Swimming NSW State Squads

Athletes who are listed on Swimming Australia’s 2020/21 Olympic Program Categorisation list as Podium or Podium Potential will have access to Swimming NSW resources and may request funding to assist with their training and competition throughout the year.  To be eligible for financial support, coaches in collaboration with their athlete must submit an Individual Athlete Performance Plan (IAPP). Funding may be provided to squad members based on their IAPP and as assessed by the NSW Technical Lead. Athletes will be supported for as long as they are categorised by Swimming Australia.

Identifying and developing extraordinary sporting potential is a tremendously exciting journey. Typically it involves a rare blend of coaching art, science, environment and systematic planning. Sporting potential of this kind is often described as ‘gold dust’ - rare, valuable and requiring skilful handling along the journey to transfer into World and Olympic excellence.

To prepare Australia’s next generation of swimmers for senior performance excellence, Swimming Australia, through the State Technical Directors has thoroughly reviewed the Performance Pathway program. The State and National Talent Program now will be known as Swimming Australia’s ‘Flippers’ program. The program will feature a combination of activities delivered by each State and Nationally with the aim of preparing identified athletes to successfully transition to the pinnacle of swimming in Australia - the Dolphins Swim Team.

The Swimming NSW Performance Squad is designed to support high-performing NSW athletes with the potential for Australian Swim Team selection within the 2024 Olympic cycle.

The Swimming NSW (SNSW) Open Water Performance Squad recognises the best National level Open Water Swimmers in NSW. Support is provided to this group with the aim of selection onto the Australian Open Water Swimming team. The squad provides an opportunity for athletes to come together as a group and train and compete specifically for open water swimming.

The Swimming NSW Sharks Squad is designed to identify and provide support for emerging age group swimmers, transitioning swimmers and their coaches. Swimmers in this squad will have the opportunity to:

• Enhance education, develop skills and gain exposure to varied opportunities away from their daily training environment.
• Create a supportive environment for talented swimmers to develop their skills and swimming knowledge in preparation for National Team and/or Talent Identification (TID) Squad selection.

The Sharks Squad will consist of two age groups:

• Age Squad: Female 13-16 years old, Male 14-17 years old
• Youth Squad: Female 17-19 years old, Male 18-20 years old 

The Australian State Teams Short Course Age Championship sees each State and Territory from around the Country bring their best up and coming swimmers to Canberra to compete for the title of State Teams Champion. It is a great opportunity for swimmers to race for and represent the Mighty Blues.

With NSW being a geographically large area, it presents challenges in supporting swimmers and coaches based outside of the Metro area. Swimming NSW (SNSW) has identified that there are many talented swimmers and coaches residing in regional areas. By implementing a Regional Squad Project, support is provided to targeted individuals to enhance skills and technique.

The Regional Squad will encompass two age groups:

• Junior: Males 14 – 17 years and Females 13 – 16 years
• Senior: Males 18+ years and Females 17+ years

SNSW aims to see progressive performance improvements in this group as the swimmers challenge each other and the coaches impart their learnings onto their home program.

Eligibility

To be eligible for selection in the 2020/21 Swimming NSW (SNSW) Flippers Squad, swimmers must be:

• An Australian Citizen
• Permanently residing and training in NSW or ACT
• A current financial member of Swimming NSW

Eligibility and meeting the selection criteria does not guarantee selection into the squad.

Selection Criteria

Only performances in a Final at the Australian Swimming Championships, Australian Age Championships and Australian Swimming Trials will be considered for squad selection:

• Female athletes 20+ years and Male athletes 21+ years who are within 3% of the 8th place qualifier at the 2019 World Championships Final
• Females 19 years & under and Males 20 years & under who are within 5% of the 8th qualifier at the 2019 World Championships Final
• For Timed-Finals, swimmer must swim the squad qualifying time and be placed in the Top 8
• Age as at the first day of the Australian Age Championships (7 April 2020)

The aim of the SNSW Touring Team is to provide athletes who are on the verge of National Team selection with an opportunity to travel and compete at a high-level international meet. From this, swimmers will be able to practice racing under pressure and in an unfamiliar environment.

In 2020, the NSW Flippers Squad will have the opportunity to be part of a SNSW Touring team competing at the Singapore and China* legs of the 2020 FINA World Cup Series in September. Competition dates for the Singapore leg are the 4th - 6th September and the China leg are the 10th - 12th September.

Travel will be to and from Sydney, with departure on the 1st September and return on the 13th September (TBC).

