Club Nights

For the results from each Club Night’s swimming rances, see the Results Page.

Information

Club Night is held every Tuesday night from October to March (excluding School holidays). Families that have been with us for a while will know what a great night this is with a BBQ dinner and swims for everyone. Swimming Club is social, inclusive and a great way for children to apply the techniques learned in lessons and training in a supportive environment.

The evening commences at 6pm with the BBQ and swimming from 6.30pm sharp

Club Night Events

All events will be conducted in terms of the Club’s by-laws. The program for each week is available to members on our club-night e-newsletter, which is distributed on the Sunday or Monday before Tuesday club night.

Club Night Nominations

To nominate on your first night of club, email your nominations to the nominations registrar at nominations_sandswim@bigpond.com up to 6pm on the Monday beforehand. From there, your nomination will be active from week to week. If you cannot swim, simply opt out by emailing the nominations registrar. Further details are provided under Club Night Nominations.

Club By-Law Failing to Swim

Club members who on two club swim nights have entered their names for competitions and fail to swim without first advising the Marshall prior to the event being called, shall not be permitted to compete for a period of three club swims. The implementation of this rule shall be at the discretion of the President and Secretary.

Club Night House Relays

Every swimmer is invited to compete in the House Relay which is the last event at club night. The three house teams assemble as many swimmers as they have on hand to complete 25m legs of the relay. There are no points awarded for places in the relay. It is intended to be for “good natured” competition! It is permitted and encouraged for teams to form alliances for the relay if a house does not have sufficient numbers to take part.

Qualifying Times

Qualifying times operate for all distances and strokes. Progression to the next distance at club is by means of:

• Performance of faster time at club night than qualifying times below
• At the invitation or approval of the Head Coach by prior arrangement

The qualifying times are in seconds are:

Distance	Freestyle	Backstroke	Breaststroke	Butterfly
12.5m	14	16	16.5	13.5
25m	23	28	30	25
50m	40	48	50	44

Once a swimmer qualifies in a stroke they automatically qualify for the next longer distance in that stroke.(e.g. 12.5m Free - 25m Free).

Qualifying Times for Open Events

Individual Medley (IM) 4 x 25m: Need to be qualified for 25m in Backstroke, Butterfly and Breaststroke and 50m in Freestyle.

Individual Medley (IM) 4 x 50m: Must be over 12 years of age and needs to be qualified for 50m in all strokes.

100m (in Backstroke, Breastroke, Butterfly and Freestyle): Need to be qualified for 100m in the event:

• Freestyle - 40s over 50m
• Backstroke - 48s over 50m
• Breaststroke - 50s over 50m
• Butterfly - 44s over 50m

200m, 400m & 800m Freestyle: Must be over 12 years of age and needs to be qualified for 100m freestyle.

Note that the swimmer, as well as satisfying these criteria, should be be comfortable swimming these distances. Open events are not recommended for swimmers still in Learn to Swim.

Disqualifications

Rule tolerances only apply where there is no major disadvantage imposed on another swimmer. Remembering any swimmers competing in BSA/QSA competitions will be subjected to the full rules with only some rule tolerances for the under 10 year olds. Rule tolerance also applies to swimmers in 12.5m races.

Therefore, all swimmers are encouraged to practise the various strokes and concentrate on coordinating, as best as they can, with the basic rules of each stroke. Your coach is the best person to assist you with this task. Parents/Carers are asked to discuss this with their swimmers. This will avoid disappointment and misunderstanding of outcomes.

Starts:

• Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly starts - can be completely under water for maximum of 12.5m and can include fly kick when underwater. Once the swimmer has broken above water, then they must do the kick of the stroke in which they are competing.
• Breaststroke starts - one pull down and one kick and then swimmer must break above the water.
• Breaking: (ie moving around on the blocks before a race starts) will incur a warning. The final rule for breaking on the day of Championships will to be decided and announced in the last week of Club Night.

Turns:

• Backstroke turn must be a touch of the wall with some part of the body. No kicks or arm strokes are allowed if the swimmer has done a turn that puts them on their stomach after the turn.
• Swimmers must not touch the bottom of the pool with their feet during a turn at the shallow end.
• Individual Medley turns are different to single stroke events. Please check with your coach if you are unsure of these.

Strokes:

• Butterfly – arms must move together. Swimmers 8 years & under will be given a warning. Swimmers 9 years & over will be disqualified (DQ).
• Butterfly – feet must be together ie no freestyle kick
• Butterfly - arms must come forward over the water
• Breaststroke - hands must move in front of hips
• All other strokes must be done in the correct way eg no freestyle kick in any stroke other than freestyle.

