Swimming Trophies and Medals for Meets and Teams

Short answer

A swim meet awards places in every event, for every age group and both genders, which makes it one of the largest medal counts in youth sport. Medals carry most of it; trophies are kept for high-point winners, team scores and the season banquet. We make custom acrylic medals cut to the shape of your team or meet logo and printed in full color, and design the trophies in the same artwork. Order as few or as many as the meet needs; nothing is produced until you have approved a design proof.

Shaped, layered acrylic finisher medal for a 17K river run, with the distance in raised yellow lettering, on a blue neck ribbon

Why a swim meet is a medal order

Count one meet: four strokes plus individual medley, several distances, age groups from the youngest swimmers up, girls and boys, and relays on top. Even a small invitational produces a long event list, and each event places several swimmers.

That volume is why most meets give medallion awards for places and keep trophies for the few honors at the end of the session. A cut-to-shape medal in the outline of a wave, a swimmer or your team mascot looks like it belongs to your meet, and it hangs on a wall at home with the rest of the season.

Many meets give ribbons for the lower places and medals for the top three. Others medal deeper. Either works; decide before you count.

Swimming awards by type

Event place medals

First through third, or deeper, in every event and age group. One design, a different colorway for each place.

Relay medals

Four medals per placing relay team, not one. The most commonly undercounted line on a swim order.

High-point awards

For the swimmer with the most points in each age group and gender across the whole meet. Usually a trophy.

Team scores

Meet champion and runner-up for the team totals. A plaque the team takes back to its pool.

Season banquet

Swimmer of the year, most improved, best time drop, perfect attendance and the coach’s award.

Team pins

Small enamel pins for summer league teams to trade at meets and keep on a towel or bag.

Counting medals for a swim meet

Build the count from the meet sheet. Events times age groups times genders gives the number of individual places; multiply by the places you medal. Relays are counted per swimmer, which usually means four medals for every relay placing.

How a swim meet medal count builds
Decision	Typical choice	Effect on the count
Places medaled	Top three, with ribbons below; or top six to eight	The biggest single factor
Age groups	Eight and under, then two-year bands, then an open group	Each one repeats the event list
Genders	Girls and boys scored separately	Doubles the individual count
Relays	Freestyle and medley relays per age group	Four medals per placing team
Ties	Equal times share a place	Order a few spares of each place

Keep the event off the medal itself. A medal that says the meet, the place and the year covers every event and every age group, so a busy awards table never runs out of one variant and over on another.

Summer league, club and school seasons

Summer recreation leagues often end with a championship meet and a party at the pool. Younger swimmers commonly get something for finishing the season, and older swimmers earn places. A participant medal in the same shape as the place medals, printed with the season instead of a place, keeps both groups in one design.

Club and school teams usually hold a banquet at the end of the season. The awards there are trophies and plaques with names on them, decided by coaches before the night. Sports award categories has a long list of names to choose from, and participation awards covers the everyone-gets-one question.

Riverside Swim Team
Most Improved Swimmer
2026 Summer Season

Records boards and returning awards

Pool records change hands, and a team that keeps a records board needs one that can be updated. A board with replaceable name plates works for that, and so does an award that stays with the team and gains a name each season. Perpetual trophies covers how much room to leave.

A meet that runs every year can reorder the same medal design with the year changed, so a swimmer’s medals from several summers make a matching set.

What to send us

The team or meet name and logo.
The event list, age groups and the places you medal.
Relay events, so we count four medals per placing team.
High-point, team and banquet awards with names where known.
The date the awards must be in hand.

You see a design proof of every medal and trophy and approve it before we make them. Work back from your meet date and ask us for the current lead time; see how far in advance to order. Track meets and gymnastics meets are in the Recognition Library too.

Swimming Trophies & Medals FAQs

How many medals does a swim meet need?

Multiply events by age groups by genders by the places you medal, then add four medals for each placing relay team. Order a few spares of each place for ties.

Should the event be printed on swimming medals?

Usually not. A medal with the meet name, the place and the year fits every event, which keeps the set simple and avoids running short of one variant.

Do relay swimmers each get a medal?

Normally yes. Count one medal per swimmer on each placing relay team, which is four per team in most relays.

What is a high-point award?

An award for the swimmer who scored the most points across the meet in their age group and gender. Meets usually give it as a trophy rather than a medal.

Can a swimming medal be cut to our team logo?

Yes. The medal is acrylic cut to the outline of the logo, printed in full color and hung on a neck ribbon.

Can we order trophies for one banquet without a meet order?

Yes. There is no minimum order, so a single swimmer-of-the-year trophy is fine.

Racer in a helmet raising both arms as gold confetti falls under stage lights

MEET SHEET READY?

Send the event list and we will count with you

Send the logo, the events, age groups and places, and the date the awards must be on the deck. We design the medals and trophies together and send a proof.

Season banquet only? Send the award list and the names.

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Swimming Trophies & Medals