The qualifying window for the 2025 Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships and Home Nation Summer Meets will open on Friday 7th March and run through to Sunday 11th May.
The 2025 edition of the Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships - formerly the British Summer Championships - will take place at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield from 19th-25th July, bringing with it seven jam-packed days of great racing - including the ever-entertaining relay programme.
Entry to the key, end-of-season events is by invitation only, from long-course performances recorded in the designated qualifying window. The 2025 season will see a differential change in the number of swimmers offered the opportunity to compete in the Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships. This change is based on data and evaluations from previous editions.
In the 13/14-year age group, the 20 top-ranked swimmers in each group will be invited to compete. The 24 top-ranked swimmers in each event in the 15,16, 17 & 18-year-old age groups will be invited. In the 19 years & over age group, the 20 top-ranked swimmers will be invited to attend. The only exceptions to these numbers are the 800m and 1500m Freestyle events, where the top 18 swimmers will be invited in all but the 19+ age group, where 16 swimmers will be invited.
In addition to the changed numbers of invitations, following the 2024 coaches survey and consultation with key stakeholders, there are some changes to this year’s format, which are detailed below.
WHO ARE THE Aquatics GB NEXT GEN CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR?
The meet ONLY caters for the following categories of swimmer:
- Swimmers who are currently eligible to represent and have Great Britain as their recognised country of international representation with World Aquatics (irrespective of where in the world they live and train), and
- Foreign nationals who live and train in the United Kingdom for the majority of the calendar year in a British swimming club/programme.
No exceptions will be made - any athlete who does not sit within one of these categories will not receive an invite to compete.
Entries will only be accepted from competitors registered as members of an Aquatics GB Home Nation - Swim England, Scottish Swimming or Swim Wales.
CHANGES TO THE FORMAT
Following a consultation process with coaches, which included an online survey coupled with meetings with key Home Nation staff, we are pleased to announce that this year will see further revisions to the Next Gen Championships format.
- Ages for males & females - 13/14 years, 15 years, 16 years, 17 years, 18 years and 19 & over. For finals, the 17/18 year age groups will be combined.
- No 50m events for 13/14 years
- As per the last two years, qualification for all 50m events is via the rankings for the equivalent 100m event in the 15, 16 & 17 years age groups. Qualification for the 50m events in the 18 & 19+ years is via ranking times.
- Para-swimming events will take place over six days, 20th – 25th July 2025 inclusive and follow the April 2025 Aquatics GB Swimming Championship programme of events.
HOME NATION MEET CHOICE
Swimmers can choose to be entered into a Home Nation Summer Meet in two ways;
- Country of their ranked club (first claim club in Scotland)
- Country of International Representation
Swimmers should note, however, that when identifying qualifiers for the Home Nations meets, the automated system in place assumes athletes wish to be categorised by the country of their ranked club.
There is no direct relation to any decisions you made to attend any of the December 2024 Home Nation Winter meets or any previous summer meet decisions.
Swimmers wishing to be entered in to a Home Nation Summer Meet based on international representation MUST complete the form via the link HERE.
If you have any questions please email HNMeetChoice@aquaticsgb.com
Information must be received no later than 5pm on Tuesday 6th May 2025. There will be no exceptions, and no changes will be made after this time.
INTERIM RANKINGS LISTS
This year, weekly rankings lists will be published on a twice weekly basis (Tuesday and Friday) once the qualifying window opens. A final draft rankings list will be produced on 13th May 2025, once the window has closed. If it is believed that any of the data contained in the interim lists is incorrect or there are missing results, please report it by emailing british.events@aquaticsgb.com. These will only be rectified up until the point of which invitations are sent and not thereafter.
OPTING OUT
A dual approach to opting out will be taken. The principle of using the opt-out is to ensure that as many of the available places at the Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships are filled, with no empty spaces in events. Swimmers not wishing to compete in events are requested to withdraw to ensure other swimmers can be invited to the Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships and the respective Home Nation Summer Meets.
Swimmers can opt out of:
- All summer meets (2025 Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships and the Home Nation meets)
- 2025 Home Nation meet only (but available for the Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships if invited)
- 2025 Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships only (if you withdraw from the Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships, you will NOT be able to compete in those invited events at the Home Nation meet).
Swimmers wishing to opt out of any of the above, please complete the form via the link HERE by 5pm Tuesday 6th May 2025.
Swimmers will receive reminder emails during the window asking them to indicate their summer choice. Please note these reminder emails will be sent to the email address stated on the swimmer’s Online Membership System account.
ENTRY MECHANISM
The invite list for the Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships will be created on 13th May 2025 and invitations issued thereafter. At this point the invite lists for the Home Nation Competitions will also be finalised and published.
In keeping with the process for the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in April, para-swimming MC (multi-classification) participation will be by invitation only. Thereafter, the entry mechanism is as above.
CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS REMINDERS
To ensure that your invitation arrives, can you please ensure your email address is up to date through your Home Nation online membership system.
Further reminders of key dates and milestones will be posted on https://www.aquaticsgb.com/
