL 1 Meets are the highest level meet and are always long course meets. Similar to Level 2 meets there are qualifying times that restrict entry to only those who have achieved the required time standard. Level 1 meets allow swimmers to qualify for London Region Championships as well as National Championships (provided the meet takes place within the national qualifying window - generally a 6-8 week period from March to May each year). All Regional and County Championships that are swum in a long course pool are licensed at Level 1.  

Championship Meets

MIDDLESEX COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Middlesex County Championships run each year for approximately 3 weekends over January and February. Swimmers must achieve the qualifying standard for the championships in the County qualifying window which generally lasts from March to December. Unlike Open Meets hosted by swimming clubs, a County Championship will see swimmers compete as "age at end of the year" - the age you are on December 31st of the year in which the championships take place. Thus someone who is 12 years old and celebrates their birthday in July will compete in the 13 year old age category (their age by December 31st of that year).

The Middlesex County Championships are the first step on the Swim England competition pathway. Swimmers must be 10 years of age to be able to qualify for the championships, with these swimmers competing in a double age band; 10/11 - meaning that they will race against 11 year olds.

LONDON REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS

The London Region Championships take place in May each year. The qualifying times are a level ahead of a county championship and see our swimmers compete against those from across London (which include clubs from Essex, Surrey and Kent). 

Regional championships are the next stage in the Swim England competition pathway. Similar to a county championships there is a minimum age requirement which is one year above the county championships; 11/12 year age band. 

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The final stage of the Swim England competition pathway are the National Championships. These are divided into 'Home Nation' Championships (England, Scotland, Wales) and the British Championships. These meets take place across the end of July and start of August each year. 

Qualification for these meets is done on a rankings basis with times from Level 1 meets ONLY being eligible for consideration. Swimmers must 'post' a time for an event during the qualification window which is generally from March to May each year. The top 24 times, in each age group for each event, at the end of the qualification period will qualify for the British Championships. The next 20 ranked swimmers, in each event for each age group, will qualify for the national championships of their country of representation (England, Scotland or Wales). 

Each year also sees a National Winter Championships take place in December, swum in a short course pool. Qualification for this meet is on a Junior (16 & Under) and Senior (17 & Over) age basis with very fast qualifying times set.

The most prestigious meet held each year are the British Trials meet which takes place in April each year. This meet is swum with the hardest of qualifying times set and is used by British Swimming as the selection meet for those swimmers trying to qualify for either Olympics, Commonwealth Games, World or European Championships as well as the Junior international equivalent events.

Hillingdon Swimming Club enjoy a strong level of success at all stages of the competitive pathway. We are one of the most represented clubs at County and Regional level every year producing multiple finalists, medallists and champions. We are also very proud of our consistent ability to qualify large numbers of swimmers to National championship events every year whilst also boasting a number of athletes who have qualified to represent their country having come through our clubs squad pathway system.