Types Of Galas We Swim In
To participate in competitive events all swimmers must be registered with the ASA (Amateur Swimming Association) and be a member of an ASA affiliated competitive club. The category of registration within the ASA depends on the swimmer's intentions for example you must be a full member to swim in Open Meets and County events. As a competitive club we encourage and expect ALL appropriately aged swimming members to ensure they compete in competition. Please speak with Kevin or your Squad Coach if you are unsure of which Individual Meets to enter.
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TEAM ENTRY GALAS
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INDIVIDUAL ENTRY GALAS/OPEN MEETS
Look at our Guide to Open Meets for more information. |
Many of you have noticed that some of the meets we enter, whether they be interclub galas or open competitions, are either 'Graded' or 'Licensed'. So what is this all about? GRADED SWIMMING Graded Swimming was introduced in its present form in 1980 in order to provide incentive to all swimmers and enabling event organizers to target their meet appropriately. It does this by creating the means to compare performances across the many available events and across all age groups. Graded Swimming gives swimmers a way to measure their own personal progress and also to compete in open competitions against swimmers of similar ability. How does it work? The system has four Grades which are AAA, AA, A and B. Everyone below B grade is automatically a C grade. For a given time, for each of the standard events and for each sex, there is a corresponding Grade. AAA Grade is approximately the same level as the National Championships qualifying times, AA grade is about District standard, A is about county standard, and B is good club swimmer standard, C is all of the rest. At Littlehampton you are given a D grade for any event you do not have a time for. The system has been used for many years in Graded meets usually have a lower AND an upper qualifying time limit for each event and age group. B grade meets will often only have an upper qualifying limit. These times will usually have been determined by reference to the ASA Graded Swimming Tables and usually all events in the meet will be of the same grade. Click on the attachments below for the Graded Swimming Tables and explanation of how we use them at Littlehampton.
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LICENSED MEETS
The ASA document 'Competition for All' has a Mission Statement which says 'Every swimmer must have the opportunity to swim in appropriate, quality competition to enable them to achieve their true potential'. Therefore, as well as being graded, some meets are 'Licensed'. Licenses for meets are issued by the National Licensing Panel, which has representation from each District. District Licensing Panels forward their recommendations regarding Licensing Applications to the National Licensing Panel. The issue of a license means that swimmers, coaches and parents can assume that the meet is a 'quality competition' which complies with a standard set of requirements. This will include qualified officials, electronic timing, computerized results, standard of venue etc. LEVELS OF OPEN MEETS
Open Meets are licensed according to the purpose of their competition as Level 1, 2, 3 or 4. Level 1 is aimed at National qualifiers, or swimmers close to National qualification, looking for opportunities to achieve National qualifying times. These meets will have qualifying times for entry, which will be just below the national times (AAA/AA grade swimmers). Level 2 is aimed at District qualifiers and will have qualifying times and upper limit times (AA/A grade swimmers). Level 3 is for Club swimmers who are looking for County qualifying times and again would have qualifying and upper limit times set at an appropriate level (A/B grade swimmers). Level 4 It is intended that the system of licensing may ultimately develop to include this fourth level for club swimmers and those beginning competition through initiatives such as Active Sports (this will probably be for B/C grade swimmers). National qualifying times are accepted from meets licensed at Level 1 & 2 District qualifying times are accepted from meets licensed at Level 1, 2 & 3 |
QUALIFYING and UPPER LIMIT TIMES
These are times set by meet organisers for each event in the programme in order to control the number of entries in a meet. A qualifying time is the time that a swimmer must have already achieved in order to enter the competition. However, some meets will also have an upper limit time for each event, which means that swimmers who have previously achieved times faster than the upper limit time are not eligible for this event. The effect of having qualifying times and upper limit times for a meet is to target swimmers in a particular time range, thus setting the level/grade of the meet. Championships & Inter Team Events As well as open meets, Championships at County, District and National level, inter-county competitions and Speedo League finals are all Licensed. Further information can be found on at www.britishswimming.co.uk Once on the site, click on 'Club Information' and then 'Useful Documents'. |
Don't forget to record your times in your Log Book and note your grade.
Tell Sue Cameron if you have improved your grade
and your name will go in the newsletter.
Keep an eye on those club records too - click here to see the club records.
