Harpenden
Swimming Club
5th placed Club at Hertfordshire County Championships 2013
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Club Championships - Sprint Champs have been held in May, but as of 2014 are moving to January. This event runs in line with the recommendations of the ASAs Long Term Athlete Development Plan (LTADP) and so swimmers compete at 50m in all strokes and 100m IM as under 11s for girls and under 12s for boys, and 100m in all strokes and 100m IM when 11 and over for girls and 12 and over for boys. Swimmers are encouraged to enter all events at this gala. There are trophies for the first place overall in each age group, medals for the top three in each event and a certificate for every swimmer who participated. The age as date is the 31st of December. The event is licensed so any times posted can qualify for County Championships.
​COMPETITIONS
Harpenden Swimming Club are a competitive swimming club, and expect all memebers to be competing on a regular basis in open meets, club galas and leagues as appropriate. A lot of our swimmers make Count Championships every year, and we also have swimmers making East Region Championships on a regular basis. Below is a brief explanation of each type of competition.
Club Championships - 200m Champs have been held in January, but are moving to May, meaning the next 200m Champs will be May 2014. The event runs over 2 Saturday nights. In line with the LTADP recommendations, every swimmer should be able to compete over 200m in all strokes and the individual medley. Therefore the events are the same for every age group. Swimmers are encouraged to enter all events at this gala. There are trophies for the first place overall in each age group, medals for the top three in each event and a certificate for every swimmer who participated. The age as date is the 31st of December. The event is licensed so any times posted can qualify for County Championships.
The Team Gala is held annually in December. Upon joining the club each swimmer is allocated to one of three teams named after famous swimmer; Michael Phelps, Laure Manaudou and Leisel Jones. Each team has a colour: Phelps are red, Manaudou are blue and Jones are yellow. The swimmers are encouraged to wear their team colour to the gala and the race in a variety of events. The winning team gets to take home the cup, which is circulated round the team members throughout the year.​

A quick overview of the career of each swimmer can be found on our blog here.
The Daplyn Trophy is an event run by Herts ASA in December. This is a team gala for under 14s. There is girls section and a boys section, and you can enter a maximum of 2 teams into each section.

There is a 50m individual event in each stroke, a 100m IM individual and two relays, a 4x50m medley relay and a 4x50m freestyle relay. A swimmer can only do one individual event, but can swim in both relays, so the maximum number of events is 3. This means that each team is usually comprised of 5 swimmers, one for each individual, with the five of them covering the 2 relays.

Dependent on the the number of teams there can be more than one heat of each event and so it is all about time rather than position in the heat (i.e. you can win your heat by half a length but still be beaten by everyone in the next heat). You are scored on where you come overall in each event and the team with the most points overall wins.
In 2010 Harpenden won the boys section of the Daplyn Trophy.

For more information on the Daplyn Trophy, visit the Herts ASA website.
Harpenden Swimming Club compete in Hertfordshire Major League and have teams in Divisions 1 and 3. The league is a gala format where you are swimming for Harpenden against other clubs from the county. There are 12 teams in the top division, making 2 6-team galas per round. Currently in Division 3 there are only 8 teams, and so 3 8-team rounds make up the league. The overall winners of each gala on the night get 6 league points, down to 6th place who get 1. The league runs over three rounds. The first round is a random draw, although the top 4 teams are seeded and are there are two in each gala. The second round is drawn as follows.

Gala 1 Results: A - 1st, B - 2nd, C - 3rd, D - 4th, E - 5th, F - 6th
Gala 2 Results: Z - 1st, Y - 2nd, X - 3rd, W - 4th, V - 5th, U - 6th

The above are the results of the two galas of round 1. In the second round, the odd placed teams of gala 1 race the even placed teams of gala 2, and vica versa. So here, round 2 gala 1 would be between teams A, Y, C, W, E & U and round 2 gala 2 would be between teams Z, B, X, D, V & F. The third round is defined by league points after the first 2 rounds, with the top 6 in the league racing each other, and the bottom 6.

Major League has 4 age groups: under 12, under 14, under 16 and Open. In each age group there are 4 individual events (one of each stroke), a medley relay and a freestyle relay. A swimmer can only do 2 individual events in their age group. The last event of the night is the squadron relay; an 8 man freestyle relay with a boy and a girl from each age group. A swimmer can therefore have a maximum of 5 events in their own age group, 2 individuals, 2 relays and the squadron. A swimmer can however be asked to 'swim up' an age group, covering individuals/relays as required. In Division 1 the top team wins the league, and the bottom 2 get relegated. In Division 3 the top 2 teams get promoted to Division 2.

Swimmers cannot enter for Major League, they are called up by the club as part of the team but are expected to swim when called upon.
For more information on Hertfordshire Major League visit their website.
Harpenden Swimming Club compete in Hertfordshire Peanuts League with teams in Divisions 1 and 3. The league is a gala format where you are swimming for Harpenden against other clubs from the county. There are 12 teams in the top division, making 2 6-team galas per round. Currently in Division 3 there are only 8 teams, and so 3 8-team rounds make up the league. The draw for the three rounds is made in the same way as Major League, please refer above for a full explanation.

