Swimming competitions
It isn’t compulsory to take part in competitions (generally referred to as “galas” or “meets”), but most club members do. There are competitions at all levels, from local friendly galas to national events. It can all feel a bit confusing to start with, so there’s a quick guide below.
I don’t need to read that: where can I find what competitions are coming up? Log in to Club Organiser and look below the calendar. Events which you/ your swimmers are eligible to enter will show there. There might also be a “Forthcoming events” page under the “Competitions” section of the menu.
My child wants to take part in a gala; what events should I enter? Talk to one of the coaches to find out what would be suitable – and ask your child what they enjoy. Then look at the timetable. Many galas are separated into separate sessions, sometimes over several days. You’ll be at the pool for the whole of every session in which your child is competing, so watch out that you don’t land yourself with spending the whole of the weekend at Plymouth Life Centre if you could have been there for only one session. But it generally isn’t a good idea to do more than two events in any one session unless the coach advises it or it is a sprint gala with only short events: your child will get tired and won’t perform at their best. If you want advice, don’t hesitate to ask someone: remember, all of the parents of the more experienced swimmers were new to this once too!
I’m confused about when my child’s event is taking place. First, look on the timetable, which will be in the Meet Documents (link on the home page). Note that sessions are numbered consecutively, not by day. So there is only one session 1: it’s the first session on day 1. “Day 3, session 6” doesn’t mean the 6th session on day 3; it means the 6th session of the gala, which happens to be on the 3rd day.
Then look at the meet programme, which you’ll receive a day or two before the event. Swimmers are generally seeded into heats according to their recent best times, slowest swimmers going first.
My child has entered a gala; what can I expect? Click here for a comprehensive guide, check-list and advice.
Who can I ask for more information? Speak to one of the coaches or contact Caroline Furze, the Competitions Secretary.
How do I enter online? Log-in to Club Organiser, scroll down and click “Enter now”. Then simply tick on the events which you would like to enter.
Don’t worry about making a mistake. All entries are checked by us and nothing is irreversible until the closing date, when payment is taken and entries are submitted to the organisers. We’ll speak to you if it looks as though you have done something weird!
I’ve read all that, but I still need help. Ask Caroline Furze or any parent who looks as though they might have done it before.
How do I pay for gala entries? We generally take payments via GoCardless, which creates a direct debit. Please ignore any messages Club Organiser sends you about payment.
Except in cases of persistent non-payment, it is only gala entry fees which will be taken via GoCardless, NOT your normal monthly fees so you should not alter your standing order.
Where can I find the consideration times for the Devon championships? On our website, under the “Competitions” section of the menu (or click here). The county championships take place in Jan/ Feb of each year and the times swimmers must achieve to be eligible to enter are generally released in late autumn. The website will be updated as soon as the new times are available.
Quick guide
Types of event
The Club Championships are held at Meadowlands. They are an essential part of training but they are also supposed to be fun! They may well be your child’s first competition, but please don’t worry (or let them worry): coaches and parent helpers are poolside to guide any child who is apprehensive; and only members of the club take part. There are medals up for grabs and times achieved can be used as Qualifying Times for other competitions. There’s a guide to the Club Championships here.
We also sometimes run unlicensed galas, either alone or together with one or two other clubs. These are informal events, designed to give the youngest swimmers a taste of competition. “Unlicensed” means they are not run under strict Swim England rules, so the times achieved don’t go on the Swim England database.
County/ Regional/ National Championships allow swimmers to test themselves against the best in the area and beyond. They have Qualifying Times.
Galas run by other clubs will be described as Level 1, 2, 3 or 4, according to the license given by Swim England. They are sometimes called Licensed Meets or Open Meets.
Level 4 is for swimmers beginning to enter individual competitions. Our club championships are level 4.
Level 3 is also for entry level swimmers.
Level 2 andLevel 1 galas cover National, Regional and County Championships. Their purpose is to enable swimmers to achieve qualifying times for entry into those events. The only difference between them is that Level 2 events are always short-course (25m) and Level 1 events are always long-course (50m).
