What should I expect on the day of the gala?

Competitions are divided into a number of sessions – normally 2 or 3 in a day – each with its own warm up. Unless told otherwise, your swimmer needs to be poolside at least 15-20min before the scheduled warm up time for any session they are swimming. Swimmers will usually be able to take their bag poolside with them and the team will congregate together in one area alongside the pool where they will stay for the day. Swimmers should stay with the club during sessions and not leave poolside until they have finished all their swims. They should therefore have with them everything that they will need for a session (see ‘What should I take to a gala?’, below). It is advisable to leave plenty of time for traffic and other delays – competition days are already stressful for swimmers (and parents!) and running late doesn’t help.

Swimmers are looked after on poolside by the coaches and Team Managers (usually parents who have been trained for the job). After warm up, swimmers for each event in turn will be called to the marshalling area, where volunteers will arrange them into heats. Coaches on poolside will chat to swimmers before their race and send them to marshalling at the appropriate time (usually the event before theirs). When they go to marshalling, swimmers should keep on their kit (t-shirt, bottoms, shoes…) and take with them/wear their hat and goggles. Some swimmers also like to take their drink. They will have plenty of time during marshalling to put on their hat and googles and will be lined up behind the blocks at least a heat before their own, giving them time to remove their kit then. It is good if swimmers are aware of the events they are swimming and where they fall in the programme. This way, they will be able to decide when is best to eat and drink and know when they need to start getting ready to go to marshalling.

Heats are usually run from slowest swimmers in the first heat to fastest swimmers in the last heat. This means that your swimmer will be racing against swimmers of similar speed but not necessarily the same age group. In the results, the swimmers will then be divided by age group. Most galas are run as ‘heat declared winner’. This means that the time a swimmer does in their heat will be compared to all the other swimmers in their age group to give the final results. There are no separate finals. The fastest heats are sometimes spearheaded, so that the fastest swimmers are in the centre lanes and the slowest in the outside.

After their swim, swimmers should look at their time, collect their kit and then go and find their coach for a debrief on the swim. Sometimes a warm down pool will be available for them to warm down before their next swim. Results will be posted online or as paper lists a couple of events after the event of interest is finished. Usually they are posted in 2 places – one accessible to the swimmers (poolside, changing rooms etc.) and one accessible to parents (viewing area, reception area etc.). It is helpful if swimmers keep a record of their own times. While it is nice for a swimmer to win a medal, it is important to remember that, at this level, it is the technique and times that matter and not so much the position they finish in. It is good if you are able to encourage your swimmer in this mentality.

How can parents best support their swimmer on race day?

Along with the coach, parents play a vital role in the support network of a swimmer. Young swimmers, in particular, look to their parents for support and guidance both before and after a race. It is important to remember that you are not their coach and you should not be tempted to offer advice on how to swim the race – the coach will do that bit. Your main role is to offer unconditional support and praise, whether the race has gone well or not. If a swimmer knows that there is no pressure from you to do well, then they are more likely to be relaxed and enjoy their races. A happy swimmer is a fast swimmer. More information on how to support your swimmer is available on our website under ‘Performance Programme’.

What should I take with me to a competition?

Packing for a full day’s competition can feel like packing for a week’s holiday! Swimmers may find it easier to divide some stuff into bags for each session that can be picked up from the car/you in between sessions. Your swimmer will need to take:

• 2 pairs of goggles – one for racing and a spare pair
• 2 club hats – one to wear and one spare
• 2+ swimsuits/trunks – as a minimum, swimmers should have a costume to race in and a spare. If they have enough costumes, it is nice to have a dry costume to put on for each session. It can also be advisable to have separate warm up/racing costumes – it is very easy to get cold when sitting in a wet costume/trunks. Thus for a 2 session gala, for example, a swimmer might choose to take 1 costume to use for both warm ups and then 2 costumes to race in – 1 for each session. Some swimmers have special ‘racing suits’. These are made of materials designed to go faster through the water and must have a ‘Fina approved’ label. They must finish above the knee and, for girls, must not cover the shoulder. To be effective, they should be a tight fit on the swimmer – 2 sizes below normal training size is a guide used by older swimmers (however, for younger swimmers, who are rapidly growing, it is wise to be less strict on this!). Racing suits are, however, very expensive and fairly short-lived and are by no means necessary at the level most swimmers will ever compete at. With much of the benefit mental, an alternative is to have a ‘standard’ costume that a swimmer sets aside only for racing in. This would again usually be a couple of sizes smaller than their training costume to minimise drag.
• 2+ towels – one for warm up/between races and one for getting dressed after the meet. It is amazing how soggy the towels get, however, and if you have space and enough towels, a towel for every session plus one for getting dressed at the end of the day is advisable. Microfibre towels are very useful because they take up less space and dry quickly.
• Club t-shirt, shorts, hoody and tracksuit bottoms – to wear poolside to stay warm between races. Having done a warm-up at the start of the session, the mission for a swimmer is then to try to keep the muscles warm for the rest of their races. Keeping wrapped up warm and as dry as possible is crucial.
• Poolside shoes - an amazing amount of heat is lost through the feet. All swimmers should have a pair of shoes specifically for wearing poolside. The key things to consider are good grip on the wet surfaces and quick drying. Slip on shoes also make life easier. Velcro/elasticated trainers are ideal and croc-style shoes are also popular. Flip flops are not advisable as they have a tendency to aqua-plane on the wet surfaces.
• A dry t-shirt to wear home – because after a day of being put on and off when damp after a race and, particularly for girls, having hair dripping down the back of it, the t-shirt your swimmer has been wearing poolside all day is likely to be in no state for wearing home!
• LOADS of drink – swimmers should carry (and may drink) 1-2L+ of liquid for every session. Water is good, as is weak squash or diluted fruit juice. Sports drinks, if consumed, should be drunk in moderation alongside water and should NOT be fizzy.
• Snacks and meals – it’s best for a swimmer to have more than they think they need and lots of things they can nibble on – small bites and finger food. Take loads – you can always leave some of it in an ice bag in the car to top up if necessary. Dried fruit (raisins, banana), fresh fruit (grapes, orange, melon, pineapple, ripe banana), cubed hot cross buns/malt loaf/bagel and rice cakes/cereal bars/whole wheat cereal (cornflakes, shredded wheats, Weetabix) are all good examples. Peanut butter and banana sandwich is great too for a hit of energy and protein! For meals, pasta with a tomato-based sauce is a typical swimmers’ go-to. Otherwise, a jacket potato or chunky sandwich. Basically, you are looking for foods with lots of accessible energy, ideally with some protein, and low in fibre. Note that ‘accessible energy’ does not equal sugar! Bags of sweets do NOT make good competition snacks and many clubs do in fact ban them from poolside.