Regional swimming talent and national-level competitors will dive into Albany this weekend as more than 150 athletes converge on the pool for the annual Albany Short Course Carnival.

Hosted by Albany Swim Club, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, the event will bring together 156 swimmers from 26 clubs across WA to the Albany Leisure and Aquatic Centre on Saturday and Sunday.

Competitors are travelling from as as far Kalgoorlie and Esperance, as well as Bunbury and Perth.

Competition starts at noon on Saturday before returning again at 9am on Sunday with a packed program featuring races across all strokes and distances.

Albany swim meet officer Kaye Bolger said swimmers aged eight through to seniors will compete across the weekend, with high standards of competition expected including appearances from national and State-level athletes.

“We’ve got a couple of national-level swimmers coming down from the metro club which is really good,” she said.

“There’ll be a fairly high-calibre of swimming involved and we have a range of all strokes and all distances and then to make it fun for the teams there’s also a number of relays that get swum at the end of each session.

“Its really good to be able to stage a carnival with the higher-level swimmers, the national-level swimmers and State-level swimmers.”

Ms Bolger said its a great to be able to host a swim competition regionally.

“It’s really good that we’re able to stage this level of carnival in the regional areas,” she said.

“It’s one of the opportunities that we can give our swimmers without having to travel to Perth to compete.”

This year’s event also marks an important milestone for Albany Swim Club as it celebrates 40 years of operation.

Ms Bolger said the club’s annual shortcourse carnival is also approaching four decades, with this weekend marking its 37th edition.

“It’s about our 37th shortcourse so it’s just good to recognise that for 40 years people have been putting in a lot of input, a lot of volunteer hours and we’ve had some amazing swimmers come through the club.”