Anyone who is a Category 2 Swim England member can participate in Level X Racing. For full information on eligibility please see our Level X Racing Eligibility document.

In 2020, all Category 1 members who submit a time will automatically be upgraded to Category 2 free of charge. From 1 Jan 2021, all Category 1 members who submit a time will be upgraded automatically to Category 2 and the club will be invoiced for the relevant fees.

Yes, masters can take part in Level X Racing. Masters swimmers will need to be Category 2 members so the automatic free of charge upgrade will be applied for 2020 as outlined in the Level X Racing Eligibility information. In order for Masters results to go into Masters rankings, their results files must be submitted separately to the age group results.

Yes, all para swimmers can take part in Level X Racing. Any additional support required should be offered by the club to ensure all athletes have the opportunity to participate. Para athletes on the waiting list for classification are also encouraged to take part to aid their development, and results will be shown as time rather than British Para-Swimming points.

Yes, we would suggest that you wear blacked out goggles and use tappers as you would do if you were competing.

No, a swimmer is only able to participate in their own club where they train.

No, this is a virtual competition which is a single club event. You must not mix your club swimmers with another club’s swimmers.

Level X Racing has been designed to be delivered in training and therefore is compliant with the Swim England Return to Training Guidance.

Level X Racing is running in two Series – Series 1 from 23 October – 31 December 2020 and then Series 2 is proposed to run from 4 January – 9 March ‘21.

Clubs can decide which distance and stroke to run based on the coach’s assessment of the swimmers’ fitness. For series 1 (November 2020 – December 2020), this would be all strokes in 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m distances as per the Level X Racing Schedule.

A club can run as many Level X Racing sessions as it chooses to.

Yes where starting blocks are available and the venue operating procedure allows them they can be used, however they are not a requirement.

No, the minimum starting requirement is a whistle. Where a whistle is being used this should be provided by the starter themselves and only used by them.

No, Level X Racing meets are not licensed.

Yes, virtual duels between clubs are allowed as long as the actual races are all swum at the home training pools of the clubs involved and swimmers race in their usual training bubbles.

This is a decision your club needs to take in accordance with its risk assessment for training sessions.

The use of masks should be based around the club’s own risk assessment of the session.

To run a Level X Racing session, a club requires two officials who are at least a qualified J1 or higher to manage the session. There is no requirement for a qualified referee.

Clubs also need one time keeper per racing lane. There is no requirement for the timekeepers to be qualified but they must be at least 14 years old and a member of Swim England (any Category). More information is available on the Club information page.

There are two online training courses designed for the management of Level X Racing – neither are compulsory but we would recommend that all technical officials complete A Beginners Guide to Refereeing Swimming, and all timekeepers complete Time Keeper training. All details on Level X Racing Officials training can be found in the Club Information toolkit.

No, there is no requirement for any officials to be licensed for Level X Racing sessions.

If you are unable to meet the officiating requirements for Level X Racing please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for support.

Yes, officials should recognise the Para-Swimming exception codes. Coaches should make the lead technical official aware of the exception codes prior to the swimmer starting.

We understand that the current situation around qualifying for competitions is unclear and we are working with regions and counties to provide the most flexible system to support qualification at the time we are able to return to competitions. At the moment there is no fixed date for this and until that time, it is difficult to provide a definitive comment on how swimmers will qualify. Please be assured we continue to work towards the return to competition.

If you have any further queries, we would recommend you raise this direct with your county or region.

Timekeepers will be expected to record accurate times and the officials who are managing the event will be expected to verify the results. We believe in the honesty and integrity of our members.

Yes, SPORTSYSTEMS will provide a free version of their Meet Organisation software to enable clubs who do not possess access to Meet Management software to submit their results. This can be requested direct from SPORTSYSTEMS by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Yes, there are a number of ‘technical friends’ who are available to support with any questions you have – please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your question and which system you are using, and you will be put in contact with your nearest volunteer.

The results will be published on a Level X Racing drop down in Rankings. Masters and Para will each have a Level X drop down in their respective rankings tabs. Swim England will also publish Level X leaderboards for each age group and gender which will display the top 10 swimmers. For more information on the Level X Leaderboards view our document here.

Although Level X Racing starts on 23 October, results will not begin to be processed and uploaded to Rankings until 2 November. We will endeavour to process your results as quickly as possible but it is isn’t an instant process.