For a guide on what school galas are run in Hertfordshire, please go to Events.

Please see ESSA Statements below.

​63rd Secondary Schools' Team Championships

Revised date of Sat 27th November 2021
Venue : London Aquatics Centre
​
We are planning for the qualification rounds to be held in September/early October, possibly with some changes to format to accommodate any residual restrictions. 
Note: Revised conditions may be introduced in July/August to address prevailing Covid related restrictions. The events are subject to cancellation if restrictions make it impractical to conduct the events safely.
A firm decision, together with an announcement of any revisions to the competition conditions, will be made in the summer in time for the return of schools after the summer holidays.

Note:
The East/South East Divisions qualification events will be held at Watford Woodside on:
24th Sep 2021 - ESSA Second. Boys Team E/SE qual
8th Oct 2021 - ESSA Secondary Girls Team E/SE qual
Entry form can be found here.

Primary Teams Championships 2021 

Following the expected dates from the governments road map, English Schools’ Swimming Association has made the difficult decision to cancel this years Primary Team Championships in Sheffield. 

We have looked in to lots of different options to try and run a Primary Teams Championships but with the reduced training for all athletes we felt it was not possible.  

We look forward to welcoming you back on poolside at one of our events soon. 

Please keep an eye on our website and social media channels for further announcements.
http://www.essa-schoolswimming.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ESSAswimming

Stewart Nicklin 
Hon. Championship Co-Ordinatorto edit.

Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 restrictions both the 2021 Secondary and Primary Hertfordshire Inter-District Champs are cancelled for the 2020/21 school year.
We will be reviewing all options going forward for what will be possible and provide further updates as soon as we can.
Please contact the District Reps if you would like any further information.

Due to the cancellation of all ESSA events for 2020, which includes the 2020 Herts Primary Schools Inter-District Championships planned to be held on Friday 5th June 2020, the Herts Schools Association committee and District representatives have been discussing the implications and looking at what potential changes to the Inter-District Galas in 2021 could be made to accommodate those swimmers missing out on the 2020 Herts Primary Schools Inter-District Championships.

The Herts Schools Association are planning on the following for the 2021 Inter-District Champs (subject to change):

1. The 2021 Herts Primary Schools Inter-District Championships will go ahead as normal (May 2021 tbc) and thus any 2021 District Primary Schools Trials galas will will go ahead as normal (April 2021 tbc).

2. The 2021 Herts Secondary Schools Inter-District Championships (Mar 2021) will have a modified structure for 2021.
- The Junior category (years 7&8) will be split into Year 7 and Year 8 with each comprising at least 6 swimmers (Boys and Girls). This is to accommodate the years 7's specifically as they will have missed the Primary champs as year 6's this year.
- The Year 7 group (which are year 6's for this year), will swim the same events as usual for the Junior category ie. 100m IM, 50m in each stroke and Free and Medley relays. In addition there maybe a squadron covering Year 7, year 8 (Junior) + Inters ( years 9, 10) + Seniors (years 11, 12, 13) but this has not been confirmed yet.
- The year 7's will be selected from attendance at District secondary schools and may be based on submitted/Swim England times, 
- The year 7 & 8's results will be combined for the winners of the Junior category.
- Note that the above will lengthen the Secondary gala from normal so we hope that you will understand in the circumstances.

We apologise for the cancellation of this year's galas and hope that the changes we plan to make for the 2021 Secondary gala will go some way to provide the year 6's in 2020 with some additional opportunity to swim for their District in 2021. 

As per the ESSA statements below, the remaining 2020 (calendar year) Herts galas are now cancelled. This includes:
- 5th June 2020 - Herts Primary Inter-District champs
- 25th Sep 2020 - ESSA Second. Boys Team E/SE qualification
- 9th Oct 2020 - ESSA Secondary Girls Team E/SE qualification
- Nov 2020 - E&SE Primary Individual Champs (PIC)

At this stage all 2021 (calendar year) galas are still scheduled to occur.

The Herts Schools Swimming Association has looked at the implications of the cancellation of the 2020 ​Herts Primary Inter-District champs and details are above.

The ESSA management board have reviewed the current situation and taken into account a number of factors including availability of pools for qualification events and national championship competitions, and the delay in resumption of operation of schools/clubs to provide training for swimmers. It has been concluded that no further ESSA championships will be held in 2020. It is anticipated that ESSA events will be run as normal in 2021, though we will continue to monitor the situation and adjust plans as required. This has the following effects on the usual ESSA events:

The 26th ESSA Primary Schools' Team Championships (was due to be held in June 2020)
It is with regret that the ESSA announce the cancellation of the ESSA Primary Teams Championships for 2019-20.

