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The information on this page is intended to help parents and swimmers understand the different types of swimming gala – if you have any questions, please post on our forum or send an email.
What to take to a gala:
Internal Galas
Time Trials These are not galas as such, but they are important for all swimmers. You will be advised when time trials are approaching and swimmers are expected to attend in order to gain an up to date time. These times may be used for team gala selection (see below) so please do try to attend all time trials.
Club Championships Our Club Championships are held over two weekends in the last quarter of each year. Age is as on 31st December in the year of the competition. Information packs and entry forms are made available during the Summer and there is a small entry fee. All members, including those in Teaching and Synchro sections, are encouraged to enter.
Team Galas
If you are selected for a team gala your name will be on a team call, which will be sent to you by email and posted on the board at RSSC. You will need to respond to the email and/or indicate availability on the board copy. Jo Byrne may also hunt you down if we don’t appear to have heard from you.
Team galas are great fun! Typical team galas include freestyle and medley relays along with individual events in each stroke for each age group. There may also be mixed age freestyle relays (often known as 'cannons'). Points are scored for each event: 6 points for 1st place down to 1 point for 6th. The results of these galas are often very close and every point is important. The team selection will have been carefully worked out in order to maximise points and everyone selected is an equally important member of the team - whether swimming in one relay or several events.
There is no charge to the swimmers for team galas, however there is a small charge to spectators, typically £2 - £3. If the gala is a long distance away we may arrange a coach, for which there will be a charge.
League Galas
We enter three leagues each year, these are the Nuneaton and District Junior League, the Mercian League and the National (Arena) Swimming League. The programme is different for each league which means that the swimmers on team calls will vary.
Nuneaton and District Junior League This league is for junior swimmers and is sometimes known as a ‘diddy league’. It takes place over three rounds, normally one each in April, May & June (see calendar for details); with a final, for those who qualify, in September. The swimmers’ ages are as of the date of the final and the age groups are 9, 10, 11 and 12. All relays are 25m; individual events are 50m apart from 9 year olds (in all strokes) and 10 year old Butterfly, who swim 25m. There are no time restrictions for swimmers – the fastest swimmers will be selected.
The galas take place on Saturday evenings, starting at 6:30pm (although you will need to be there earlier for a warm up at 6), and last for about two hours. You will normally need to make your own way to the gala, although if it is a long journey, the club may put on a coach (for which there will be a small charge).
This league is an important fixture for the club and every attempt should be made to make yourself available if selected – it is also an exciting and fun-filled evening.
Nuneaton and District Junior League, Divsion 2 final, 2009
Mercian Summer League This league takes place over three rounds, normally one each in April, May & June (see calendar for details). It is a league for ages 10/under, 12, 14 and Open. Age is as date of the 3rd round (which is also the final). Swimmers with a Midland Swimming Championship qualifying time in any event are not allowed to enter. The gala timings are as above, however, the programme may take a little longer as the distances swum are greater. Relays are 25m; individual events for 10/under are 50m (Butterfly 25m), all others 100m apart from 12/under Butterfly, which is 50m. National (Arena) Swimming League
This is the most important swimming league. As the name suggests it is a national competition, firstly swum in regions with the regional winners going forward to the finals held in Sheffield. We swim in the West Midlands Region and compete over three rounds in October, November and December (see calendar for details). Age groups are 11/under, 13/under, 15 under and Open, as of 31st December in the year of the competition. All relays are 50m; individual events for 9-11 year olds are 50m; 12 and over swim 100m.
Trophy Galas / Friendly Galas / Relay Galas / Novice Galas We are often invited to one-off team galas which are very enjoyable but also important for swimmer development. Team calls will be emailed and posted on the board at RSSC. The programmes for these galas will vary, as will the ages and the ‘age as’ date so many different swimmers will get a chance to swim for the club at these galas. Novice galas will have time restrictions and anyone swimming faster than this time will receive a ‘speeding ticket’ and no points for the team, these galas are for our newer and less experienced members. Friendly galas should not be confused with Novice galas; these galas are not league fixtures and do not have a prize (unlike Trophy galas), however the fastest appropriate swimmers will be selected as they are often scheduled as a 'warm up' for specific league fixtures. Relay galas are less common and the programme consists only of relay events.
Open Meets From time to time you will see details of Open Meets posted on the website and club notice board at Rugby School. Open Meets are competitions run by swimming clubs, where members of any swimming club can enter and compete as individuals. Swimmers enter under the name of their club, i.e. Rugby, but swim for individual prizes (trophies/medals), although there may also be a prize for 'top visiting club'. There are dozens of these meets running every weekend throughout the country but you should be selective about which ones you enter and the events that you chose to swim (don’t try to swim too many events at a meet, your times will suffer!). You also need to check that you have achieved any relevant qualifying times; and in some cases (e.g. Graded or Secondary Championships) that you are not too fast for the event.
Swimmers (with advice from coaches if required) decide which events they wish to enter and do so as individuals via the club on our own entry form. Entry fees will range from £4.00 to £6.00 (or more) per event. To enter, enclose your completed form along with a cheque made payable to "Rugby Swimming Club" in a sealed envelope and hand to either Jo Byrne or Laura Slinn.
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Gala Information |