Open Galas

At an Open Meet, swimmers compete as individuals and can apply to enter as many events as they wish, so long as they meet the gala criteria.  Open Meets are licenced to a certain level (1, 2, 3 or 4) by the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) and held under ASA laws and technical rules of swimming. Because they are licenced it is a requirement that each swimmer is a member of the ASA at the category 2 (higher) level.

At Open Meets, the events are spread out over one or more days and may involve you being at the pool for a few hours. Parents or others can always go as spectators and there is normally an entrance fee payable.

Swimmers can enter a wide range of different events and compete against swimmers from the wider area.  All recorded times are entered onto the ASA rankings databse, see http://www.swimming.org/britishswimming/results-and-rankings/rankings/   Swimmers may achieve qualifying times for entry into county or regional competitions later in the year.

The different levels of Meet mentioned above are linked to the standard of swimming.  Level 1 is the highest with swimmers looking to achieve National Qualifying Times. Level 2 is aimed at Regional Qualifiers and swimmers close to Regional Qualification.  Level 3 is for Club swimmers who are seeking County Qualifying Times while Level 4 is for swimmers just beginning to enter individual open competitions.

Each level usually has different entry criteria including Qualifying Times and Upper Limit Times. These are times set by meet organisers to control the number of entries. A Qualifying Time is the time that a swimmer must have already achieved in order to enter the competition. Most meets have an Upper Limit Time for each event too. This means that swimmers who have previously achieved times faster than the ULT are not eligible to enter that event.

For higher level competitions (levels 1 and 2) you will need to have attained qualifying times at a previous licensed meet so that the time has been already entered onto the ASA rankings database.

Your coach will be able to advise if an event is suitable for you to enter.Individual entry forms are normally available from the coach or the club desk and these must be submitted in good time before the closing date. You pay an entry fee for each event to SASC, and the Club then submits an official Club entry and arranges for coaches’ passes so that there is always at least one club coach on poolside at the event.