Swim Gala Calendar

Dear Swim Parents

After listening to feedback from a number of parents I thought it would be helpful to lay out what galas are on this side of Christmas and provide a little detail on which galas are suitable for which swimmers.  I appreciate that there is sometimes an assumed level of knowledge about these things which for new swim parents is not going to be the case.  In terms of some more background on galas for new parents and the mechanics of entering via Team Unify please refer to the document I sent round early this year - attached again here.

First a little background on gala types. Some will be internal to the club (like time trials, Club Champs).  Others will just be between a small number of clubs (like the annual Morpeth gala and Coverdale).  For these ‘inter-club’ galas there is usually no charge to enter, and it is usually at the discretion of the coach what races your swimmer will enter.  

Then there are 'all club' galas.  These galas might welcome all swimmers whatever their standard or be limited to swimmers of a certain standard.  The former are usually organised by another swimming club (we organise ours in March/ April each year).  While the latter are often the ones organised by either East District Swimming or Scottish Swimming and are usually higher performance galas targeted at fast swimmers.  As a parent you will need to chose which races to swim and you will be charged per swim.  Costs range from around £5 to £10 depending on the grade of gala and length of race (higher grade and/or longer race  = higher cost).  If the club enters a relay team it will be cover the cost.  This is all explained in the file attached above

Related to this is the 'grading' on galas.  Grade 1 is the highest and will be the performance level gals put on by East District of Scottish Swimming.  Lower grades (2-4) mostly depend on how many officials are present and determine how strict they will be over things like turns/ strokes/ relay take overs.  Lower grade galas aim not to disqualify swimmers if they can help it. This mostly matters as swimmers get older as qualifying for a Grade 1 gala will often mean needing an official time at a Grade 2 gala. 

It all sounds more complicated than it is to be honest and once your child has been swimming for a year or two you will become more used to it.  What makes most sense is to just focus on the galas that are most appropriate for their age and standard.  We will try to indicate this via the Event entry in Team Unify.  But if there are ever any questions, please just post on the relevant What's App chat, ask your child’s squad coach or a club committee member.  Alternatively you can email [email protected] about galas specifically.

It is also worth noting that there are always lots more galas on than we enter as a club as it isn’t all about competing all the time.  We also need coaches (and sometimes parents) to attend galas with the swimmers so we need to pick and choose appropriately.  The ones we enter as a club are the ones we put in the Events calendar in Team Unify.

If you find the ‘calendar’ below useful then please feed back and we can look to do something similar in the new year.

Upcoming Galas – please see Team Unify Events calendar for more details.

Haddington 100s – October 22

This is a ‘all club’ gala organised by Haddington swim club. As the name suggests it if focused on 100s for each stroke.  We are limiting entry to Dev3, Ints and Top Squads.  Parents chose which races to enter for their swimmer and pay via Team Unify. Entry deadline is now past.  

Club Champs – November 5

Internal gala open to all swimmers (and water polo players!). No charge for entering.  Swimmers can take part in all races (details on Team Unify).

Coverdale Round 2 – November 12

Coverdale is an inter-club gala between us, Haddington,  Musselburgh and Tranent.  It is specifically aimed at younger swimmers competing for the first time and is very informal.  For us it will be Dev 1 and slower Dev 2 swimmers.  Round 2 is hosted by us at Porty Swim Centre.  Rounds 3 and 4 will be in the new year at Tranent and Musselburgh.  There is no charge for this gala and which races each swimmer does is at the coaches discretion. 

Edinburgh, Lothians and Borders Schools Gala – 19 November

FYI only.  Not entered via the club and everything is done via your swimmer’s school.

East District Age Group distance events – November 25-26

Only for more experienced swimmers.  Parents chose which races to enter swimmer in and pay via Team Unify. 

Tranent X-Mas Gala – December 2

‘All club’ gala organised by Tranent.  Mostly 50m events and 100m freestyle and individual medley.  All ages/ squads welcome to attend.  Parents chose events and pay via Team Unify.  Registration deadline is 30 November. 

Earlier galas this year (just for background)

Coverdale Round 1 (Haddington hosted)

Dev 1 and 2 Time Trial

Internal gala ‘like’ session to give younger/ newer swimmers a taste of what a gala will be like (and get some times on file for them too!).

Morpeth

This is a unique inter-club gala with a 50 year history.  It is usually swum around September time with us and Morpeth alternating hosting (Morpeth was this year, we will be next year).  All swimmers can take part (in fact the more the better for team atmosphere) and coaches will decide who swimmers what.  No charge.