Finishes:

• 2 hand touch for Breaststroke and Butterfly
• 1 hand touch for Backstroke and Freestyle
• Hand/s must touch above the bar at the shallow end of the pool.
• Swimmer must not touch the bottom of the pool with their feet until their hands have touched the wall

Other:

• Swimming Cap is compulsory for all swimmers
• Swimmers must always exit the pool via the ladder
• Referee decision will be final
• The Referee and Club Night Co-ordinator may consider changes to rules at their discretion to maximise the enjoyment of swimmers at Club Night and Club Championships. No rules will be altered during a meet or to benefit a minority.
• Rule tolerance will be applied to all 12.5m events. Warnings for 12.5m events will be at the discretion of the referee, but no disqualifications will be applied to these events.

If in doubt about any rules or disqualifications, please talk to your coach.

Awards and Trophies

The Club encourages the swimmer to improve his/her time to maximise the points gained in each event. Accordingly, the greater the improvement, the greater the points scored. In this way swimmers are encouraged to develop their own swimming ability and do not have to win races on Club Night to gain points and receive awards on presentation night. The system eancourages and rewards consistent improvement and regular participation. Children swim with others of comparable ability based on their best time for that particular stroke regardless of age or sex of the child.

Aggregate points trophies are awarded at the end of the season to the top point scorers. Points are awarded for all events (except all 12.5m events and relays) as follows:

Achievement	Points
More than 2.5s slower than best time	1
Between 1.6s and 2.5s slower than best time	2
Between 0.6s and 1.5s slower than best time	3
Between 0.5s each side of best time	4
Between 0.6s and 1.5s faster than best time	5
Between 1.6s and 2.5s faster than best time	6
More than 2.5 s faster than best time	7
Time Trial (first swim at the distance)	2

Storms and Bad Weather

If storms are forecast for a club night, the President will make a decicion to proceed with club night or to cancel by 5pm on the Club Night day. Please check the front page of this website at 5 or your emails for a cancellation notice.

Invitation Swims

Visiting swimmers shall be allowed to compete for a maximum of two Club nights. No points will be awarded for these swims.

Nominations

All nominations are collected by free ticketing through EventBrite. You can search on that website for “Sandgate Storm” or click the link in the newsletter each week.

In accordance with the Industry Covid-Safe Plan, all swimmers and parents must have a ticket to attend. Ticketing closes at 7am on the day of racing. With the current relaxation in restrictions, we are able to allow entry without tickets, but your child will not be timed and can only swim if there is a spare lane in the event they wish to compete.

If you are unsure about anything to do with club night nominations email us at the nominations address nominations_sandswim@bigpond.com.

First time at swimming club: Your child will be placed in either 12.5m or 25m races depending on age. Most swimmers start at 12.5m and quickly qualify for 25m if they are competent enough. Qualifying times can be found above.

2020/21 Program

Note: Program subject to change depending on previously cancelled events, weather or other circumstances. House Relay will be cancelled if events run later than 8pm.

2nd February

Members meeting

1. 12.5m Free
2. 100m Fly
3. 25m Free
4. 12.5m Breast
5. 50m Free
6. 25m Breast
7. 50m Breast

House relay

9th February

1. 12.5m Free
2. 100m Free
3. 25m Free
4. 12.5m Fly
5. 50m Free
6. 25m Fly
7. 50m Fly

16th February

1. 12.5m Freestyle
2. 100m IM
3. 25m Freestyle
4. 12.5m Backstroke
5. 50m Freestyle
6. 25m Backstroke
7. 50m Backstroke

House relay

23rd February

1. 12.5m Free
2. 100m Back
3. 25m Free
4. 12.5m Breast
5. 50m Free
6. 25m Breast
7. 50m Breast

House relay

2nd March

1. 12.5m Free
2. 100m Breast
3. 25m Free
4. 12.5m Fly
5. 50m Free
6. 25m Fly
7. 50m Fly

House relay

9th March

1. 12.5m Freestyle
2. 100m Fly
3. 25m Freestyle
4. 12.5m Backstroke
5. 50m Freestyle
6. 25m Backstroke
7. 50m Backstroke

House relay

16th March

1. 12.5m Free
2. 100m Free
3. 25m Free
4. 12.5m Breast
5. 50m Free
6. 25m Breast
7. 50m Breast

House relay

23rd March - Handicap race night

1. 12.5m Free
2. 100m IM
3. 25m Free
4. 12.5m Fly
5. 50m Free
6. 25m Fly
7. 50m Fly

28th March - Club Championships

Sunday afternoon championshi races

1. 12.5m Free
2. 25m Free
3. 50m Free
4. 12.5m Back
5. 25m Back
6. 50m Back

30th March

End of Season Fun Night