Applying for a License
All Applications for licensing must be sent to: meetlicensing@southeastswimming.org. Promoters reports must be sent to the same address within 14 days of the meet.
Open Meet licensing requirements
Swim England regularly update guidance for meet licensing. The very latest information is always published on the event licensing page of their website.
Swim England Transgender Policy (to be included in ALL applications for licensed events from 1st September 2023).
Licensed Meets levels, calendar and resources
Licensed Meets are swimming events licensed by Swim England. This means they have to meet certain standards to ensure fair competition.
The English swimming licensed meets calendar contains a range of ‘open’ meets, designed to give all competitive swimmers in England the chance to achieve their true potential.
Guide to the four levels of licensed meets
All licensed meets are subject to Swim England laws and Swim England Technical Rules of Racing. They are graded into four levels. For a detailed description of each level download the Swim England Open Meet Licensing Criteria PDF (updated 27 January 2020)
- Level 1 Meets are long course (50m) only and cover National, Regional and County Championships. Their purpose is to enable athletes to achieve qualifying times for entry into National, Regional and County Championships.
- Level 2 Meets are short course (25m) only and cover National, Regional and County Championships. Their purpose is to enable athletes to achieve qualifying times for entry into National, Regional and County Championships in short course.
- Level 3 Meets are long and short course events. Their purpose is to enable athletes to achieve times for entry into Regional and County Championships and other Meets at Level 1 or Level 2.
- Level 4 Meets are entry level events in pools 25m or greater. Borough Championships are an example. They are for inexperienced athletes and swimmers seeking to compete outside their club environment. If times are good athletes progress to Level 3 Meets.
The importance of insurance
All clubs, promoters and competition organisers are reminded that, for insurance purposes, all those officiating on poolside at any competition must be registered members of a British Swimming affiliated club’ to read ‘be a member of a club affiliated to Swim England, Scottish Swimming or Swim Wales.
For full information about licensing a gala in the South East Region please use the resources on the Swim England South East website. You should also refer to the Swim England Licensed Meet calendar when planning your event.
