Secondary Team Championships

The Secondary Schools Team Relay Championships organiser is Tim Hartley

The Secondary Schools Team Relay Championships is the longest running championship series organised by the ESSA.
It is open to secondary school aged swimmers from across England, including state, public and home-schooled students.
Teams compete in 4x50m Freestyle and Medley relays.
The Championships is run as a national final with competing schools determined by the fastest times achieved in a qualifying round organised by the ESSA divisions.
Some divisions hold multiple qualifying galas in different locations to ensure a wide participation.
In 2022 we had two thousand and ninty-nine teams from over three hundred schools that participated in the qualifying round in twenty separate galas across the country.

2024 Event

Sat 16^th November 2024 - 66^th Secondary Schools' Team Championships
Timings (TBC):
09:30 – 12:40 : Pool Familiarisation
12:50 : Opening Ceremony
13:00 – 17:00 : Competition Events (Start - Estimated Finish)
Medal/Award presentations will occur immeadiately after each block of Finals
This will provide a short break for officials and those not involved in the presentations

Venue : The Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Birmingham.
Start Lists, Results, Live Streaming and Records

Regulations

Regulations for the event were last changed in August 2017 (these will be revised for Sept 2024)

Secondary Schools Team Championships Regulations (Sept 2024)

Ages are calculated at midnight 31st August/1st September at the beginning of academic year of competition:

e.g. for competitions in school year 2024/25, swimmers must have been born in the date range below (inclusive) to participate in that age-group's events:
NOTE: Nominal school years are provided for information only and will not apply if a student is outside of the normal intake age for the year e.g. if they have retaken a year.

	Date of Birth		Age		Normally School year		Date of Birth range
Age Group	Latest	Earliest	From	To	From	To	Date of Birth range
Junior	31/08/13	01/09/11	11	12	7	8	01/09/11 - 31/08/13
Inter.	31/08/11	01/09/09	13	14	9	10	01/09/09 - 31/08/11
Senior	31/08/09	01/09/06	15	17	11	13	01/09/06 - 31/08/09

Start Lists, Results and Streaming

Start Lists, Results and Streaming of the event will be available from our live event page [the streaming remains available from last year's event].
Livestreaming is produced by Hexibox logo Photography by malaper photography
There are links to the results of previous years' championships and the championship Records at the bottom of this page.

Qualification Round:

See Divisional Pages and the map below for qualification round events in your area.
See the Frequently Asked Questions below for further information about the event - including how to enter

Qualification Round: Results

A full listing of the consolidated results from the qualification round, together with a list of qualifying and reserve schools for each event is available below:TBA

National Finals:

Officials

This is not a licensed meet. We are currently short of a few volunteer Officials to help make the event run smoothly
We invite officials to sign up to officiate at the national finals using the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/KgxAjqcvsP
Expenses will be paid in accordance with our expenses policy:

Expenses Policy - Officials

Expenses Form - Officials

Photography vouchers

This year the photographer is offering pre-event vouchers and commissions, which can be found in the Product section of the gallery, and will be available for purchase up to TBA
Pre-event vouchers are designed to give more credit than their initial value.
Purchasing a voucher prior to an event does not guarantee that a picture will be taken of a specific participant of the event.
You can order a commission for the photographer to photograph a specific participant or group of participants during their races.
Gallery link: https://malaperphotography.instaproofs.com/essasecondary2024
The gallery is online and accessible with just 2 placeholder images. The password for access has been temporarily been removed – it will be reinstated when the images from the event are live (usually a few days after the event to allow checking) and will be available from your Divisional representative.

Finalists

The event handbook contains important information, and answers many common questions, about the event including timings, travel information, and so much more.
Please read this carefully in preparing for and attending the event.
Please do not email questions to the organisers until you have read this handbook - the answer is probably in there, but we are always happy to answer questions or provide clarification where it is not.

ESSA Secondary Schools Team Championships Handbook 2023 (V2 - Updated 15th Nov)

The Pool Familiarisation Schedule will be made available shortly before the championships

It is ESSENTIAL that qualifiers and reserves complete the information required in the letter within the Qualifiers (and Reserves) pack by TBA.

