London to host 2021 British Swimming Championships

British Swimming have announced that the 2021 British Swimming Championships will take place at the London Aquatics Centre.

The postponement of the Olympic Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic has ensured that the championships will feature prominently in the qualification process for the Tokyo Games.

The championships was originally scheduled to be at the iconic London 2012 venue this year, but it is now planned to take place on April 13-18 2021.

An upgraded format, which has been designed to be more inclusive, will see a second heats session introduced in the day so that the number of swims will be significantly greater.

Qualifying times for the Tokyo Games will be proposed accordingly and the window in which they had to be achieved will be backdated to 1st March 2019.

British Swimming's chief executive Jack Buckner said: "We are delighted to make this announcement today and give the aquatics community a major event to look forward to.

"Whilst we, as a country, still have a long way to go to beat the pandemic, we have to be optimistic that by April we can return to sport as we know it.

"Over the years this event has put on quite the spectacle, and bringing the event to London, as we planned to do in April 2020, will only add to the sense of occasion and excitement."

Sportsbeat 2020