Beginners guide

MHSC is a Swim England affiliated club - this ensures that you get expert tuition and guidance.

Swimming at MHSC covers 2 areas:

  1. Learn to Train (Swim England call this 'Train')
  2. Competitive Swimming (Swim England call this 'Compete')

The foundation of the club is learning to swim. We call this Learn to Train as it provides swimmers with the baseline skills that they need to start training & swimming competitively. Once a swimmer can swim 3 out of the 4 main strokes, they potentially move into the competitive swimming side of the club. We continue to work on the technical skills of being a swimmer as well as gradually increasing the number of hours that they swim - to work on speed & endurance. Regardless of which Competitive Squad a swimmer is in, they are then eligible to enter the following:

Club Galas

At a Gala, swimmers are racing for MHSC as a team. Swimmers of different age groups will make up the team, from Diddies to our over 16yrs swimmers. Some galas are part of Leagues, whereas others are friendly (against other local swim clubs). The leagues that we are part of are:

October - December

January - March

March - June

The Leicester Diddy League - this is a series of galas for swimmers aged 8 up to 12 years old, and is a great introduction to the fun of racing with and for your team. At a gala swimmers will race in individual events, and in relays, against swimmers of the same age group from other swim clubs. The closer to finishing first in your event, the more points you score for the team. The team is selected by the Head Coach or their deputy, and swimmers are given the races / relays that they will be swimming for the team.

Typically, galas are unlicensed (*see below) and so the times that swimmers record aren't recognised by Swim England. This means that they don't appear in 'Rankings', however, we do use the information to help with team selection for future events.

There is no fee for the swimmer to race, however, a small spectator fee is charged for anyone wishing to stay and support the team from the stands. The louder our spectators cheer the better!

Club Championships

Depending upon the swimmer's age & ability there is an expectation that swimmers will compete in the Club Championships. As a club we offer swimmers the opportunity to swim the following races at least once annually: 25/50m Freestyle (the distance is age dependant)

Club Championships are licensed. The entry fee for the Club Championships is presently covered by your Membership Fees.

Open Meets

The club will enter a few Open Meets every year, in addition to the Key Competitions listed further on. At an Open Meet a swimmer is swimming for themselves and their own times. Open Meets are all licensed, and therefore all swimmer's times will appear on Rankings.

Swimmers (with the help of their Coach) will choose which events they would like to enter. The fee to enter varies at each Open Meet, and the more events you enter the more you pay. Typically the fee is from £5 - £8 per event. There is an additional fee to spectate.

Licensed Meets

All licensed meets are subject to Swim England Regulations and the Swim England Technical Rules of Racing. They are graded into four levels:

At these events, swimmers are racing for themselves / their own times.

For most swimming competitions athletes are split into groups based on their age on 31 December that year. However, there are some competitions for which age groups are based on a swimmer's age on the day of competition. Meets swum in a 25m pool are called 'short course' and those in a 50m pool are called 'long course'.

Swimmers will be seeded for their races against their submitted times on Rankings, rather than by age. This means that you may not be racing swimmers of your age in the heats. Finals, however, are split into age groups. Swimmers are aiming to achieve pb's, target times, race skill improvement etc.

Key swimming competitions in England

Getting into the sport of swimming you would start competing at lower level Licensed Meets. As you progress you work your way to the bigger events. Here are some key English competitions.

These key target meets essentially split the swimming calendar into 2 Seasons:

At MHSC we typically aim for swimmers to qualify at Leicestershire County Championships and the East Midlands Regional Championships. However we will support swimmers all of the way to British Nationals if that's where their swim journey takes them.

If you would like any more information about swimming, the Swim England website has lots of useful articles. Alternatively, please speak to our Head Coach. Don't worry, if the full world of competitive swimming isn't for you, you can choose how far to take the sport. We offer swim training for all levels of commitment - fitness swimming to competitive performance. The most important thing is that you enjoy the sport, and continue to enjoy it for as many years as possible.