Summer vs Winter Swimming
The swimming year runs from October through to September each year and is separated into two seasons:
- Summer Long Course Season (October to March/April)
- Winter Short Course Season (March/April to September)
Long Course: Competitions are held in a 50-meter pool. This is the Olympic standard and is commonly used for major international competitions.
Short Course: Competitions are held in a 25-meter pool.
Times achieved in long course and short course pools are not directly comparable due to the different pool lengths, so separate records are maintained for each.
Different Types of Competition
There are many ways swimming takes place in New South Wales, these include:
- Club Nights – Unofficial Times, fun racing, race and skill practice.
- Local Club Meets – Development, Open and Qualifying Meets with Official Timing. These are regulated by the Coast and Valley Swimming Association which is our Regional Swimming Association.
- Swimming NSW Meets – Qualifying and Championship Meets with Official Timing. These meets are hosted by Swimming NSW are often held in Sydney at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.
- School Swimming – This is run separately to your Club and to Swimming NSW and is run by the different school systems, which is a mixture of Unofficial times and Official Times.
Swimming At Club Hosted Meets
Local Area Meets
The best way to get started into competition swimming, to gain official times is to enter a local area meet. The Coast and Valley Swimming Association (CVSA) is our local regional swimming area and includes the Central Coast, Newcastle and the Hunter Valley.
Their website can be found here: https://coastandvalleynsw.swimmingclub.org.au/
Clubs within these areas host meets that are approved by CVSA. These official meets allow swimmers to gain official times which allow them to qualify for Qualifying and Championship Meets. You can see the different meets available for entry here on the CVSA website:
https://coastandvalleynsw.swimmingclub.org.au/meet-programs/
Entry to these meets is through Swim Central.
Meets in Other Areas
A lot of the times our swimmers are eligible to enter meets in other swimming areas such as the Sydney Metro areas, Swimming North Coast and Swimming ACT. Some useful websites can be found here:
Swimming NSW Events Page: https://nsw.swimming.org.au/events
Swimming North Coast: https://www.swimmingnorthcoast.com/meet-calendar
Swimming ACT: https://www.swimmingact.com.au/competition/meet-calendar
You can also look under the event page in Swim Central and use the Event Finder to locate Events by club, association or area.
Entering a Meet in Swim Central
You can find a helpful guide on entering meets in Swim Central here:
https://support.swimming.org.au/hc/en-us/articles/360002105435-How-to-Enter-a-Meet
Different Types of Swimming Meets
The different types of meets explained:
Development Meets:
These events are entry level for developing swimmers without official times and for new competitors. These meets may have “Break Times” listed on their programs, which are times that the competitor cannot be faster than. This effectively eliminates the fast and seasoned competitors. These events are a great starting point for all new club members and recreational competitors.
Qualifying Meets:
These events are for athletes wishing for a little bit more of a challenge and potentially to push forward into a higher level of competition. These events may have “Qualifying Times” listed on their programs which are times that the competitor must be faster than to enter. All members can compete provided they meet the qualifying times if applicable.
Open Meets:
These are events that have no “Break Times” or qualifying times attached to the races so anyone can enter these.
CVSA Area Championships:
This is held twice each year, in November for the Long Course season and in May/June for the Short Course season. It is usually a two and a half day meet (Friday afternoon to Sunday Afternoon) and includes all our competitive swimmers racing for CVSA Titles. It is expected that all members aged 9 and over that qualify will attend and compete at this Championship meet. This meet also includes the very popular NUSwim relay teams which are open for nomination to every Full Swimmer member even if they haven’t achieved an individual qualification time.
Swimming NSW Meets
Swimming NSW meets include qualifying meets and Championship Meets.
The Championship Meets include:
- Country Championships.
- Senior State Age Championships.
- Junior State Age Championships.
Senior State Age Championships are generally for swimmers ages 13 and over and Junior State Age Championships are for swimmers aged 9-12. Swimmers can only compete in one State Age Championships each season.
If you are unsure which Championship your swimmer should aim towards, speak to you swimmer’s coach for guidance.
Results
After an Official meet it can take a few days for results to be uploaded to your Swimming Australia Results portal.
Swim Central
Swimmer’s results can be seen in their Swim Central Profile.
From your dashboard select ‘Results’.
Individual Results:
- Select the family member whose individual results you wish to view
- Using the search criteria select the event information then ‘search’
- The member’s results for that event will be displayed
Ranking:
Once a member turns 13 a ‘Ranking’ tab will display next to the ‘Individual’ Tab
- From the Individual results display, toggle ‘Ranking’ on.
- Using the search criteria select the event information then ‘search’.
- The member’s Club, State and National ranking for that event will be displayed.
Results Portal
You can also search for your results in the Public Results Portal here:
https://results.swimming.org.au/portal/
Swimming NSW Swimwear Rules
Your swimmer DOES NOT need to have an expensive race suit, most of the time their training swimsuit is perfectly fine for official competitions.
Section GR19 General Swimwear Policy states that swimwear should be World Aquatic (WA) Approved. However, part of this section outlines that swimwear DOES NOT have to bear a valid WA approval label provided they satisfy the following:
- Men’s swimsuits are limited to one (1) suit that covers at most the body surface from hips to knee. Swimsuits may not extend above the waist or below the knees;
- Women’s swimsuits are limited to one (1) suit in up to two (2) pieces that is of ‘open back’ and ‘open shoulder’ designs that may extend down to the knee; swimsuits must not extend below the knees;
- No zippers or other fastening devices are allowed except for a waist tie;
- Swimsuits must be of textile material (i.e. permeable textile open mesh materials such as cotton, nylon, lycra and the like) with no application of surface treatment closing the open mesh structure.
The Swimming Australia Swimwear Policy
Swimming Australia is committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive swimming environment for all competitive members. Within our Inclusive Swimming Framework, our goals are:
All Australians feel welcome, safe, valued and celebrated in swimming. All Australians can participate in the role and at the level of their choice in swimming. Australia’s diversity is reflected in swimming. It is acknowledged that for some swimmers the standard competitive swimsuit options defined by FINA requirements for swimwear approval may not suit their individual needs and preferences.
This may be attributed to a range of factors including but not limited to a swimmer’s cultural or religious observations.
Lack of appropriate competitive swimwear options are a key barrier to participation in swimming by many people in the community including, people with disability, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, transgender and gender diverse people and women and girls.
To accommodate and support swimmers’ individual needs and encourage participation and involvement in swimming competitions, Swimming Australia allows swimwear to be modified or alternative swimsuits to be worn in accordance with this Policy.
Notwithstanding any other clause in this by-law, swimsuits may be modified and alternative swimsuits may be worn to accommodate a swimmer’s individual needs and preferences, including in respect of modesty, religious or cultural purposes, gender identity, physical disability or in connection with any other protected attribute under federal or state anti-discrimination legislation provided any modification or proposed alternative swimsuit: (a) complies with the Swimming Australia Inclusive Swimwear Policy; and (b) is approved by the Technical Manager or Meet Referee prior to the swimmer’s first event at the relevant competition.
Note – Swimmers are not required to present hygiene swimwear to the Technical Manager/Meet Referee, however this swimwear is approved under the Policy.
You can read the policy here:
https://nsw.swimming.org.au/sites/default/files/assets/documents/SWIMMING-AUSTRALIA-INCLUSIVE-SWIMWEAR-POLICY-APRIL-2021.pdf