Swim England is the national governing body for

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with t ...

open water swimming Open water swimming is a swimming discipline which takes place in outdoor bodies of water such as open oceans, lakes, and rivers. The beginning of the modern age of open water swimming is sometimes taken to be May 3, 1810, when Lord Byron swam ...

, and

synchronised swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It forms part of

British Swimming British Swimming is the national governing body of swimming, water polo, synchronised swimming, diving and open water in Great Britain.

, a federation of the national governing bodies of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

(

Scottish Amateur Swimming Association Scottish Swimming, also known as the Scottish Amateur Swimming Association (SASA), is the national governing body for swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming in Scotland. The SASA and the English and Welsh swimming association ...

), and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

( Welsh Amateur Swimming Association). These three are collectively known as the ''Home Country National Governing Bodies''.

History

The first governing body for

to ever be established in the world, it was previously known as the 'Amateur Swimming Association' and established in 1869, with headquarters at Harold Fern House in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second lar ...

. It was

registered Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...

as a company on 18 May 1982. It moved in April 2010, along with British Swimming, to SportPark at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, whe ...

, close to the

A512 The A512 is an A road entirely in Leicestershire, UK. It links the primary destination of Loughborough with the M1, A42 road, and the town of Ashby de la Zouch. The road begins just outside Loughborough Town Centre, near to The Rushes It ...

and junction 23 of the M1. The ASA underwent a

rebranding Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, invest ...

exercise in 2008 including a new logo and name of ''the asa''. After negative reaction the logo was retained but the organisation returned to using ''The ASA'' in text form. On 3 March 2017, a new strategy was released for swimming within England. Part of that was to again re-brand The ASA to its current name 'Swim England'. At the same time Jane Nickerson was announced as the organisation's new

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

Function

Clubs

Swim England supports over 1,200 affiliated swimming clubs through a National/Regional/and sub-regional structure. It endeavors to ensure every athlete, regardless of age or experience, belongs to a club that provides the best possible support and environment. Swim England has introduced a ''Quality Mark'' for clubs called 'Swim 21 Accreditation'.

Safety

In October 2015, Swim England partnered with Water Babies and

Splash About International Splash About International Limited, usually referred to as Splash About, is best known as a designer, manufacturer and retailer of swimwear and swimming aids for children and babies, however the company also designs and makes maternity swimsuits. ...

to introduce new national guidelines for baby and toddler safety in swimming pools. The guidelines were published by the

British Standards Institution The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies certification and standards-related services to busines ...

and aimed to set industry-wide standards for swimming lessons and underwater photography practices.

Competitions

Swim England organises competitions throughout England, from age-group to elite level. The Age Group and Youth Championships are aimed at younger swimmers aged between 11 and 17 years and can attract more than 1,600 participants, while the ASA National Championships are aimed at the elite swimmers. Swim England also organizes the English talent programme that puts in place performance opportunities for swimmers to develop their skills and potential.

Participation

Swim England operates a ''Learn to Swim'' award scheme based on the National Plan for Teaching Swimming. Swimmers within the Swim England programme work their way through 7 stages where fundamental swimming skills are learnt, with progression then expected to be made through stages 8, 9, and 10 where swimmers learn how to train; club swimming;

Diving (sport) Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, usually while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-com ...

; rookie life guarding;

Synchronised swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

; or

. Swim England is not a provider of swimming facilities, but aims to act as a catalyst and facilitator to ensure suitable facilities, with appropriate access and programmes, are provided to meet the needs of the community and aquatic clubs. Swim England operates certification and education programmes for teachers, coaches and officials. It has created the UK Coaching Framework and e-learning programmes, designed to ensure the ASA has an appropriately skilled workforce for the whole swimming industry. Its education is provided by its

Institute of Swimming The Institute of Swimming is a swimming educational organisation based in Loughborough, Leicestershire. History It was known as the Institute of Swimming Teachers and Coaches (ISTC), and was based on ''Granby Street'' in Loughborough town centre ...

Structure

As well as being a governing body, Swim England also operates several subsidiary companies. It is split into 8 regions:
North East

North West

West Midlands

East Midlands

East

South West

London

South East
Swim England's income for the year to 31 March 2009 was £11.4 million,
ASA Revenues 2009 its largest sources of income being government grants (e.g. from

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

) and revenue from its swimming award scheme.

Swimming championships

Swim England holds three different indoor national swimming championships: one for Age Group swimmers (11- to 14-year-old boys and 11- to 13-year-old girls); one for Youth swimmers (15- to 18-year-old boys and 14- to 18-year-old girls) and one for Masters (age 25 years old plus) usually in July/August. Often the championships are merged. They also hold open water nationals each year. The following table shows the 'Open' Championships.

Sponsorship

In 2009

British Swimming British Swimming is the national governing body of swimming, water polo, synchronised swimming, diving and open water in Great Britain.

announced a £15 million, 6-year sponsorship deal with

British Gas British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Servi ...

, to cover the Home Country Associations too.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Swimming organizations Swimming in England

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

Sport in Loughborough Organisations based in Leicestershire Sports organizations established in 1869 1869 establishments in England Amateur sport in the United Kingdom