Each level usually has different entry criteria including Qualifying Times and Cut-off times. If you are interested in the technicalities of licensing or just want further information, have a look on the Swim England website, under Licensed Meets (opens in a new window).
Team galas are different from Open Meets in that we compete as a team with swimmers participating in the events for which the coach has selected. If your child is selected for a team gala, the head coach or the competition secretary will either speak to you or ask you by email. A prompt reply would be appreciated! Team galas are free for the competing swimmers: the club pays the entrance fees.
Times
Consideration Times: these are the times which you must achieve to enter the event, like Qualifying Times, but are called Consideration Times because they don’t guarantee you a place. If the organisers get too many entrants, they will exclude (“Scratch“) the slowest swimmers. So a Consideration Time allows you to enter and be considered for a place in the competition.
County Times: these are the qualifying times needed to swim in the County Championships in January/ February each year. County Times generally have to have been achieved since 1st March in the preceding year (ie. for the 2025 Devon Championships, the entry times had to have been swum since 1st March 2024). They must have been achieved in a licensed event – eg. our club championships or a gala. A time trial during training doesn’t count (sadly).
Cut-off times: also known as Upper Time Limit (UTL). Swimmers must be slower than this to be eligible to enter the event. Level 3 galas often have Cut-off times.
Personal Best: a “PB” is a Personal Best time and is a better measure of achievement than where a swimmer finishes in a race. Log-in to Club Organiser to see all your swimmer’s PBs.
Qualifying Times: a Qualifying Time is the time that a swimmer must have already achieved in the event in order to enter the competition – ie. the swimmer must be faster than this to be eligible to enter. In general, the time must have been achieved in another Licensed Meet, but in some Level 3 galas the organisers will accept a time achieved in an unlicensed gala. Qualifying Times for county and regional events generally take the form of Consideration Times.
Regional Times: one step up from County Times, these enable the swimmer to swim in the South West Regional Championships in May/June and November.
Other terminology and abbreviations
ASA ranking: see under “Ranking” below.
DNF: Did Not Finish.
DQ: DisQualified. Swimmers may be disqualified for several reasons e.g. false start, incorrect stroke, incorrect turn. This is always disappointing for a swimmer, but it happens to everyone from time to time and is all part of the learning process. So please don’t berate your child, or let them be too despondent, if it happens to them. Instead, make sure they understand why they were disqualified – speak to the coach if they aren’t sure – and encourage them to see it as something to work on before the next event.
HDW: this stands for Heat Declared Winner. Only heats are swum, not heats and finals. The swimmer with the fastest heat time in the relevant age group wins the event regardless of which swimmer wins the heat.
Hot heat: a heat chosen at random on the day in which there is a spot prize to the winner. At the Life Centre, you’ll see these announced with lots of noise and a picture of flames appearing on the noticeboard.
IM (Individual Medley): all four strokes – butterfly, back, breast and free – are swum in the same race, either over 100m, 200m or 400m. In a medley relay the order of the strokes is slightly different – back, butterfly, breast and free – to avoid a takeover on backstroke.
Long-course: 50m pool.
Ranking: When you compete at Licensed meets your ranked personal best times are placed on the swimmingresults.org ranking database (“Swim England Rankings”).
Scratch (or scratches): if an event is oversubscribed, the organisers will refuse some entries in order for all the swimming to be completed in the time available. This is calling “scratching” entries and those which have been turned down are referred to as “scratches”. On entry lists, they are indicated by an SCR next to the entry. The competition secretary will tell you if your swimmer in affected. The scratching policy for a meet will be set out in the meet pack but, in general, in L3 galas, it is the fastest swimmers in an event who will be scratched; in L2 and L1 galas, it is the slowest.
Short-course: 25m pool (such as Meadowlands). Short-course times are generally faster than long-course times for the same event, because of the advantage given by pushing off the wall at the turn.
Splits: the time achieved in a race broken down into 25m or 50m chunks, letting a swimmer see how well they paced the race. If you see a stopwatch icon next to a result on Swim England Rankings, you can tap on it to see the splits for that result.