Open Meets
At an open meet, you compete for yourself against swimmers from other clubs (and against your teammates), as opposed to competing for Leicester Neptune.
There are events across all strokes (and the Individual Medley) over a variety of distances.
Why do it?
Open meets are a really good way for you to make improvements, achieve personal best times (PBs) or even qualify for higher level competitions like the County Championships.
We don’t expect you to enter all events at an open meet but they are also an opportunity for you to try a new event or distance and challenge yourself. You could potentially find a new favourite race!
Most importantly, open meets are great way to socialise and get to know your team mates.
How it works
There are different types of open meets, and these are ‘licensed’ as follows:
- Level 4: Designed for any swimmer to enter e.g., Club Championships
- Level 3: Designed for most swimmers to enter. There are no qualification times but there are upper limits i.e., top-level swimmers will be too fast to enter
- Level 2: Designed for accomplished swimmers. Swimmers have to meet certain qualification times to enter each event e.g., Leicestershire County Age Group Championships
- Level 1: Designed for top swimmers with even more competitive entry times e.g., East Midland Regional Championships
There are numerous open meets throughout the year all over the country.
At Leicester Neptune, the Head Coach decides which open meets are appropriate for our swimmers (based on the date, location, entry costs and Level) so that we can send a big group. This makes the open meet much more enjoyable for everyone.
Open meet entry
You do not need to enter open meets yourself. Invitations to enter are emailed out well in advance, and parents/ carers should complete the Google form to indicate the events their swimmer wishes to race in ahead of the deadline.
The club then submits all the Leicester Neptune entrants to the open meet organiser before the open meet’s closing date.
Timings and costs
With multiple heats and finals across the age groups for each event, an open meet can last a whole day, or run over a whole weekend.
The cost to enter is typically set per event and the amount is determined by the meet organiser. Payment for your entry is taken via your normal LNSC direct debit.