*Due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus in January 2020, SNSW are working closely with medical experts to ensure the health and safety of the team travelling to the Asian legs of the World Cups. If it is deemed unsafe, the team will not travel. This will be decided closer to the date. If the team does not travel to the Asian World Cups, another activity will be provided for the team.

To be eligible for selection in the 2020 SNSW Touring Team, athletes must be:

• an Australian Citizen, permanently residing and training in NSW or ACT
• a current financial member of Swimming NSW
• a member of the 2020 NSW Flippers Squad
• meet all squad requirements, including completion of all squad activities and submission of an individual athlete performance plan (IAPP) 

Eligibility

To be eligible for selection for the 2020/21 Swimming NSW (SNSW) Performance Squad, swimmers must:

• be an Australian Citizen
• permanently residing and training in NSW or ACT
• be a current financial member of Swimming NSW

Eligibility does not guarantee selection into the squad.

Selection Criteria

Athletes who swim a 2020/21 SNSW Performance Squad qualifying time in a Final at one of the following selection meets:

• 2020 Australian Age Championships, 2020 Australian Swimming Championships and 2020 Australian Swimming Trials
• For Timed-Finals, swimmer must swim the squad qualifying time and be placed in the Top 8
• Age as at the first day of the 2020 Australian Age Swimming Championships (7 April 2020)

Eligibility

To be eligible for selection for the 2020/21 Swimming NSW (SNSW) Open Water Performance Squad, swimmers must:

• be an Australian Citizen
• permanently residing and training in NSW or ACT
• be a current financial member of Swimming NSW

Eligibility does not guarantee selection into the squad.
 

Selection Criteria

Athletes aged 16 years and over who swim at the 2020 Australian Open Water Championships and attain the following results (excluding visitors):

Priority 1:

• Top 10 placing in 10km Open event at the Australian Open Water Championships
• Top 5 placing in 5km Open event at the Australian Open Water Championships
• Male and female 18-19-year-old: 1st – 5th placing in the 10km in the combined Age group
• Male and female 16-17-year-old: 1st – 5th placing in the 7.5km in the combined Age group

Priority 2:

• Male and female 18-19-year-old: 1st – 5th placing in the 5km in the combined Age group
• Male and female 16-17-year-old: 1st – 5th placing in the 5km in the combined Age group

Eligibility

To be eligible for selection in the 2020/21 Swimming NSW (SNSW) Sharks Squad, swimmers must be:

• An Australian Citizen, permanently residing and training in NSW or ACT
• A current financial member of Swimming NSW

Eligibility and meeting the selection criteria does not guarantee selection into the squad. 

Selection Criteria

Pool

Male swimmers who are 14-20 years and Female swimmers who are 13-19 years who swim a 2020/21 SNSW Sharks Squad qualifying time in a Final at one of the following selection meets:

• 2020 Australian Age Championships or 2020 Australian Swimming Championships
• For Timed-Finals, swimmer must swim the squad qualifying time and be placed in the Top 8
• Age as at the first day of the 2020 Australian Age Swimming Championships (7 April 2020)

Open Water

Females & Males aged 14-15yrs: Medallist in the 5km Age events at the Australian Open Water Championships (excluding visitors).

Eligibility

To be eligible for selection an athlete must:

• be a registered member of Swimming NSW 
• be an Australian Citizen who is eligible to represent NSW at this event
• be aged between 13-16 years (female), 14-17 years (male) or 13-17 years (para athlete) on the first day of the State Teams Championships
• complete a SNSW Team Agreement, ASADA and e-learning Match Fixing online education

Selection Criteria

A team of up to 44 swimmers will be selected. The NSW State Team will comprise of:

• 10 males in the 14-15 years age group;
• 10 males in the 16-17 years age group;
• 10 females in the 13-14 years age group;
• 10 females in the 15-16 years age group and;
• 4 Para swimmers in the 13-17 years age group

Swimmers age is determined as at the first day of the State Teams competition.

The squad will be selected from the highest rankings using the following meets:

• Priority 1:

  • 2019 SNSW State Age 13 & over Short Course Championships

• Priority 2:

  • 2019 SNSW Country Short Course Championships
  • 2019 SNSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships

The two (2) highest ranked athletes (that are available) from the following events will be considered (but not guaranteed) for selection:

• 100m & 200m Backstroke in each of the combined age groups
• 100m & 200m Breaststroke in each of the combined age groups
• 100m & 200m Butterfly in each of the combined age groups
• 50m, 100m & 200m Freestyle in each of the combined age groups
• 400m & 800m* Freestyle in each of the combined age groups
• 200m & 400m Individual Medley in each of the combined age groups

*The SNSW Selection Committee will also have the option of using Australian Age and Australian Open results when selecting athletes for the 800m events.

