What are the main swimming events in competitions?

Before you participate in swimming competitions, you should be ready for it. Are you been trained by the right swimming coach? What are your timings for different events? Do these timings match the cut-off timings to participate in certain swimming events? Are you comfortable with dives and flip-turns and more importantly, have you practiced enough?

There are different swimming competitions held at different levels.

Most of the swim meets have similar types of events. For swimming competitions at the school and club level, the swim meet completed in a day. For state and national level competitions, it might be scheduled for 3-4 days.

Age criteria for participating in swim meets

The groups in which children participate are usually based on age. Depending on the date of birth, your child will compete in the following age group.

• Group 1 are boys and girls who are 15, 16, and 17 years old
• Group 2 are boys and girls who are 12, 13, and 14 years old
• Group 3 are boys and girls who are 10 and 11 years old
• Group 4 and group 5 are sometimes included to take care of children above 8.

Group 1 is usually called the junior level and group 2 to group 5 is the sub-junior level.

The cut-off dates for the date of birth depends on the event organizers themselves. The swimmers usually need to carry their birth certificates/ aadhar cards as their age proof. 

The swimmers will need to submit their best timings for the event for entry.

For participating at the state level, children should be registered swimmers. Registration usually happens through the swim clubs and the academies the swimmer is associated with.

There is a nominal entry fee for each event.

The state swimming championship usually happens twice a year, one is the short course ( the 25 m pool) and the other is the long one (50 m pool). They can be held in any part of the state.

What are the 4 main strokes of swimming?

There are 4 main strokes for swimming freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. Swimming competitions cover these 4 strokes and then they are associated with different distances. Here are swimming events that are generally held.

These may vary with age and gender

• Freestyle: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 1500 m
• Backstroke: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m
• Breaststroke: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m
• Butterfly: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m
• Individual medley: 100 m (short course only), 200 m, 400 m
• Relays: 4×50 m freestyle relay (short course only), 4×100 m freestyle, 4×200 m freestyle, 4×50 m medley relay (short course only), 4×100 m medley

How are the winners chosen?

There are usually 2 ways that the winners are chosen for these swimming competitions.

The swimmers are arranged in descending order based on their previous timings. Depending on the lanes available for the swimming pool, they are grouped into different heats. So if there are 8 lanes in the swimming pool, 8 swimmers with consecutive timings in the ascending order will compete in a single heat. Times are recorded for each swimmer in each of these heats. The top 3 timings win the top 3 positions for that event. 

Sometimes a final race is held between the top 6 -8 swimmers after the heats in the event and the winner is chosen.

What is the usual order of events in a swim meet?

The events are usually held with the oldest age group competing first. The same event is usually held for all age groups. Then the next event is selected. The medleys happen at the end of the day. 

How to choose the swimming events you want to participate in?

Usually, all swimming competitions allow each swimmer to choose 3 to 5 events. 

Swimmers need to know their main stroke. The coach then guides the swimmers to select their events.

What do you need before the competition starts?

Please arrive at the venue well before time.

There is a registration process that happens for all swim events. You need to provide an age proof and also might need to fill up a form.

You can go for a warm-up once the registration formalities are done. There is a time allocated for all swimmers for the warm-up.

The warm-up is essential for any swimmer participating in that day’s competition. 

You must carry your food and other swim equipment and accessories for the competition. Carry snacks for eating before, during, and after swimming.