The 63rd ESSA Secondary Schools' Team Championships (due to be held in November 2020)
It is with regret that the ESSA announce the cancellation of the ESSA Secondary Teams Championships, including qualification events, for 2020-21.

The 2020 Diving Championships (due to be held in December 2020)
It is with regret that the ESSA announce the cancellation of the ESSA Diving Championships, including qualification events, for 2020-21.

The ESSA U13 Water Polo Championships and Cadet Water Polo Competition (due to have been held in May 2020)
The regional under 11 and under 13 Cadet and national under 13 championship finals are postponed until further notice. 

The 2nd Summer Open (Individual) Championships (due to be held in July 2020)
 It has been decided not to hold this event in 2020.

ISF Gymnasiade School Summer Games 2020 (due to be held in August 2020)
This event will not go ahead on the original dates. The timeframe for this is uncertain at the moment, but further announcements will be made here when known.

ESSA events due to be held in 2021
We are planning on the assumption that we will be able to hold normal competitions in 2021, starting with the Water Polo competitions and Primary Teams Championships.

Stewart Nicklin
ESSA Hon. Championship Secretary.

During the Health Secretary's statement to Parliament (16th March 2020), the government advised people against all unnecessary social contact with others and all unnecessary travel. They cited a number of public spaces that should be avoided and stated that the advice, whist directed at everyone, was especially important for the over 70s, for pregnant women and for those with some health conditions.
In response, Swim England has cancelled a number of forthcoming events, up until the end of May. Jane Nickerson, Swim England chief executive, said: “Cancelling events is not a decision to take lightly but following the latest announcement by the Government, it’s only right and fair to our members and clubs that we made an announcement sooner rather than later.”
On the 18th March 2020 the Prime Minister announced that schools are to be closed from the end of school on Friday 20th March for the majority of pupils, until further notice. Swim England have also revised their advice and are now advising the club swimming activities should be suspended. The following statements address the impact on ESSA competition activities:
The 26th ESSA Primary Schools' Team Championships (20/6/20)
The ESSA has already announced (16th March 2020) the cancellation of the qualifying rounds for its Primary Teams Championships, and with the additional recent Government and Swim England announcements, and uncertainty on when restrictions may be lifted, it is clear that organising and conducting the championship finals in June will be impractical, and that there is no opportunity to re-arrange this event for later in the year. It is therefore with regret that the ESSA announce the cancellation of the ESSA Primary Teams Championships for 2019-20.
The 2nd Summer Open (Individual) Championships (4/7/20)
Due to the current uncertainty on when normality will resume for schools, the impacts on club swimmer training and the considerable effort to organise such a gala including arranging sufficient volunteers and officials, it has been decided not to hold this event in 2020.
ISF Gymnasiade School Summer Games 2020
The squad has been selected in accordance with the selection policy. We are awaiting confirmation that the event will go ahead before inviting the selected swimmers. The timeframe for this is uncertain at the moment, but further announcements will be made here when known.
The 63rd ESSA Secondary Schools' Team Championships (Sept 2020 Quals, Nov 2020 Final)
We are continuing to plan for these events as normal in the hope that normality may resume after summer. Further details will be announced here nearer the time.

Stewart Nicklin
ESSA Hon. Championship Secretary.

​During the Health Secretary's statement to Parliament earlier this evening, the government advised people against all unnecessary social contact with others and all unnecessary travel. They cited a number of public spaces that should be avoided and stated that the advice, whist directed at everyone, was especially important for the over 70s, for pregnant women and for those with some health conditions.
 
In response, Swim England has cancelled a number of forthcoming events, up until the end of May. Jane Nickerson, Swim England chief executive, said: “Cancelling events is not a decision to take lightly but following the latest announcement by the Government, it’s only right and fair to our members and clubs that we made an announcement sooner rather than later.”…
“At present the Government has not closed schools or restricted school activity and therefore we do not see any reason why clubs should not continue with their training programmes in their own environment within the guidelines of the facility.” But also said “We do not recommend training camps take place with members from different clubs.”
 
The ESSA Primary Schools Team Championships are scheduled for early June, and a decision will be taken by early May as to how this event is affected. 
 
Whilst the DfE advice does not restrict school travel within the UK, the advice against multi club events and unnecessary social contact implies that there is no longer support for multi-school sporting competitions.
Further, a significant proportion of our officials/volunteers that help out at our galas are in an age group that means we should not ask them to participate, leaving us potentially short of people to run our galas effectively.
It is therefore with deep regret that, in line with the advice from the government and Swim England, ESSA is no longer able to recommend continuing with county/divisional rounds of these championships.
Measures are being considered that would allow teams to be selected to represent their divisions at the national finals in the event that continues, and these will be announced by early May at the latest.

Stewart Nicklin
ESSA Hon. Championship Secretary