The Club Championships 2023

The History

The Club Championships were first swum in 1972, and from an early stage, the six events that comprise the Championships were settled – 100m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke, 100m Breaststroke, 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle and Individual Medley (IM). The pool was originally built as a 33 and 1/3rd metre pool so until it was converted to a 25m pool in 1990, the Individual Medley event was 4x33 and 1/3rd IM. In 1990, it became the modern 200m IM, and all events have remained the same ever since. From the outset, each event has included the Final and also what has variously been known as the Reserve or B Final. This is to ensure that those swimmers who have only just missed the chance of swimming in the Final, get an opportunity to record a competitive time. It also means that if there are any late withdrawals from the main event, there is a group of swimmers ready to take their place. In more recent years, some of the B Finals have not happened due to lack of swimmers but that is no longer a problem we have!

Running alongside the main events, is a great fun event for our younger swimmers, and this has also been in place since the 1970s. To begin with it was boys v girls. Then it became an Under 10 Sharks Gala in which swimmers were put into different teams, each named after a different type of shark! That then evolved into the Sharks, Seals and Otters Gala, and when the pool was replaced with an eight-lane pool in 2010, a further team – the Dolphins was added. So that’s how it all came about. Now about how it all works…

The Event

The Club Championships take place over two club evenings in November. Two events, the 200m Freestyle and the 200m IM, are held on the first evening, while the four 100m events are held on the second evening. There is a Club Champion for each event, and an overall Club Champion Boy and Girl will emerge at the end based on the swimmer who accumulates most points from all events.

Interspersed among the main events is the Sharks, Seals, Otters and Dolphins (SSOD) Gala. Mixed teams of younger swimmers who are not competing in the main events take part in a series of 25m and 50m events in all four strokes, culminating in an exciting relay event at the end. There are no medals for individual winners (that happens at the Age Group Championships), but there is an overall team trophy for the team with the highest number of points at the end of the second evening.

The Swimmers

Just exactly who gets to swim in the Club Championships, is based upon each swimmer’s best times over the course of a full year – from 1st November till 31st October the following year. Please note that this is an ‘open’ event, which means that there are no age groups – if they have got the times, an 11-year-old could be swimming against an 18 year old! The times used to make the calculation must have been swum at an official gala during this period. In addition, the times for members who competed in last year’s Club Championships and this year’s Age Group Championships are also considered. Swimmers who have joined the club this year cannot use times from their previous club’s internal events but can use those from officially licensed galas. The good news is that all the work to make these calculations is done by our club officials!

For each event, the fastest eight swims in that period by girls and by boys make up the Championship Final for that event. The next fastest swims (9th to 16th) make up the Reserve Final. If any swimmer withdraws from the main event, the 9th fastest swimmer will replace them and the 17th fastest will take their place in the Reserve Final, and so on.

There is a trophy for each Club Champion and medals for 1st to 3rd in each Championship Final. The overall champion is determined by the total number of points accumulated over the six events. In each event, eight points are awarded to the winner, seven for 2nd, and so on down to one point for eighth place.

For our SSOD Gala, we rely on the wisdom of our coaches to work out four roughly equal teams. There are two swimmers for each team per event, and teams of four for the relays.

In Summary

Wednesday 1st November: Warm up 6.00pm: Michael Woods Centre

200m Freestyle and 200m IM championship events and part 1 of the SSOD Gala.

Wednesday 8th November: Warm Up 6.00pm: Michael Woods Centre

100m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke, 100m Breaststroke, 100m Freestyle and part 2 of the SSOD Gala.

Swimmers will be notified of the swims they have qualified for, or have been selected for – it helps greatly if parents can ensure that any withdrawals are advised as soon as possible.