Competitive Swimming Meets & Competitions

Nenagh Neptune is a competitive swimming club so while partaking and competing in interclub meets/galas is not a mandatory requirement for our member swimmers, it is certainly encouraged. Our Club has seen over the years the great personal satisfaction and
friendships that have been gained by the swimmers from these competitive days out. However, we do understand that these events bring a certain amount of stress (and not only to the young swimmers in the family).

This guide in the form of Questions and Answers may be of some help to all.

Must I enter my child in galas?

No, it is not mandatory. But competing against yourself to get a faster time (PB Personal Best) than you have ever previously done is the essence of swimming. And training should have a target – to continuously improve. Performance at galas is the confirmation that the hard work at training is delivering results.

How will I know when my child is ready for a gala?

Usually the swimmer will have been training regularly with the Club for about a year before galas would be introduced. A quiet word with the Coach would also be helpful to get an insight into when a swimmer would be ready for a gala. The minimum age for acceptance of entry in an inter-club gala is 9 years old on the 31st December of the year the gala is being held.

So how do these Galas work? Will my child be swimming up against much older faster kids
that will intimidate him/her?

No. Galas are graded according to the standard of the swimmers competing. A novice gala or Level 1 will have starting swimmers competing against each other. All swimmers that have no time in an event (NT) if they have not swam this event before, will be placed in heats together.

How do Clubs and Swim Ireland know the times and events my child has swam in
previously?

All Swim Ireland registered swimmers have a unique identifier SI number that is used to recognise that individual in the national database. When the swimmer enters and competes in a gala, their finishing time in each event is recorded on the database. This time will be used to seed swimmers of a similar time in the same heats in future galas. As before, to keep swimmers of comparative ability together so as to reduce anxiety among young swimmers.

How does the age of my swimmer affect their classification? Surely it’s not fair to go on only race times achieved previously.

Age of the young swimmer is taken into account in two ways. When competing in a gala, results and medals for each event are awarded in 2 year blocks. So 9-10 year olds may compete against each other as do 11-12 and 13-14 age groups. Age is always counted on their age on 31st December of the year the event takes place. Age is also taken into account when classification of swimmers grades is done.

So how will I know if a gala that is suitable for my child is coming up? And how do I enter and what’s the cost?

Upcoming galas will be notified on the SwimClub Manager App by the Coaching Team. This app is available on iOS and Android. To allow the organisers of the gala to meet their Swim Ireland licencing requirements, closing dates for entries to a gala are usually three weeks before the date of the gala. Coaches can help advise what events a swimmer should enter into. Entries are will be managed online.  Cost is usually around €8 per swim event.

What does grading of swimmers mean? How does it work?

The essence of swimming is one of personal improvement. Experience tells us the children make great friendships in swimming but it is from a shared experience rather than being part of a team – although the Club will always enter gala relay races when they are an option. Personal satisfaction in the young swimmer comes from a positive cycle of confidence building in their own ability to gaining an internal motivation to be as good as they can be. Good training effort and attention Positive reinforcement from coaches Confidence building from gala attendance Achieving Personal Best reinforces confidence Internal Motivation to continuously improve External Motivation - achieving higher grade.

OK, but how exactly does grading work?

Essentially, as a swimmer improves his or her times in specific strokes and distances, they will be re-graded upwards into different groups known as Developments (previously Grades). This upgrade will qualify the young swimmer to attend and race in higher standard galas up to and including National Championships for the elite swimmers. The age of the swimmer is taken into account of course so that it is a fair comparison between swimmers. The starting grade is known as Development 1.

What are the main events to concentrate on starting off?

The first staging post for a young beginner is to achieve is to move from Development 1 (Novice) to a Development 2
status. To achieve Development 2 classification, the swimmer must achieve the qualifying times (age dependant) in either of the following event groups. Option 1 is the 100m Free and the 100m Individual Medley IM, or by Option 2 which is 100m IM and 2 of the 50m events, back, breast or fly. The specific target qualifying time vary with the year of birth of the swimmer and are different for boys and girls. Once swimmers have achieved Development 2 classification, the next steps in progression are Qualifying Swim Meets. Qualifying Swim Meets allow swimmers to qualify for Regional Championships which then allow the swimmers to qualify for National Championships such as Irish Age Groups (Division 2 in SC format), Irish SC Champs, Irish Open LC Champs as well as Irish Summer Open Champs (Division 1). The qualifying times here are across the whole country and available on the Swim Ireland website
https://www.swimireland.ie/competitions-events/competition-information