About Competition

About Competition

A great part of being a Competitive swimmer at your Club is the ability to engage in competitions and improve your swimming skills.

There are a variety of swimming competitions, called meets, that you and your Club may attend. Each level of meet caters for swimmers at a particular stage of their development and swimming journey. There’s something for everyone when it comes to competing, from Club Development meets through to State and National Championships. The graphic below shows the hierarchy of meets in our competition pathway to help you find a meet to suit your current stage of development.

Swimming Queensland's Competition Pathway

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  • Types of Meets
  • Our competition pathway has been designed to offer a broad range of development opportunities, for all swimmers, in line with our Long Term Athlete Development philosophy.

    The above graphic is designed to help parents and swimmers understand our competition pathway and you can read more about each level of meet below. If you’re a club looking to host one of the below types of meets you can read more about running a meet.

    You can find out what meets are on in your area via our Events Calendar.

    Development Meets

    Development Meets are run by a region or club and don’t require you to have achieved a qualifying time in order to enter. These meets generally run no longer than 3 hours and follow a recommended events program prepared by Swimming Queensland. Times achieved at these meets may be used to qualify for Preparation Meets and Regional Championships.

    Transition Meets

    Similar to Development Meets, Transition Meets are run by a region or club and don’t require you to have achieved a qualifying time in order to enter. These meets generally run no longer than 4 hours and follow a recommended events program prepared by Swimming Queensland. Times achieved at Transition Meets can be used for all other meets, including Regional, State and National Championships.

    Preparation Meets

    Preparation Meets are also run by a region or club and are considered the next step on the pathway from Transition or Development meets. Some Preparation Meets may have qualifying times and Rule Tolerances are not applied at these meets. These meets may run over one or two days and follow a recommended events program prepared by Swimming Queensland. Times achieved at Preparation Meets can be used for all other meets, including Regional, State and National Championships.

    Regional Championships

    Regional Championships are run by your Region. Regions may choose to set qualifying times in order for members to enter their Championships. Rule Tolerances are not applied at these meets. Entry to Regional Championships is limited to your Region. Times achieved at Regional Championships can be used for all other meets.

    State Preparation Meets & Championships

    Swimming Queensland runs two types of meets – Preparation Meets and State Championships. Qualifying times are required in order to enter both of these types of meets. Rule Tolerances are not applied at these meets.  Members from across Queensland, as well as members from other states and national federations, may attend these meets if they have achieved the qualifying criteria. Consult the individual event’s page via our Events Calendar for more details.

    Age and Open Nationals

    Age and Open National Championships are held across the country each year by Swimming Australia. Swimmers are required to meet qualifying criteria in order to be able to enter the Championships. Times from these meets can be used to enter all other meets. National Championships are also used as a qualifying meet for selecting international Junior and Senior Australian teams. Visit the Swimming Australia website for more details on when and where National Championships are happening next.

  • Qualifying for Meets
  • As mentioned above, certain meets will require qualifying times for swimmers to be able to enter an event. If qualifying times are set for a meet you are trying to enter, in some cases you will need to have achieved the qualifying time within a certain time period in either Long Course (LC) or Short Course (SC). Always check the individual event page for entry and qualifying details.

    The below graphic will help you understand exactly where you can gain qualifying times for each type of meet.

    How to use times to qualify for future meets

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  • Entering Swim Meets
  • Most swim meets will require swimmers to enter online using our Online Meet Entry (OME) system through your Swim Central account or in some cases the individual meet event page on your Club, Region or the Swimming Queensland website. The Online Meet Entry (OME) system will show what events you qualify for using our national results database and take payment online if there is a fee for entering an event/attending the meet.

    If you need assistance completing an Online Meet Entry (OME), you can read our handy step-by-step guide to entering a swim meet.

  • Results From Your Swim
  • After a meet, the organiser e.g. the Club/Region that hosted, will upload the results through Swim Central. Your results can be viewed through your individual Swim Central portal.

  • Competition Policies and Rules
  • There are certain policies and rules that apply to competitive swimming. Some of these will be in reference to how a meet should be conducted or the requirements of a pool for competition. There are some policies and rules however that apply to you as a member. You can download a copy of these policies via our Policies & Procedures page.

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