Custom Swim Medals With Event Lettering And A Marine Centre

These are round swim medals with a recessed antique bronze field, a raised outer edge, lettering that follows an arc above and below the centre, and a striped ribbon. Minimum order 100 pieces, samples in 7-10 days, bulk in 15-20 days, shipped from Shenzhen, China.

Can the event name and the host country change for each edition?

This is the question that decides whether a swim medal programme is cheap or expensive. The upper arc and the line beneath the centre sit on different curves, so the edition number, the event name and the host country can each be re-set without redrawing the animal in the middle. Send this year's wording and we will set it; next year only the arcs move.

How do we send the lettering so it follows the arc correctly?

Most artwork comes to us as flat text and has to be bent onto a curve, which is where spacing goes wrong and a long event name runs into the centre. Send your wording as plain text with the exact spelling and capitalisation, plus any reference showing the order of the words, and we will set the arc and show you the spacing before anything is made. Do not pre-bend it yourself.

What happens to the centre artwork if we want a different animal?

The centre is a single illustration, so changing the subject is a new artwork rather than an edit. That is a different job from changing the lettering, and it carries a setup cost the lettering change does not. Tell us the sport and the subject you have in mind, and you will hear back which of those two categories your change falls into, with the cost of each, before you choose.

Can the ribbon be swapped for a lanyard our swimmers keep?

Yes. The sample ribbon is a navy ground with a central pink stripe and two teal stripes, and it can be re-coloured to a club palette or replaced with a plain lanyard. If your club already sources its own, we can ship the medals bare so your ribbon goes straight on. Send whatever colour reference the club works from — matching happens against a physical sample, never a screen.

How much does a run of 100 cost?

Four variables decide it: order volume, the size of the disc, how many colours go into the centre, and whether we supply a ribbon. A single-colour centre on a plain field is the cheap build; a full illustration under a two-line arc is the expensive one. Tell us the volume and the day the medals must reach you, and the quotation gets shaped around that day instead of a generic one.

Which documents come with a swimming club order?

RoHS, SGS, EN71 and California Prop 65 reports are available on request, and the factory holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and a current Sedex audit. A junior category changes the paperwork, so give us the age range and the country the medals are bound for, and the document list gets settled while you are still deciding — not once the order is already placed.

Will next year's edition look like this year's?

Three years of storage on the tooling, and no mould charge when you repeat. We also keep the signed proof, and each new edition is measured against it — that is how an annual meet avoids ending up with a drawer of awards that are each a little bit off from one another.

Planning your next meet? Send the event name, the host country, how many medals you need and the day they must arrive to sean@vistarts.net — see how we work.

Begin at the rim. A wide raised edge steps down into a recessed field with a fine brushed texture, so the centre sits visually deeper than the border. The top arc carries the event name in raised capitals that follow the curve; the bottom of the same rim carries the host country in the same capitals, shorter and centred. Inside the field, a turtle fills most of the circle: a segmented shell in hot pink, each plate divided by a fine dark line, a teal head and front flippers marked with a scale pattern, and a navy outline that separates the animal from the bronze behind it. Small wave marks curl at the left and right of the shell and in two pairs along the lower field. The loop at the top is formed with the body and takes a navy ribbon with a central pink stripe and a teal stripe on either side.

Vistarts runs its own factory in Longgang, Shenzhen, with 130+ staff, 10+ designers and 20+ engineers, and holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and a current Sedex audit. A medal like this lives or dies on the arc: one long event name, set without adjusting the spacing, and the letters collide with the centre illustration or fall off the rim. Every arc is set against the actual diameter, proofed as a picture before tooling, and checked against that proof on the production line. Colour is matched to a physical reference so the pink on the shell and the pink in the ribbon read as the same pink.

One centre, many editions. The illustration is set once and the two arcs above and below are re-set for every year, every host country and every event name, which is what a swim programme actually needs — a family of medals that look like one award rather than a drawer of unrelated designs. Three things we will not pretend: we cannot promise a colour match to a screen or a swatch book, only to a physical sample you approve; a long event name on a small diameter has to lose size to stay on the arc, and we will tell you when that is about to happen; and we do not reproduce another organisation's crest, mascot or event mark without written authorisation from its owner.

To quote accurately we need four things: the exact event name and how it is capitalised, the country or city for the line under the centre, the number of medals, and the day they have to reach you. Add ribbon colours and the size if those are already decided. Send all of it to sean@vistarts.net, or start from https://vistarts.com/about_us/ and tell us about the meet. You will see your own wording on the arc before you commit.

FAQ

Q1: Is the ribbon loop strong enough to hand out at poolside?

The loop at the top is formed with the medal body rather than added as a separate ring, so there is no joint for the ribbon to work loose from. Whether swimmers wear the medal in the water is a decision for your club, not something we will advise on: if they do, choose a ribbon you are happy to see wet. Tell us how the medals will be handed out and we will match the ribbon to that.

Q2: We change the event name every year. Does that cost extra?

Re-setting the two arcs is part of the artwork service, not a new tooling charge, so the second edition costs no more than the first. What does carry a setup cost is a change to the centre illustration, because that is a new artwork rather than new text. Ask us which of the two your change falls under and we will say so before quoting.

Q3: What is the minimum order?

100 pieces per design. That can be split across medal types, ribbon colours or age categories as long as they share the same centre artwork, which is how most clubs reach the minimum with one design across several events.

Q4: How is the price put together?

Four inputs: volume, size, how many colours go into the centre, and whether a ribbon is part of the order. Freight sits outside that and depends on destination and on whether you want sea or air. Volume and deadline need to arrive together, because a quotation built without the deadline is one you cannot act on.

Q5: How long does it take?

Sampling 7-10 days, bulk production 15-20 days after you approve the pre-production sample, and 12 working days on a rush basis where the calendar allows. Transit time is on top of that. Work backwards from the meet date and tell us that date first — it decides more about the schedule than the quantity does.

Q6: Which compliance documents can you provide?

RoHS, SGS, EN71 and California Prop 65 reports on request, plus ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and a current Sedex audit for the factory. If a document is decisive for your market, ask for it at the quotation stage so it can be checked before the order is confirmed.

Q7: How close will the next edition be to this one?

The tooling is kept for three years and no mould fee is charged on a repeat. The approved proof stays on file and the later edition is compared to that file, which is what keeps a series of annual medals looking like one series.

Q8: What do we get before we pay anything?

A mockup with your own event name set on the arc, a written quotation built against your quantity and date, and a clear list of what the price includes and what it does not. Nothing is charged until you have seen the mockup and confirmed the specification.