If your child has started racing, two phrases come up again and again: open meets and county championships. They sound similar, both involve racing other clubs, and it is easy to assume they are the same kind of event with a different name. They are not. Understanding open meet vs county championships is one of the quickest ways to make sense of the competitive swimming calendar and to know what your child is actually working towards.
In one sentence: an open meet is a regular competition your child can choose to enter throughout the year, while a county championship is a single annual event your child has to qualify for. This guide explains how the two differ, how they connect, and which your child should be aiming at right now.
The short answer
An open meet is a Swim England licensed competition that is open to swimmers from any club, provided they meet the age and entry-time requirements for each event. Open meets run most weekends across a region and are the everyday pathway of competitive swimming. They are where your child gains racing experience, records personal bests, and chips away at the qualifying times needed for bigger events.
A county championship is the annual championship for the fastest swimmers in a county, across every age group. Your child can only enter if they have already swum a county qualifying time, and they swim at the championships for the single county their club is affiliated to. It is a step up in standard and a rung on the competitive ladder that leads to regional and then national championships.
So the relationship is simple once you see it: your child races at open meets to earn the qualifying times that unlock the county championships.
Open meet vs county championships at a glance
| Open meet | County championships | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A regular licensed competition open to many clubs | The annual championship for a county’s fastest swimmers |
| How often | Most weekends, several a year | Once a year, usually winter or early spring |
| Who can enter | Any swimmer meeting the event’s age and entry times | Only swimmers who have achieved the county qualifying time |
| Do you choose to enter? | Yes, you and your coach pick the meets and events | No, your child must qualify first |
| Run by | Host clubs, licensed by Swim England | The county association (ASA) |
| Typical format | Usually timed finals (swim once) | Often heats and finals |
| Purpose | Racing practice, personal bests, chasing qualifying times | Championship racing and progression towards regionals |
Who can enter each one
This is the biggest practical difference for a swim parent.
For an open meet, your child enters because you and the coach decide it suits them. Each event has its conditions: higher-level meets use qualifying (lower limit) times, so only swimmers who are fast enough can enter, while Level 3 and entry-level meets use upper limit times, so developing swimmers are not pitched against far quicker children. If your child meets the conditions and is registered with Swim England, they can take part. Our open meets explained guide walks through the four meet levels and how entry times work.
For a county championship, there is no choosing. Your child must have already achieved the county qualifying time, sometimes called a consideration time, for that exact event, age group, stroke and distance, and they must have swum it within the qualifying period the county sets. Counties publish their own times and dates, and your club secretary or coach will know which events your child has qualified for. The county championships parent guide covers what qualification looks like and what to expect on the day.
How often each one happens
Open meets are frequent. Clubs across your region host them throughout the season, so a swimmer can race at several over a year and build up a body of times. That regularity is the point: racing often is how young swimmers improve and how they accumulate the times that matter.
A county championship is a one-off annual event, usually held over a weekend in winter or early spring, with each county running its own. Because it comes round only once a year and demands a qualifying time, it carries more weight, and qualifying for it is genuinely an achievement in itself.
How the two connect
The clearest way to think about it is a ladder, and open meets are how your child climbs it.
- Your child races regularly at open meets and records official times.
- Those times are logged on the Swim England database because the meets are licensed.
- When a time beats the county qualifying time, your child has qualified for the county championships.
- A strong county result, in turn, can lead towards regional and then national qualifying times.
This is why a fast time only counts when it is swum at a licensed meet. A brilliant swim at an unlicensed event will not unlock anything. If you would like to understand the times themselves, our guide on understanding your child’s swim times explains personal bests and the qualifying-time ladder in plain English.
Which should my child be aiming at?
For most young swimmers, the honest answer is open meets, and plenty of them. They are the right environment for learning to race, managing nerves, and improving steadily, without the pressure of a championship. County championships are not a goal you set directly; they are a result of swimming county qualifying times at open meets, which only happens with time and consistent racing.
If your child has not yet qualified for counties, that is completely normal, and chasing a county time should not become the only measure of a good season. Some children develop earlier and some later. A swimmer knocking seconds off their personal bests at open meets is making exactly the progress that, in time, leads to qualification. For the wider picture of what competitive swimming involves, see our parents’ guide to competitive swimming in the UK.
If they have qualified, brilliant. Treat the championship as the milestone it is, lean on your child’s coach for which events to swim, and read the county championships parent guide before the day so the heat sheets and the long waits hold no surprises.
You can read Swim England’s own summary of how meets are licensed on the licensed meets page at swimming.org.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an open meet and county championships?
An open meet is a regular Swim England licensed competition that any swimmer can enter if they meet the age and entry-time requirements, and they run throughout the year. County championships are a single annual championship for the fastest swimmers in a county, and you can only enter if you have already achieved your county’s qualifying time. In short, open meets are where your child races regularly and collects qualifying times; county championships are the once-a-year event those times can unlock.
Do you have to qualify for county championships?
Yes. To enter a county championship your child must have achieved the county qualifying time, sometimes called a consideration time, for that event, age group, stroke and distance within the qualifying period. Those times are almost always recorded at Swim England licensed open meets. Each county sets and publishes its own qualifying times and dates, so check with your club secretary or coach for the events your child has qualified for.
Can any swimmer enter an open meet?
Almost. An open meet is open to swimmers from any club, but each event still has age and entry-time conditions. Higher-level meets use qualifying (lower limit) times so only fast enough swimmers can enter, while Level 3 and entry-level meets use upper limit times so developing swimmers race against others of a similar standard. Entries go through your own club rather than direct to the host.
How often are open meets and county championships held?
Open meets run regularly throughout the season, with clubs across a region hosting them most weekends, so your child can race at several each year. A county championship is held once a year, usually over a weekend in winter or early spring, and your child can only swim at the championships for the county their club is affiliated to.
Do open meet times count towards county championship qualification?
Yes. Times swum at Swim England licensed open meets are recorded officially and count towards county, regional and national qualifying times. That is the main reason open meets matter: they are where your child chases the county qualifying time that earns a place at the county championships. A fast time at an unlicensed event does not count for qualification.
Final thoughts
Open meets and county championships are not rivals, and they are not interchangeable. Open meets are the regular racing your child does throughout the year; county championships are the annual peak that regular racing can build towards. Once you see open meets as the everyday road and counties as the milestone at the end of it, the competitive calendar stops feeling like a maze and starts to make sense.
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