British Swimming Adds Three Junior-Level Meets To 2015 Calendar, Including Short Course Nationals
Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/Fei Maohua
LONDON, England, October 9. BRITISH Swimming has announced three new meets set for 2015 to give more racing opportunities to its rising stars, including a first-ever short course winter nationals.
Two long course national championships will also be added to the schedule next year. The “British Summer Championships” will take place in Sheffield at the end of July, and serve primarily as a developmental meet for athletes 13 years and older from England, Scotland and Wales. Only the top 24 swimmers in each event per age group will be eligible to swim in this meet, determined by times swum in a yet-to-be-determined timeframe. The “ASA Summer Nationals” will take place immediately after the British championships and feature those athletes who did not qualify for the British championships.
As for the “ASA Winter Nationals,” details are still being finalized, but the short course meters meet will be held December 17-20 and have an age-group focus. It’s set to be the only national-level short course meet in Great Britain. Currently, no elite short course national meet exists in the United Kingdom.
The creation of the meets follows the British Swimming Performance Pathway Strategy, designed to give younger swimmers exposure to more national-level competitions and motivate them through the age-group period into their elite swimming years.
Junior swimming in Great Britain has taken off in recent years. The Brits won 12 medals at the European junior championships this summer, five at the Youth Olympics and seven medals last summer at the junior world championships.