Masters Swimming in London

23 October 2019

Masters swimming is for adults – swimmers aged 25 and upward – and encompasses a wide range of ability from casual fitness swimming to competitive swimming.

Masters swimmers participate for a range of reasons, including better health, fitness and friendship with other Masters swimmers at home, and around the world.

It started in the USA in the 1970s when some retired ‘elite swimmers’ organised a competition for adult swimmers. In the UK there are more than 6,000 swimmers of Masters age, with over 400 clubs for masters.

You can find out more about Masters swimming in England and Great Britain on Swim England’s Masters Hub.

Get involved with Masters swimming in London

For all Masters queries email enquiries@londonswimming.org .

To read our strategy for Masters swimming in London, download our latest Development Plan document.

For the latest updates, visit our Masters Swimming News pages.

Training and clubs

Looking for training tips, workouts, and other information about improving fitness, swimming performance and competing?

Swimming is an excellent form of aerobic exercise and is good for getting and staying fit. And the best way to improve your swimming as an adult, is through coached sessions at a Masters swimming club.

Head to our Masters clubs page to find contact details for your nearest club.

Advice on Competing

After you feel you have mastered the strokes and want to put your skills to the test, you may wish to enter competitions.

It is good practice to seek guidance from your coaches or fellow swimmers who will be able to advise you on whether you are ready for competitions and which events are the best to enter.

The next step is to enter a local meet with other club members, where you can be a member of a relay team, or take part in a short race, 50 or 100 metres and begin to learn the rules of the sport with the support of the rest of the team.

There are rules for strokes, turns, starts and competing and most clubs have some officials among their members who can assist with queries concerning disqualifications, legal turns, starts etc.

Find out more about competitions, including details of our own London Regional Masters Championships on our competitions page.