A swirl element for swirling fluid in a nozzle has a swirler body. The swirler body defines a feed channel including an axially oriented channel surface and a swirl chamber in fluid communication with the feed channel. The swirl chamber defines a radially oriented swirler surface substantially normal to the channel surface. The swirl chamber and the axially oriented channel are in fluid communication through a tangential slot for imparting swirl on fluids passing from the feed channel into the swirl chamber. The tangential slot includes a smoothly rounded surface transitioning from the channel surface to the swirler surface for providing a smooth, substantially separation free transition in fluid flow from the channel into the swirl chamber.