Different types of swimming galas and how team selections are made

There are various types of Galas that our club participates in and consequently the teams chosen will vary according to the Gala type.

Inter-Club Gala

This type of Gala can be on two levels.  If it is an A Gala, we will put our strongest team forward.  If it is a B Gala, we will put in swimmers who probably don’t swim in the County Championships or whose weakest stroke does not make the County Championships.

If it is a time-capped Gala, we would put together a team that lets swimmers swim one of their weaker strokes for the individual events but allow them to swim their strongest stroke for the relays.  This is why some swimmers are chosen to swim in a Gala to swim possibly their least favourite stroke.

Open Meets

These are run by Clubs - usually over a whole day or even the weekend. They can be licensed by the ASA so that times can be used in the national rankings which are available to view online.  The highest level Meet is a level 1 and this will require the swimmers’ entry times to be faster than the times given. At this level the swimmer will usually be competing at the County Championships or Regionals.  Level 2 etc are lower level meets and will have upper and lower entry times.  To enter, swimmers’ times will have to fall between the times given.

Sometimes the Open meets will not have a licence. If this is the case, qualifying times created by the club will usually be given and will need to be checked with the swimmers’ own times to see if the swimmer qualifies.

County Championships and Regionals

These are run by the Sussex County ASA or South East Region.  The qualifying times for both of these can be found online.  Usually Beacon SC will inform a swimmer if they qualify for the County Championships but please keep an eye on the times which can be found at the Sussex County website. The County Championships are usually held in February/March each year.

The Development Meet is usually held in October/November. This is for the swimmers who have not achieved qualifying times for the County Championships, but who are, nonetheless, competent swimmers.

The Regionals are for swimmers who have made the qualifying times at a licensed Meet. They are held in May/June.