What is Masters Swimming?

Masters Swimming is a special class of competitive swimming for adults who are 25 years or older although increasingly the 18-24 year age group are being catered for in competitions. They compete within age groups of five years, with a swimmer's age group in a certain year determined by his/her age on the last day of that year. For example, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, and so on at 5-year increments, the last group being for any age above 100 years!

The rules and distances are nearly the same as for age group swimming. The age groups for relay events is determined by the sum of the ages of each swimmer in a team, allowing for swimmers of very different ages to compete together in the same team. Age groups for relays are 100-119, 120-159, 160-199, and so on at 40-year increments.

This link to the ASA web site which provides a lot of information about Masters Swimming.
http://www.swimming.org/masters/?utm_campaign=GlobalHeader&utm_medium=Masters&utm_source=GlobalNav 

Masters swimmers can be categorised as:

• Those who are swimming for personal fitness but who are available to represent the mainstream clubs in the Arena League and Sprint League to compensate for the lack of older teenagers. 
• Those who compete in local Masters Competitions travelling within northern Britain.
• A few who compete in all levels of Masters Competitions up to the World Championships.