Dates for the Diary
| 26 Sept | Novice Gala |
| 14 Nov | Novice Gala |
| 10 Nov | Home Championships – Fly/Front Crawl |
| 13 Nov | Home Championships – IM / Back |
| 17 Nov | Home Championships – 200m / Breast |
| 24 Nov | Fundraiser |
| 18 Dec | Xmas Break-up – no swimming after this date |
| 5 Jan | Swimming resumes |
2026/2027 Open Meets
| Date | Event/Location | Level | Details |
| 17 & 18th October 2026 | WDSC (Dorchester) | 3 | Entry now closed |
| 17th & 18th October 2026 | COSS Southampton | 3 | Short course (25m) |
| 12 & 13 December 2026 | WDSC Yuletide Opener | 3 | |
| 12 &13 December 2026 | Winchester Sports & Leisure Park | 3 | Long course (50m) |
| March 2027 TBC | COSS Spring Meet | 3 | Short course (25m) 1st come 1st served |
| 25 April 2027 | Winchester Sports & Leisure Park | 3 | Long course (50m) |
| 5 &6 June 2027 | Salisbury Stingrays | 3 | Short course (25m) |
| June 2027 TBC | COSS Summer Splash Meet | 3 | Short course (25m) 1st come 1st served |
| 17 &18 July 2027 | Winchester Sports & Leisure | 3 | Long course (50m) |
What is an Open Meet?
Open Meets are swimming events licensed by Swim England. They are subject to Swim England Regulations and the Swim England Technical Rules of Racing. The events have to meet certain standards to ensure fair competition and are designed to give all competitive swimmers the chance to set official times and progress towards County, Regional and National competitions.
Ringwood Seals is supportive of children who would like to take part in Open Meets. Below is some information about them and the help we require from parents in order to provide this option.
There are four levels of Open Meets:
Level 4 (L4) Meets are entry level events in 25m or 50m pools. They are for inexperienced swimmers seeking to compete outside their club environment.
Level 3 (L3) Meets may be long (50m) or short (25m) course events. Their purpose is to enable athletes to achieve qualifying times for entry into Regional and County Championships and other Meets at Level 1 or Level 2.
Level 1 & 2 Meets enable athletes to achieve qualifying times for entry into National, Regional and County Championships. Level 1 are long course (50m) and Level 2 events are short course (25m).
We have established connections with the clubs that organise local Open Meets: Christchurch Seagulls, West Dorset (at Dorchester), Salisbury Stingrays, and City of Southampton. We do not recommend Winchester Long Course (50m) meets at this stage as they are very competitive and quite daunting for newcomers.
Robbie Miller is the main coach contact at Seals for entries into Open Meets, so any questions should be directed to him.
Entering Open Meets as a Club
Swim England introduced new rules for supervising teams at Open Meets and other events. To manage a team of up to 10 swimmers requires two Coaches or one Coach (minimum level 2) and a Team Manager (minimum TM1). With a team of 10-20 swimmers supported by a single Coach, two Team Managers are necessary. This is a particular handicap for small clubs such as Ringwood Seals and limits our ability to enter Open Meets. Our Coaches are all volunteers and already give up lots of their time running the club so we need assistance from parents/guardians to fulfill the Team Manager roles required to attend these events.
If only a few swimmers are interested (less than 5) it may not be feasible to enter as a club. In this case, the swimmers can still enter as individuals.
Could you be a Team Manager?
If you are a parent/guardian of a swimmer that regularly attends Open Meets, could you volunteer for the Team Manager role? This involves attending a 2-hour online Team Manager Course Workshop (TM1). In addition, the role needs enhanced DBS with barred list check and attendance of an approved safeguarding training course. The Club can advise on this and will cover all costs. The more Team Managers we have, the easier it becomes to attend Open Meets as a Club.
Eligibility for Open Meets
A swimmer must be registered with Swim England at the Club Compete level (all swimmers are automatically registered by Ringwood Seals at the lower level of Club Train). This must be done before the Open Meet and generally takes a few days to complete. The cost of this upgrade is currently £26.50. You can pay this to us and we will carry out the upgrade for you, or you can contact Swim England directly.
To enter these events, we suggest a minimum age of 9 years and to at least be swimming in the second session.
Entering an Open Meet with Ringwood Seals
Swimmers need to provide us with the events they want to swim in at least one week before the Meet submission date. Meets fill up almost immediately so it’s important to be ready for the opening date for submissions or you could miss out. There are entry fees for the Meet and for each individual event (e.g. 50m Fly). The costs for each event are usually £8 to £9. We will request payments after we receive confirmation that our entries have been accepted.
Entering an Open Meet as an Individual
To enter an Open Meet as an individual, follow the instructions provided by the event organiser. Generally, swimmers would wait for their events in the spectator area with an accompanying parent and not be at poolside.