Getting started
New swimmers will usually take part in club-hosted competitions initially, or team galas against other teams from Greater Manchester. Club competitions include Pointscore, Blue vs Yellow gala, and the biggest of the year – Club Championships.
Club Competitions
Pointscore
Pointscore is an annual competition held within the club across 3-6 Sundays within the swimming year (September to June). Warm-up starts at 4.10pm and the competition at 4.30pm. It usually lasts 1.5-2 hours. It is open to every swimmer regardless of their ability and the swimmers compete against their previous pointscore best times. We encourage all our swimmers to participate and for all our parents to come and watch them from the viewing gallery to cheer them on. Points are allocated according to how well swimmers have swum in relation to their previous times and are accumulated over the course of the season. Trophies are awarded annually at a Pointscore presentation to the boy and girl gaining the most points. These trophies are kept for one year.
Blue vs Yellow
For many years, SASC swimmers have competed against each other at our annual swim camp under the banners of the ‘Blue team’ and the ‘Yellow team’. The atmosphere at this competition has always been incredible, with the swimmers very loud in their support of their friends. In the past few years, we have brought the Blue vs Yellow gala to Stretford Sports Village.
Club Championships
Club Championships is our biggest internal competition of the year and continues a great tradition at the club.
Our members compete against each other in various age groups and events for medals and club trophies, some of which date back to the 1930s. Trophies are kept by the swimmers for a year and are returned before the following year’s competition, and medals are awarded for the first three places in each event. We encourage all our swimming members to take part.
In recent years, due to the dedication of our volunteer team of qualified officials, we have been able to license our club champs, enabling the times to officially go to Swim England rankings for entry into external competitions.
Sessions at club champs are about two hours long as they include presentations of the medals and trophies, so please take a look at our ‘between races’ section below for some advice on how to handle these longer racing sessions.
We greatly appreciate the help provided by those of our swim parents who offer their time to ensure the smooth running of the competition and more helpers are always welcome – we couldn’t do it without you!
External competitions
Team Galas
Trafford Borough Development Galas
The four local Trafford clubs set up this competition to allow new and untested swimmers to gain experience of team competitions. There are ‘cut-off’ times so that swimmers cannot be faster than a certain time in most events. The gala programme contains 25m relays and 25-50m individual swims and is hosted once a year by each of the clubs – Stretford, Altrincham, Flixton & Trafford Metro.
BCM Team Galas
The volunteer-run BCM Association (Bolton, Central Lancashire & Manchester) was set up as a merger of three slightly smaller local associations. The BCM runs numerous league galas for clubs from the Greater Manchester area to compete in. Swimmers taking part range from nine up to open age, and depending on the make-up of our age groups each year, we decide which competitions to enter.
There is a great range of clubs and locations in the association including Wigan, Rochdale & Bury.
The BCM also runs two Open meets each year, held at Wigan Life Centre, which SASC have traditionally taken part in.
The association website is here – www.bcmswpa.org.uk
Once they have experience, swimmers will begin to enter larger galas including open meets and Arena League galas.
Arena League Galas
The premier swimming league competition in England and Wales and now in its 50th year. Nearly 400 teams and more than 16,000 swimmers compete in team relays and individual events. There are six individual leagues which each have three rounds to crown the league champion, and to identify qualifiers for entry into the National B-Final and the National Cup Final.
Open Galas
How they work
Open meets are larger galas in which swimmers compete against swimmers from other clubs in the area. To enter, a swimmer must be a ‘club compete’ member and must be at least nine years old on the day of the meet (there is a ~£15 upgrade fee from the ‘club train’ membership). Each race has an entry fee which is set by the host, usually about £7.
Swimmers compete in their own age group (usually age as at the final day of the competition) for medals or for positions to go through to a ‘final’ where they swim again for the medals.
Open galas run in sessions, usually morning and afternoon. Sessions usually have a 15-minute warm-up at the beginning in which swimmers are split into age groups and take part in swim warm-up designed to ensure:
- they are used to the pool
- their goggles are working
- they have primed their energy systems ready to race!
Racing within one session is usually 3-3.5 hours, though swimmers can leave once they have finished their races. It is important to look at the order of events when entering to ensure swimmers are busy enough to enjoy the session they are in. It is best to enter sessions together with friends so there is camaraderie and support for each other on poolside, as well as so the swimmers can be busy with friends between their races. We very much encourage parents and swimmers to get input from their coaches as to the races they should enter and parents can contact Tom for this on headcoach@stretfordasc.com or speak with any coaches at training.
Head here to find out how to enter an open meet on Swim Manager
Between races
Swimmers must be able to rehydrate and refuel. Sitting on a warm poolside for hours requires regular hydration to ensure swimmers do not become dehydrated, which will inhibit performance. It is also important for their muscles to stay warm – warm muscles mean fast swimmers! Swimmers therefore need to have some warm clothes with them to wear on poolside!
Gala kit list
Goggles & hat (& spare of each)
Warm clothes
Water bottle (full)
Post-race snacks like flapjacks, bananas, fruit, jelly babies, energy bars etc
Spare towel
Poolside footwear
‘Age At’
Swimming meets are run based on the age of the swimmers, and the age is given as the ‘age at’ date. This date can be the final day of the competition, or it could be 31st December in the year of the competition. These age groups mean that swimmers can compete against different ages of swimmer at different times of the year.