Peanuts League has 4 age groups: 9, under 11, under 12 and under 13. In each age group there are 4 individual events (one of each stroke), a medley relay and a freestyle relay. The only exception to this is the 9 year old age group in Division 3, here there is no butterfly individual and they have a 'special medley relay', the order of which is backstroke, breaststroke, frontcrawl, frontcrawl. A swimmer can only do 2 individual events in their age group. The last event of the night is the squadron relay; an 8 man freestyle relay with a boy and a girl from each age group. A swimmer can therefore have a maximum of 5 events in their own age group, 2 individuals, 2 relays and the squadron. A swimmer can however be asked to 'swim up' an age group, covering individuals/relays as required. In Division 1, the top team wins, and bottom 2 get relegated. In Division 3, the top 2 teams get promoted.

Swimmers cannot enter for Peanuts League, they are called up by the club as part of the team but are expected to swim when called upon.

For more information on Hertfordshire Peanuts League visit their website.
​Open meets are the most common form of competition for our swimmers. They are events that are put on by swimming clubs with a range of different events and age groups. Other clubs are then invited to enter their swimmers. All open meets are slightly different as the host club can chose the format.

There are different levels of open meets that target different groups of swimmers. Meets can either be licensed or not licensed. In order to qualify for County Championships and higher, times must have been achieved at licensed meets. Non-licensed meets are often novice meets and these are good for swimmers who are just starting out.

There are 4 levels to licensing. Level 4 is the lowest level of licensing and are targetted at people looking to qualify for County Championships and level 3 meets. Our club champs are licensed at level 4. Most other level 4 meets will have 'no faster than' times in order to ensure the competition is of the right level. Level 3 meets are aimed at those attempting to qualify for County and Regional Championships and higher level meets. These meets usually have both qualifying times (you must be of certain standard to enter) and 'no faster than' times, although these are at the discretion of the host club. Level 2 meets are held in 25m (short course) pools and have aminimum qualification time set by the ASA. Level 1 meets are held in 50m (long course) pools and are also subject to ASA minimum qualification times. These two levels are aimed at swimmers looking for Regional and National times.

Harpenden swimmers tend to compete in Level 3 and 4 open meets, although in the higher squads swimmers are sometimes sent to higher level meets.
​Hertfordshire County Championships is the main event that Harpenden target each season. The Championships are held over three weekends in March each year. One weekend has the long distance events on the Saturday night, and the other two weekends are full weekends of competition with 3 sessions on the Saturdays and 2 on the Sundays.

County Championships are run in single year age groups from 9 to 17, and then 18+. There are three parts to Counties; BAGCATs, Youths and Championships.

BAGCATs stands for British Age Group CATegories. You are in BAGCATs if you are under 14 for girls and under 15 for boys. BAGCATs runs similarly to a heptathlon in athletics; there are a number of categories of races in each age group and depending upon how well you do in each you get points. The person with the highest amount of points in each age group wins. Hertforshire ASA explain BAGCATs further here.

14 and over girl and 15 and over boys swim in Youths. Here each event stands alone, there is no overall award. In these age groups swimmers can begin to specialise, although Harpenden still encourage a broad spread of events, especially in the younger age groups.
When you enter an event at Counties you are automatically entered into the Championships competition. There are two groups in the Championships, Junior (under 17s) and Open. The fastest overall swimmer who is under 17 wins the Junior Champs for each event. The fastest 8 swimmers overall go into a final for the Open Champs, with the winner of the final taking the trophy.
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For more information visit the Herts ASA website or ask Bryan - he organises it!
​Every year Harpenden also send swimmers to the ASA East Region Championships. The BAGCAT and Youth competitions run on two different weekends in June and May respectively. They are full weekend events. The Championships are held at long course (50m) pools. East Region also run Winter Championships in December, held in a short course (25m) pool.

The East Region Championships are run in single year age groups from 10 to 14, with a 15&16 age group and 17+. There are two parts to Regions; BAGCATs and Youths.
BAGCATs stands for British Age Group CATegories. You are in BAGCATs if you are under 14. BAGCATs runs similarly to a heptathlon in athletics; there are a number of categories of races in each age group and depending upon how well you do in each you get points. The person with the highest amount of points in each age group wins. Hertforshire ASA explain BAGCATs further here. At Regions there are finals in each BAGCAT age group for each event.

Over 14s swim in Youths. Here each event stands alone, there is no overall award. In these age groups swimmers can begin to specialise, although Harpenden still encourage a broad spread of events, especially in the younger age groups. There are finals for the 15&16 age group and the 17+ age group.

For more information visit the ASA East region website or ask Bryan - he organises it!
Harpenden have also sent swimmers to the ASA National Championships, and continue to aim to get swimmers to this level. The BAGCAT and Youth competitions run on two different weekends in July and August. They are full weekend events. The Championships are held at long course (50m) pools. There are separate qualifying times depending upon whether you race in a 25m or a 50m pool for under 15s, but swimmers who are 15 and over must qualify in a long course pool.

The National Championships are run in the following age groups: 11/12, 13, 14, 15/16, 17/18, 19 and over and Open. There are two parts to Nationals; BAGCATs and Youths.
BAGCATs stands for British Age Group CATegories. You are in BAGCATs if you are under 14. BAGCATs runs similarly to a heptathlon in athletics; there are a number of categories of races in each age group and depending upon how well you do in each you get points. The person with the highest amount of points in each age group wins. Hertforshire ASA explain BAGCATs further here. At Nationals there are finals in each BAGCAT age group for each event.

Over 14s swim in Youths. Here each event stands alone, there is no overall award. In these age groups swimmers can begin to specialise, although Harpenden still encourage a broad spread of events, especially in the younger age groups.
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For more information visit the ASA website.