About Galas

We are an ASA affiliated competitive swimming club, so all our training is all geared towards competing. There are many different levels of competition which when you are new to the club or first reach the magic age (in swimming) of 9 can all seem quite confusing. So this guide is designed to explain as much as possible, however do ask if you are not sure about anything.

First you have to be registered with the ASA. You do this when you first join the club and renew yearly in March. Your category of registration will depend on the level of competition you are able to compete in:

Category 1 Swimmers may enter club internal events such as our Annual Club Championships and one-off interclub friendly galas. All our swim school members and all main club swimmers who are under 9 years of age are registered in this category.

Category 2 Swimmers are able to compete in all levels and types of event. We will automatically ask you to complete a Level 2 registration form when you reach 9 years of age, unless you are a swim school member only.

Competition Overview

The table below summarizes the main types of competition we enter:

Types of Competition - The Detail

League Galas 
Swimmers are selected for league galas based on the fastest times held on our database. We swim in two main leagues; in addition we swim in one of the Hants & South Coast Leagues:

» National Arena Swimming League
We are currently in Division 1 West of the National Arena Swimming League South. There are 3 galas held in October, November and December. The dates are set by the league and all teams across the country swim at the same time. Your age group is determined by your age as at 31^st December. The age groups are Open, 15/under, 13/under, 11/under.

» Sussex League
We are in Division 1 of the Sussex League. There are 3 galas held in the first half of the year on dates mutually agreed between the clubs involved in each round. Your age group is determined by your age at the end of this competition, usually a date in July. The age groups are U/12, U/14, U/16 & Open.

» Hants & South Coast Leagues
The Hants & South Coast League runs a variety of competitions and leagues. We aim to fit these into our programme where time permits. This year we will be doing the Premier League and entering two teams in the Virtual Gala.

Friendly Team Galas
We enter a number of friendly team galas at different levels. We use these galas to give as many swimmers as possible experience of swimming in a team gala and representing their club. Priority is usually given to those who are not normally selected for the league galas. Sometimes we enter a friendly gala as a practice run for one of our main league galas. Your age group is determined by your age on the day of the gala.

Internal Club Galas
These are ‘closed competitions’ as only members of our club can enter them. There are three each year, held over 1-3 evenings over a couple of weeks. Our Novice Gala (for Adlington Academy and Jackson Squad only) is held in February; the ‘Sibyl Tarvis’ Age Group Galas (all swimmers) are held in June/July and our Club Championships (all swimmers) are held in November/December. Entry forms for each of these are distributed to every swimmer nearer the time. These are the only galas where you can be any age to enter and indeed we have often have 5 & 6 year olds enter. We would expect the majority of our swimmers to enter these galas. Your age group is determined by your age on the day (of the last gala for the club championships).

Open Meets
You enter open meets as an individual (via the club), though sometimes there is a best overall club trophy, but we need lots of entries to win those! You can enter open meets once you are 9 years old. All open meets are age on day of gala (or last day if over more than one day). We encourage all of our swimmers to enter at least 3 open meets each year.
Details of forthcoming open meets can be found on our open meet entry page, along with our generic entry form which you must use for all open meet entries. Hand this in by the closing date to our Open Meets Secretary Bernie Condron or hand in at the Help Desk.
You will need to read the entry information carefully. Some open meets have 'not faster than' qualifying times (Level 3 & 4 meets), some have 'not slower than' qualifying times (Level 1 & 2 meets) and some have both upper and lower limit qualifying times (Level 2 & 3 meets).
Sometimes a meet is oversubscribed and some swimmers are rejected. You will be told if this happens to you.
We have a coach or experienced helper poolside with the swimmers at every open meet the club supports. If there are fewer than 5 swimmers who enter we will not enter as a club, but will return your entry to you and you can enter independantly if you wish.
Please ask your coach if you are unsure about your open meet entry.