Competitions, Meets and Galas are all events where racing happens. They are loud and generally hot, but they are exciting and they’re filled with fun, determination and team work! Our athletes love racing and it makes all of the effort in training worthwhile.

 

There are lots of different competitions at different levels and not every competition is for every athlete. Some you need to qualify for with a qualifying meet or time, some are only by invitation but others like our seasonal club galas are open to all our swimmers. We only select a number of external galas to place in our competitions calendar each year so we have the right balance of training and working on improving our skills compared to race days.

 

Competitions usually take place at weekends with a few adding a Friday evening to their program. National Championship events and upwards tend to run midweek meets. Competitions come in different levels and each level has a different set of criteria. Durham City Aquatics hosts internal Club Galas and external home meets.

 

All our squads encourage competitive racing and as a result you will be introduced to competitions quite early on. Our internal club galas are for every swimmer at the club from our youngest in DS3 to our oldest in Masters and all squads in between.

 

At a competition, athletes will sit with our team which will be led by the coaches and team managers on poolside.

 

Coaches will provide pre-race chats to help get our swimmers focus on the race, analyse the race performance and provide post-race feedback. They also guide the swimmers throughout the day for aspects such as warm-up and cooling down and any other support our swimmers require.

 

Team Managers, are invaluable, they focus on the welfare of each and every swimmer. They often help calm the nerves, make sure the swimmers are fuelling and hydrating their bodies and organising the swimmers. Their main aim is to get get the swimmers to the right place at the right time for their races. If this is something you would be interested in training to become please speak to one of our current team managers for more info.

 

Technical Officials are vital for any gala to run. Without them meets can not be licensed and therefore times will not be recorded. Technical Officials all undergo training for the roles they perform around the pool. If this is something you may be interested in, please speak to one of current officials.

For more information about competitions: