The first Swim England County Development Programme (formerly England Programmes) held since 2019 ended on 31 May with 24 of the 27 swimmers who had been selected completing the Programme. Held at Talbot Heath School, this was the second and final of two face-to-face camps with an online session focussing on ‘Mental Skills and Process Goals’ scheduled between the two.
Changes are afoot however! Beginning with the 2023-24 season, the scheme has been revised by Swim England Swimming Talent. The County Development Programme will now focus on 12 year old swimmers (age at 31 December) and selections will be made 50/50 from swimmers with a January-June date of birth, and those with a birth date of July-December. Selection criteria however remains the same with rankings achieved from 1 January to the end of Swim England Summer Nationals (6 August 2023) and the main driver for selection being 200m Individual Medley. Thereafter rankings for the other 200m events will be taken into consideration for further selections, then 100m Individual Medley times. The list of selected swimmers will go out to Dorset clubs in early August.