Swim England cancels all its events for 2020

Swim England, the National Governing Body for swimming in England, announced on 27 May that it has cancelled all its sanctioned events for 2020.

This includes Open Water National Masters Championships and the National Masters (pool) Championships, which take place annually in October.

George Wood, Swim England Director of Sport Development, said: “We know our athletes will be saddened to hear we’ve called off the remainder of our events this year – we’re extremely disappointed too.

“It was a decision we deliberated long and hard over but felt that with the current uncertainty still surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, and with no knowledge as to when mass gatherings will be allowed, we were better off starting to prepare for next year’s competitions.”

Meanwhile, the organisation is working on guidelines to support the reopening of pools, which they expect to publish on 15 June, adding that they don’t expect any pools to open before 4 July.

The actual reopening date will be determined by the government, not Swim England.

The competitions that will no longer take place are as follows:

• September: Swim England Open Water National Masters Championships (Nene Park, Peterborough)
• October: Swim England National County Team Championships (Ponds Forge); Swim England Masters National Championships (Ponds Forge)
• November: Swim England Water Polo National Age Group Championships U15s Finals (Ponds Forge); Swim England Artistic Swimming National Masters Championships (K2 Crawley); Swim England Masters Swimming Inter County Team Event (various venues)
• December: Swim England Winter Championships (Ponds Forge).