County Team Selection Policy

 

The County Team is selected by a panel of 3, chaired by the Team Manager. The Team Manager is a nominated member of the county Swimming Committee. For all events, the panel decision is final.

 

Three Counties Gala 

 

The Three Counties gala takes place around July and involves squads from Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Staffordshire. The selection policy for the Three Counties gala is as follows. 

 

1. Swimmers will be selected from the short course ranking data from the Swim England National Rankings and only times swam within the last 12 months will be considered. 

2. Swimmers will be selected as ‘Age on Day’.

3. Invitations may be withdrawn if club coaches raise significant concerns about the current level of swimming activity or deemed competition fitness of a swimmer. Coaches are encouraged to inform the Team Manager of such concerns prior to sending out the invitation.

4. If a swimmer is unable to take up their place on the team, the next best replacement is invited. 

5. A county competition takes priority over other swimming competitions. If a swimmer declines a place on the team in favour of swimming elsewhere, future selection for the team may be in jeopardy. 

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We always aim to select the fastest possible team. Swimmers may be entered to swim events that are not their number one event. Some swimmers may also be asked to swim in one relay or just one event. 

 

Swim England National County Team Championships

The Inter County Championships take place around October and is competed across two divisions with up to 40 counties taking part. For us, this event occurs over a weekend, travelling on a Saturday, an overnight stay in a hotel with the competition on the Sunday. The selection policy is as follows:

 

1. Swimmers will be selected from the short course ranking data from the Swim England National Rankings and only times swam within the last 12 months will be considered. 

2. Swimmers will be selected age as at 31st December. 

3. Invitations may be withdrawn if club coaches raise significant concerns about the current level of swimming activity or deemed competition fitness of a swimmer. Coaches are encouraged to inform the Team Manager of such concerns prior to sending out the invitation. 

4. If a swimmer is unable to take up their place on the team, the next best replacement is invited. 

5. A county competition takes priority over other swimming competitions. If a swimmer declines a place on the team in favour of swimming elsewhere, future selection for the team may be in jeopardy. 

 

For this event, we aim to control selection (where possible) to a maximum of 30 swimmers. We always aim to select the fastest possible team. Swimmers may be entered to swim events that are not their number one event. Some swimmers may also be asked to swim in one relay or just one event.