The Regional Development Programme (RDP)aims to support athletes and workforce to:

Further develop fundamental movement skills and core aquatic skills to advance physical literacy
Further develop technical and skills across all four competitive strokes and turns
Understand the culture of Swim England and its associated talent programmes
Develop the characteristics in-line with the swimmer’s age and ‘Development’ stage of the Optimal Athlete Development Framework (OADF)
Increase opportunities for the workforce delivering at this stage of the pathway, to experience and facilitate an integrated and inclusive training environment

Our 3 Core Values:

Our programme is about more than improving performance in the pool. We want every swimmer to develop the attitude, behaviours and life skills that will help them thrive both in sport and everyday life.

At our Regional Development Programme (RDP), we promote three core values: Teamwork, Respect and Effort.

These values are at the heart of everything we do. They are not only important in swimming and sport, but are also valuable life skills that can help young people both in and out of the pool.

🤝 TEAMWORK – Supporting each other, communicating and working together towards shared goals.

💙 RESPECT – Treating teammates, coaches, officials, opponents and ourselves with kindness and understanding.

💪 EFFORT – Giving our best, embracing challenges and never being afraid to work hard to improve.

These are skills for swimming, skills for sport and skills for life.

RDP Selection criteria 2026-27