Seven days of high-quality racing await at Ponds Forge for what promises to be one of the most exciting British Summer Championships to date.
The stage is set for the first British Summer Championships since 2019, which get underway today (Friday 22nd July). With more than 2,000 competitors set to take to Ponds Forge International Sports Centre between 22nd and 28th July, one of the biggest events on the British Swimming calendar is set for what will be an action-packed week.
After the addition of an extra day to accommodate the separation of the 17 and 18 year age groups, the event promises to be one of the biggest yet, with 301 clubs competing and 828 medals to be won for young, up-and-coming and more established competitors across Olympic and Paralympic swimming events.
The Speedo British Summer Championships mark the end of the domestic swimming season, with a number of events including swimmers who have experienced recent success at international level.
The quality of swimming at the Championships promises to be some of the highest it has ever been, as British Swimming’s Head of Performance Development Alan Lynn said:
“The Summer Championships are a great opportunity to see where the sport is at as we recover from the Covid pandemic. With the Commonwealth Games following the event, some of our very best swimmers and para swimmers will be absent, as well as the European Youth Olympic Festival meaning that some of our most promising swimmers will be competing in Slovakia.
"The rest of the sport’s athletes will be in Sheffield, hopefully in cooler temperatures than we have been experiencing! It’s a great opportunity for us to see where our strengths and opportunities are for young swimmers to step forward and win national titles.
"Above all else, it’s great to bring the sport together again. We had the senior swimmers together in April in Sheffield for the British Swimming Championships and now we get the rest of the sport from across Great Britain for seven days. They’re able to spend time and share the experiences of competitive swimming with each other and hopefully to achieve everything they’ve set out to do with their training programmes this season.
"I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity to see everybody and a chance to reunite with people who we perhaps haven’t been able to see for such a long time, as well as of course being able to watch some fast and high-quality swimming in the process.”
The highest-ranked swimmers and relay teams in each event and age group during the set Summer Championships qualifying window have been invited to compete at the event, with the heats sessions for swimmers aged 17 and over - including those competing in any applicable mixed classification events - commencing from 8.15am on Friday 22nd and 8.30am on the other days. Heat swims for 13-16 year olds will commence following these. Finals will begin on Saturday 23rd, with all finals sessions scheduled to begin at 5pm.
The meet will continue to form part of a broader Performance Pathway aimed at increasing and supporting junior talent on the journey towards senior medal-winning performance, as well as offering more athletes across the Home Nations an opportunity to compete at one of the end of season events.
Tickets for spectators are required and can still be purchased here
A live stream of the event will be provided on the British Swimming YouTube Channel, which can be accessed here
Live results and start lists for the event can be accessed here