NOTE: The qualifiers pack is a zip file containing a number of documents. If you download on a mobile you may see only one file (typically the Conditions of the championships). To see the full contents you may have to go to your downloads folder

There are a number of different forms for finalists to complete - these are in the qualifiers pack:

The Acceptance form is an online form (link in the letter within the pack) – this will be available from midday TBA Oct and needs to be completed by TBA Nov to secure your place.
- As soon as you fill this in and click ‘submit’, the details are sent electronically to us.
The Accreditation form for Team managers/Adults accompanying the team (link in the letter within the pack) – this needs to be filled in for each adult.
- The form needs to be completed for any adult that form part of your team delegation i.e. that will be with the swimmers in the balcony seating area or poolside.
  - Provide a passport style photo
  - Provide your DBS number and date of issue
  - Provide a photo of your school photo ID or
  - an authorisation letter from the head teacher:
    - stating you are a teacher at the school or
    - in the case of a non-staff member (e.g., a parent/club coach) stating they had authorisation to supervise the swimmers on the school's behalf
  - With regards to the safeguarding training, we are asking that adults who are directly in contact with the swimmers provide evidence to confirm that safeguarding training has been undertaken (within the last 3 years)
    - Acceptable evidence includes a photocopy/screenshot of a suitable training certificate or an email from the school confirming the adult has conducted such training
- Without completing the form adults will not receive a pass and security will prevent them entering into the swimmer areas (changing rooms / swimmer balcony seating / poolside).
The Swimmer Nomination Form is an excel spreadsheet (with pdf alternative) which needs to be completed with swimmer details and handed in on the day at the registration desk
Secondary Schools Team Championships - Swimmer Nomination Form (xlsx)
Please use the excel (xlsx) version where possible as this will perform age checks automatically
Secondary Schools Team Championships - Swimmer Nomination Form (pdf)
when using the pdf version, please ensure information is legible to avoid delays.
The Swimmer Consent form, which needs to be filled out for each swimmer and retained by the team manager for the school – this is only required to be passed to ESSA if there is an incident or issue on the day.
Secondary Schools Team Championships - Consent form

Additionally there is a merchandise order form (not included in the pack - see below).

Please note that Coach/Mini-bus pre-booking parking is now full and the on-line form has been closed.

Spectator tickets

Spectator space is limited. This year we are selling spectator tickets in advance. A few may be available on the day, but are not guaranteed.
Ticket Sales : TBA
Spectators will be required to show their tickets which will be sent to their email upon entry to the spectator balcony.

Parking

Car Parking
- Limited Parking is available at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre. We anticipate parking at the Centre will be difficult and recommend traveling by public transport where possible.
- Designated disabled parking bays located at the front of the building alongside the drop of area. Please ensure you have a valid disabled badge on display when parking in one of our designated disabled and accessible parking spaces.
Coach Parking
- The small number of spaces for coaches/Mini Busses have all been allocated on a first-come basis. Schools that have not pre-booked are advised to drop off their swimmers and find alternative parking away from the Centre.

Merchandise

Details of event merchandise (T-shirts, Hoodies, Hats & Towels) will be available from the Merchandise page (click HERE).

The deadline for pre-ordered personalised t-shirts and hoodies for this event is TBA.
We will also have some non-personalised merchandise available to purchase on the day at the championships. Stock is limited and is sold on a 'first-come' basis.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Who can enter?

This is a team event where swimmers represent their school rather than their club. It is open to all secondary school aged swimmers. All schools are automatically affiliate to ESSA on entry to any of its events; there is no need to pre-register or affiliate. Home schooled swimmers that wish to participate should contact their division representative.
Para swimmers represent their division.

How does my school enter?

Entry forms are made available by each division for their qualifying gala. These forms are often emailed by division representatives to schools that have previously participated or expressed an interest, and are also made available via the division's webpage of this website. Schools may enter only ONE qualifying gala. Some qualifying round galas permit a school to enter more than one team in each age group, but this is subject to the organisers discretion and only the nominated A team will be eligible for progression to the national finals.
Para teams are organised by the division's representative, so if you have a swimmer in your school who is interested in competing, please contact your division representative.

When is the qualifying event in our area?

All qualification galas are published on the relevant division's webpage of this website.
Schools are not restricted to entering galas in their own division (or county where events are organised at a county level), however the organiser may place restrictions on out of area schools to ensure safe and efficient running of their gala.

What events are included?

Teams compete in 4x50m Freestyle and Medley relays. These are always run short-course (in a 25m pool) during the qualifying round. National Finals are usually run long-course (in a 50m pool); however, this is subject to the availability of a suitable pool. There are three age groups (Junior, Intermediate and Senior), each of which is run as a Boys and a Girls event.
In addition, Divisions can enter Para teams, run as separate Boys and Girls events, with a range of disability point to accommodate a wide range of para swimmers.

Can we enter a team with an underage swimmer?

No, swimmers must be within the applicable age range for their age group. ESSA events are based on age groups that set upper and lower ages for swimmers. Ages are based on ages at the start of the academic year (31st August/1st September).

Can we change swimmers between rounds?

Yes, A team can be changed between the qualifying round and the national finals. Further changes can be made between the heats and finals of an event within the National Finals gala. Also, whilst each age group can participate in a Freestyle and Medley relay, there is no requirement for these to use the same four swimmers.