Counties 2026 - information and qualifying times
Hello campers!
Counties' qualifying times have now been published for 2026.
Many of you will be familiar with counties, but if not, please read below to familiarise yourself. If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]
What are "Counties"?
- Each swim club in England is grouped into a "county".
- Milton Keynes clubs participate in the Oxfordshire & North Buckinghamshire ("ONB" for short) County Championships.
- Every January and February (over 6 weekends), all clubs in the county compete together in Aylesbury and Oxford.
- The event includes individual races and relays over each weekend, with heats and finals.
- It is a key competition for swimmers to represent their club in county-level honours.
Does everyone get to swim?
- No. The County publishes qualifying times (see below) for each age group and event.
- There are automatic times (if your swimmer achieves these, they will be accepted).
- There are also consideration times. If your swimmer achieves a time in this band, they MAY be accepted, but this is dependent on how many swimmers enter the event and their position in the list.
- There are always rejections for every club, as the number of swimmers always exceeds the number of places available. The times are therefore competitive.
- Relay swimmers are selected by our coaches.
What times are accepted?
Times must be achieved in licensed Level 1-4 meets between the dates below, but not any time trial times.
| Events: |
Times achieved between (inclusive): |
|---|---|
| 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m events |
17th February 2025 and 1st December 2025 |
| 800m and 1500m events |
1st January 2025 and 1st December 2025 |
Where can I find the qualifying times?
How can I check my swimmer’s PBs?
- All race times are recorded on Swim England's database (we call this "Rankings". You can find a link to this here: https://uk.gomotionapp.com/team/sercmksc/page/meets/swimmer-pbs
How can my swimmer improve their PBs?
- Attend the CMK meet in November
- Attend the October Luton meet – this is now closed
- Attend Regionals (if they qualify) – information coming soon
- Attend the Maxwell meet on 29/30 November – information coming soon
Where can I find a timetable of events?
The weekends are scheduled as follows:
- Saturday 10th January - Oxford - Distance
- Saturday 17th January - Oxford - Distance
- Saturday 24th January - Aqua vale Aylesbury - 400m events
- Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th Feb - Aqua Vale Aylesbury - main champs
- Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th Feb - Aqua Vale Aylesbury - main champs
- Saturday 4th July (yes! Not a typo!) - Aqua Vale Aylesbury - Age group and mixed relays
The more detailed programme is here: https://uk.gomotionapp.com/onbc/UserFiles/Image/QuickUpload/onb-cc-2026---order-of-events_070792.pdf
How do I enter my swimmer?
- You’ll be able to enter via Team Unify (our normal way of entering an event) in October.
- The closing date will be 1st of December (so that we can include any PBs from the Maxwell event above). Please note that we won’t be able to accept any late entries.
When will I know if my swimmer has been accepted?
- It takes a couple of weeks at the most for the county to process entries after the closing date (remember that these are volunteers too, often doing this on top of full-time jobs, swim runs and parenting), and as soon as we have accepted entries, we'll let you know. They will also be published on the site below.
Where can I find more information?
- The ONB home page is kept up-to-date by our lovely ONB volunteers: https://uk.gomotionapp.com/team/onbc/page/swimming/county-championships-2026. We recommend that you bookmark this.
Kind regards
Julia Joyce
Away Meets Manager