Para swimmers will be ranked by percentage (%) using the SNSW Para Potential Squad Times. The first and second ranked male and female Para swimmers aged 13-17 years in the S6-S10 & S13 classes will become first priority for selection. As per the Swimming Australia guidelines, Para swimmers selected for  State Teams must independent and not require a carer on team.

The following MC events will be used:

• 100m in Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke & Butterfly plus the 200 IM

After considering the first priority swimmers, the SNSW Selectors along with the SNSW Coaching Director will consider remaining swimmers that will best suit the balance of the team and the order of events in the SA State Teams Short Course program. Relay swimmers and where required, other priority swimmers may also be considered using the same criteria. Meeting any of the selection criteria does not guarantee selection into the NSW State Team.

Eligibility

• An Australian Citizen, permanently residing and training in Regional NSW or ACT
• A current financial member of Swimming NSW
• Junior: Males 14 – 17 years and Females 13 – 16 years
• Senior: Males 18+ years and Females 17+ years
• Swimmers in other squads on the SNSW Pathway may be invited to participate in this project

Selection

Swimmers will be selected based not only on performances but using talent identification processes. Selection will be made by the SNSW Coaching Director, Regional Coaching Director and ACT Performance Hub Head Coach. All home coaches of selected athletes are invited to Regional Squad activities. A maximum of 15 swimmers will be selected per age-group squad.

The Swimming NSW Paralympic Pathway provides encouragement and support to para swimmers with the potential to make the Australian Paralympic Team. There are three tiers to this pathway: Swimming Australia Podium Categorised Para Athletes, Para Potential Squad and Para Development Squad.

Para athletes who are categorised from Podium to Podium Potential on Swimming Australia’s 2020/21 Paralympic Program Categorisation list will have access to SNSW resources and may request funding to assist with their training and competition throughout the year. 

Athletes and their coaches must submit an Individual Athlete Performance Plan (IAPP) to be eligible for any financial support. Funding may be provided to squad members based on their IAPP as assessed by the SNSW Coaching Director together with the Swimming Australia Para Head Coach. Athletes will be supported for as long as they are categorised.

To provide Para Potential swimmers with opportunities to enhance their training and competition development. Activities would provide greater exposure to a performance training environment that would improve performances to achieve selection onto a National Team or Squad. The SNSW Para Potential Squad would undertake the SAL Testing Protocols (where applicable).

Eligibility

To be eligible for selection in the 2020/21 Swimming NSW (SNSW) Para Potential Squad, swimmers must be:

• A current financial member of Swimming NSW
• An Australian resident permanently training in NSW or ACT
• Aged 12 years and over

Eligibility does not guarantee selection into the squad.

Selection Criteria

Swimmers must achieve one (1) SNSW Para Performance Squad qualifying time in a Final at one of the following long course Championships (Paralympic events only):

• 2020 Hancock Prospecting Australian Age Swimming Championships (incorporates both age and open multi-class swimmers – Sunday 12th – Tuesday 14th April)

In addition:

• Swimmers selected on the SNSW Para Potential Squad are ineligible for selection in Area Development Squads.
• Swimmers selected on a Swimming Australia Team or Squad will not be eligible to continue with the SNSW Para Performance Squad.

To provide talented Para swimmers with an educational component to assist with their training and personal development. The aim of the activities would contribute to swimmers maintaining motivation and improving performance to achieve selection onto a National Team or Squad.

Eligibility

To be eligible for selection in the 2020/21 Swimming NSW (SNSW) Para Development Squad, swimmers must be:

• A current financial member of Swimming NSW
• An Australian resident permanently training in NSW or ACT
• Aged between 12-23 years as at the first day of the selection meet

Eligibility does not guarantee selection into the squad.

Selection Criteria

Swimmers must achieve one (1) SNSW Para Development qualifying standard at one of the following long course Championships (Paralympic events only):

• 2020 SNSW Open Swimming Championships (March 2020)
• 2020 Hancock Prospecting Australian Age Swimming Championships (incorporates both age and open multi-class swimmers – Sunday 12th – Tuesday 14th April)

In addition:

• Swimmers selected on the SNSW Para Development Squad are ineligible for selection in Area Development Squads
• Swimmers selected on a Swimming Australia squad/team will not be eligible to continue with the SNSW Para Development Squad

All SNSW Performance Pathway Program squad and team members must abide by the Program's terms and conditions. These can be found here.