Here is a guide to how galas are organised and their terminology…
Competitions
1. Time Trials
Occasionally, the Club holds time-trials for swimmers to attempt new distances and to gain new personal-best times (PBs). Time trial results cannot be used for County and Regional qualifications.
2. Club Galas
Club Galas tend to be a competition between 6-8 clubs, with points awarded for the finishing position in each race. For this type of gala, swimmers are selected by coaches to represent the Club. The team with the most points wins.
3. League Galas
BPSC takes part in one League competition: the M11 League.
This is a competition for Under 13s, and takes place annually between April and June. The M11 league has 3 rounds with the finishing position for each Club in each round, awarded points towards an overall total. In the final round, the teams are split into a top and bottom half-final.
4. Borough /County /Regional /National Meets
BPSC are members of Middlesex County and London Region.
The borough events do not call for qualifying times, all swimmers are encouraged to enter these competitions.
The target that most coaches set their swimmers, is to be fast enough to achieve the Middlesex BAGCat (British Age Group Categories) -qualifying times. For anyone just outside of the qualifying times, the county hold Development Competitions to give swimmers a chance to achieve those qualifying times.
Once the County BAGCat qualification has been achieved, the next target is the Regional Championships. These are split into BAGCat championships for 10-14-year-olds and the Youth Championships for 15-18-year-olds.
Once qualification to the Regional has been attained, the next step is the National Championships.
2022 Middlesex County Qualifying Times
5. Open Meets
Open meets are run throughout the year by various clubs; there are 4 categories of Open Meet:
Level 1 – These can only take place in a 50m pool and are for swimmers that are at or close to Regional/National qualification.
Level 2 – These can only take place in a 25m pool and are for swimmers that are at or close to Regional/National qualification.
Level 3 – Most competitions that we enter are Level 3 and are for swimmers looking for County and Regional Qualifying times.
Level 4 – This is the level for Club championships and closed meets such as the Borough Championships. Times achieved at this level can be used for qualification into County championships, but not Regional.
6. Club Championships
Every year we hold our Club championships. All members of Broomfield Park are encouraged to enter, so long as you can swim 25 metres!
Swimming Terms
PB – Personal best time
QT – Qualifying Time
IM – Individual Medley
Long Course – Competitions taking place in a 50 metre pool
Short Course – Competitions taking place in a 25 metre pool
Upper Qualifying Time – Many competitions have upper qualifying times so that the right level of swimmer enters the meet. All swimmers entering must be slower than that time.
Lower Qualifying Time – This is the slowest time that a swimmer must be able to achieve to enter the competition.
Speeding Ticket – If a swimmer is faster than the upper qualifying time for a meet, they are awarded a speeding ticket. This is an achievement and often means the swimmer had achieved a BAGCat qualifying time
Whipping Area – This is not as bad as it sounds. It is not where a swimmer goes if they fail to get a PB. This is where the swimmers line up pre-race and where they are told which heats they are in.
Club Records
We have various Club Records.
Our original Club records date back during the whole history of the club. These records we term as the ‘Club Records’ and they only have an Open category and a Junior category. The Junior category being for swimmers aged under 17.
The Club records originally only covered 100m, 200m and 400m events.
In 2007 we added the ‘Age Group Records’ for the individual age groups starting from 9 and under and going all the way to 18 year olds. We also added the 50m events to both the ‘Club Records’ and the ‘Age Group Records’
We now have masters records. These start at the age of 18, with all age bands going up in 5 year age groups except for the youngest age group which is 18-24.
