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There are two different types of swimming event:

Firstly, there are “galas”. These are team events where Andover Swimming Club competes as a team against other clubs, either as part of a league or as friendly or other one-off events. The team selection is made by the club so you would be invited to attend by appearing on the teamsheet etc. For galas like these you are chosen to swim in particular events by the club, rather than choosing what strokes or distances you’d like to swim.

Secondly, there are “open meets”. These are events you choose to enter as an individual in order to gain experience and to get improved personal best times for specific events. For open meets you choose which strokes and distances to swim. Although you enter as an individual, the club encourages participation in certain, mainly fairly local, open meets. In all cases you still represent the club when swimming at open meets, and at ones the club promotes there will usually be a coach on poolside for support. Some open meets target a certain level of swimmer, so there may be minimum or maximum entry times per event. An example of this is the Hampshire County Champs which have very tough entry times due to the number of large clubs and fast swimmers in Hampshire. Note that the key open meet for many of our swimmers to aim at will be the Hampshire County Development meet which is usually around the start of July, and is for those who are working towards the more stringent county qualifying times.