Important swimming competitions held in Bangalore

Swimming competitions are held almost all year round. Most competitions are scheduled between March to October. The peak season is from August to November and March to June here in Bangalore. This is excluding state-level and national-level competitions. 

These swim meets are meant for swimmers who want to participate in junior and sub-junior levels.

Why are swimming competitions important?

 Swimming competitions can be a great way to check your child’s progress and see where they stand.

Each swimmer should be well prepared to participate in the swim meets and know the swim events they should prepare for.

It helps swimmers to push themselves against fellow competitors and improve their timings. A competitive spirit is always healthy and is a way to provide a benchmark for future training.

Swimming competitions provide young swimmers with an opportunity to showcase their skills and talent for the sport. This can help them to later pursue a career in swimming, with the possibility of sponsorship. 

Swimming competitions in Bangalore happen at 

You would need proper swim gear to participate in swimming competitions. You will find recommendations to buy competitive swimsuits for girls, swim goggles, and swim caps here.

One of the important sites to visit to know the latest information on swimming is the Swimming Federation of India. This is the national governing body for aquatic sports in India and it oversees swimming, synchronized swimming, diving, high diving, and water polo competitions. It provides all information on national-level swimming competitions, usually requiring state-level qualification first. 

Your swimming club, swimming academy, and schools are usually informed beforehand about these events, as they will receive an invitation. For these reasons, it is usually wise to join the swim team or a club, in order to participate in these events easily. 

How to participate in swimming competitions

To participate in these events, you have to register well in advance. Additionally, there might be an entry fee for participating in these events, but these are not large in amount and are usually to provide the swimmers with some basic provisions during the meet and to fund the organization. 

All swimmers can usually participate in only 3 individual events in most of these swim meets. This does not include participation in the relay events. This is to ensure every swimmer has a fair chance and allow individual swimmers to showcase their best in their race. 

For participation, races are divided based on boys and girls and age. There are 5 groups. For every two years, there is an age group. (from 8 years to 17). For e.g: Group IV boys are currently kids born in 2013 and 2014 only.

The cut-off dates for registration are mentioned as part of the competition’s entry details.

The age groups may vary based on the level of competition you are choosing to participate in.

For researching swimming competitions, you will have to check locally first. Most zonal and national level swimming competitions require qualification from state, inter-school or club-level competitions. 

Written below is a list of swimming competitions held in Bangalore annually. 

Please note, the dates given are the approximate months when these events are held.

State and National Level swim meet

Karnataka State level

The most important is the Karnataka state sub-junior swimming championship. 1st and 2nd place winners from this event qualify for Nationals and participate in the Junior National Aquatic Championships. 

This competition has qualification times, so if you do choose to participate in this competition, make sure you can reach them before you go. If you do not reach out to them, your timing would not be considered during the race.

The state meet is held 2 times a year, once in late May and once in December. December and May are short-course (25m) and long-course (50m) respectively. The venues change every time, so to find the event dates and venue, visit their Facebook or their Instagram page. Alternatively, you can also ask your coach. 

In 2023, the state meet for all age groups and seniors will be held from 30th May to 2nd June 2023 at BAC.

SGFI

If you choose to participate from your school instead of a club, the next most important swim meet is the National School Games Swimming Meet held by SGFI (Student Games Federation of India). This happens in November and is followed by other qualifications. 

Other than national and state-level swimming meets there are many that are also held at the club level. If you are part of a club, your coach will receive an invitation to the meet and sign you up as a member of the team. These competitions can be excellent exposure before state meets to discern a general feel for the competition. Here are few worth mentioning.

ISSO Swim Meet

Almost every board in India has its respective national games federation. Children going to international schools can participate in ISSO (International School Sports Association) Swim Meet.

You will participate in a different swim meet depending on which board you are from. ISSO swim meet happens in the month of September every year. Winners from these competitions qualify for SGFI and travel to Delhi for the final races. Following SGFI is Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG), which is an even more serious competition for the best.

CISCE Sports & Games

CISCE (Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations) sports and games has a regional and national level swimming competition. The regional-level competition happens in August in different states in India.

Goa Swimathon

This event is an annual long-distance open-water swimming competition. Registration for Goa Swimathon starts 2-3 months before the actual event. Children above 8 years of age can participate in this event. If you are interested, you can check the above article.

Near Bangalore too, there are open water swimming contests. One such is BMF (Bangalore Moutain Festival) swimathon.

Bangalore Mountain Festival (BMF) is a team of ex-National level athletes organizing running, cycling, triathlon, climbing, and duathlons for the past 8 yrs and happens during Feb-Mar.
Insta page: mountain festival adventures. Sub-juniors can also participate in this.

Club level swim meet

Utpulta is held usually in the month of October and is organized by Rotary club Bangalore. The venue changes every year. It is a non-medalist meet, meaning that swimmers who have never won in state or nationals are only allowed to participate. 

Floating Arena in association with Medley Aquatic Acedemy presents Non Medalist swim meet. It’s happening first time in 2023 in Malagala on 6th August.

School-level swim meet

If you wish to participate in inter-school competitions, you should be in a school with a swimming pool or swimming team, so that you can participate through the school. Try out for your school team and it is likely that you will be invited to Inter School Competitions through your school. 

There are numerous inter-school competitions held in Bangalore such as 

• Treamis
• Trojan’s Cup (TISB)
• Cambridge
• Invictus (Greenwood High) 
• Eagles Cup (Indus) 
• JASE Cup (Jain International)
• Pooja Aquatic Centre Swim Meet

We will update this list regularly. You can reach out to us at swimmingstreamline101@gmail.com if you know about some swim contests that are held in Bangalore & and needs to be included here.