Courtesy: Aquatics GB
Aquatics GB has struck a new two-year broadcast rights deal with BBC Sport for the flagship Aquatics GB Swimming Championships as part of an approach that will enable fans to watch the live event across multiple platforms.
After the successful return of broadcast coverage and more than half a million streams during the week of the 2024 Championships across all platforms and broadcasters, BBC Sport will again be showing all the action live from every finals session of this month’s Aquatics GB Swimming Championships at the London Aquatics Centre from 15th-20th April, when athletes will be competing for British titles and to earn selection to World Championship teams for the summer – with coverage across BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.
The 2025 event will once more feature a fully integrated schedule of swimming and para-swimming racing, as stars including Duncan Scott, Alice Tai, Matt Richards and Maisie Summers-Newton – all gold medallists across the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris last summer – take to the iconic London pool and look to make their mark.
Viewers can also tune into live coverage of both heats (9.30am start) and main finals sessions (7pm start) on the Aquatics GB YouTube channel, with finals coverage starting from 6pm and featuring additional behind-the-scenes content from the Championships. These live streams will be supplemented by a range of short-form digital content across the Aquatics GB social channels, showcasing the event from all angles.
There will be a new face at the heart of the live coverage too, with Betty Glover – who has covered Premier League football, Olympic artistic swimming and gymnastics, and fronts a hugely successful Formula One podcast – taking the reins as the studio host across the event.
With this multi-platform approach again providing fans with a range of ways to watch the major domestic swimming event in the British sporting calendar – and more to come in 2026 – Aquatics GB CEO Drew Barrand is looking forward to the response, as well as the racing.
“We are delighted to announce this ongoing partnership with BBC Sport as part of a long-term, multi-platform approach to the upcoming Aquatics GB Swimming Championships. It is crucial that we create consistent ways for the millions of fans across the country to be able to witness world-class competition from our outstanding athletes,” he said.
“The Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games provided many unforgettable moments in the pool, and the next couple of years are so exciting because we could see the stars of the future, as well as our major household names, putting in eye-catching performances at the London Aquatics Centre. I would like to thank the BBC for their commitment to making sure as many people as possible can watch those performances which, combined with the digital distribution framework we have put in place, will help everyone to engage with our thrilling sport and get to know the faces who could be picking up World Championship medals in the summer and beyond.”
On radio, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra will again be providing coverage of the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships, with live commentary from the stands of the Sunday finals session – which culminates with the blue riband Men’s 200m Freestyle final, an event that has served up an Olympic champion, two Olympic silver medals, one world champion, a world silver medallist, world bronze medal, two Olympic relay titles and one world relay title in the past four years.
FINALLY!!!!!