Swimming Competition Entry Guidance

This information is to guide and help the parents and guardians of Nomads swimmers to understand which competitions and events you should enter your child into. At Nomads we try to ensure swimmers are only entered for a competition where they can have fun and are met by a suitable challenge to overcome. To achieve this, we’ve set some limits on the type of competition that can be accessed by each squad - these are listed below:

• Stage 7 (Learn 2 Swim) - invitational Level 4 fun galas and open meets (please speak to L2S Co-Ordinator)
• Rising Stars - Level 4 galas and open meets and invitational Level 3 open meets
• Foundation - Level 4 galas and open meets and Level 3 open meets
• Development - Level 3 and 4 galas and open meets, plus Level 1 and 2 meets (where qualification criteria have been met)​

Fun galas are usually fairly cheap to enter - we typically charge £2-3 per swimmer and guarantee at least two swims. All other meets are entered on 'fee per swim' basis - usually £7-9 for 50m up to 200m, sometimes a bit more for longer-distance events.

Rising Stars

In Rising Stars, we suggest entering your swimmer into Level 4 competitions, which includes both fun galas, novice meets and open meets. Fun galas and novice meets are less strict and put a heavy emphasis on creating a fun and enjoyable day for your swimmer to be introduced to the world of competitive swimming, with coaches selecting the events each swimmer competes in. Novice meets frequently include relay competitions, which bring a whole new level of excitement and chaos! Level 4 open meets are a good way of testing the waters with more strictly enforced rules and regulations; events like the 50m Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke are usually recommended.

Getting disqualified at this stage is not a bad thing! It highlights areas of improvement to the swimmers and helps them to understand why the coaches ask them to do some of the things that they do in training. Disqualifications are very much a rite of passage in swimming and be reassured that even the most experienced of swimmers still get disqualified from time-to-time.

The coach may also invite your swimmer to enter a Level 3 open meet. This is slightly more of a challenge and can be good for those willing to take the next step. A Level 3 meet will typically include swimmers from novice level right up to Regional and National level, which means they can provide great opportunities to see some of the best swimmers in the area doing their stuff.

Foundation

In Foundation we recommend that you challenge your swimmer and enter them for some Level 3 meets. A good example of these would be the Havant & Waterlooville 'Peter Bull' meet in the autumn, or our own Valentine Meet held every February, so keep your eyes peeled! At this level, we would want to add events like the 100m Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke to the 50m events entered at Level 4 and we'd also be looking for swimmers to try the 50m Butterfly.

Foundation swimmers are still recommended to enter the Level 4 galas and novice meets. These are excellent ways of building experience, which is vital for any developing swimmer to feel more natural and comfortable in the water.

Development

In Development we start to push swimmers towards qualification for the Hampshire County Championships. This is a Level 1 long course meet, with strict qualification criteria for each event in each age group. As a result, we want Development swimmers to be entering meets ranging all the way from Level 4 up to Level 1 and 2, assuming their times permit (Level 1 and 2 meets will all have qualifying times in order to get in).

We suggest Development swimmers really challenge themselves with the events they choose, with 400m and 800m distances becoming available. Working hard in training is the key to performing well in competitions; this has always been the way to progress in the pool and there are no shortcuts. It is possible for any swimmer to obtain a County time, but they must work hard to get there.

Club Championships

Every autumn we host our own Club Championships. Held over a number of evening sessions, we cover the entire Olympic programme with every stroke and every distance from 50m right up to 1500m!

'Club Champs' is a Level 4 event in terms of category, but it is the one event every year where we'd really like to see every single Nomads swimmer take part in whichever events they feel able to. To encourage this, we charge a flat fee for the entire competition, so the more events you enter, the better value it is.