Club Racing

About the Weekly Events

Club races are held each Saturday morning commencing at 7.30am and concluding at 10.30am. Please be at the pool by 7.15am to allow time for marshalling the early races.

For the 2011-12 season, the first race meeting will be held on Saturday 8 October 2011.

Members may participate in three races each week:

1. A freestyle sprint - 50 and 100 metres, generally alternating weekly, as per programme.

2. A form stroke - breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly, generally alternating.

3. A distance event - 200 metres and 400 metres freestyle and a medley, generally alternating.

For younger swimmers not able to complete 50 metres - 20 and 30 metre races are held. This is also the case for distance events - instead of 4 x 50 metres (200m), younger swimmers are encouraged to swim 4 x 30 metres or 4 x 20 metres.

Club Fees

Subscription or members fees for the 2011-12 season are as follows:

Member Category	Standard Fee	Family Concession Fee
	(First 3 family members)	(4th and subsequent family members)
Active swimmers	$75	$60
Non-swimmers and learn-to-swim members	$40	$25
Second claim members	$40	$40
Squad members	$50	$50
Life members	nil	nil

In the case of families, only the first three members are charged at the Standard Fee, whilst the fourth and subsequent family members are each charged at the Family Concession Fee.

Members who join more than one swimming club and nominate Drummoyne Swimming Club as their second claim club are charged a $40 Second Claim Members fee.

Members who attend Training Squad but do not participate in Club Meets are charged a $50 Squad Members Fee.

Please note that $51.00 from each active swimmer membership fee and $15.00 from each non-swimmer/learn-to-swim membership fee is remitted to Swimming New South Wales. This provides registration and membership with NSW Swimming Association, including insurance for each Club member.

The balance of the subscriptions is used to fund operating expenses of the Club, including trophies, club equipment, catering for sausage sizzles and the like.

Pool Fees

The Swim Club Membership fee does not cover entry into Drummoyne Swimming Pool. Drummoyne Swimming Pool offers a number of casual entry and season pass options.

In 2010-11, Belgravia Leisure (the manager of Drummoyne Pool) offered Junior Club members a concessional entry fee on Saturday mornings of $3.50/visit (discounted from the standard children’s rate of $4.20) provided that they show a Swim Club pass at the entry gate. We are currently discussing a similar arrangement for 2011-12.

Handicap Races

With the exception of championship events, races are handicap starts, so a new swimmer needs to first swim a time trial in each event in order to establish a time. Handicaps are revised weekly, based on the fastest of the swimmers' last three swims.

Races are conducted on the following basis:

1. Handicap starts will apply with the slowest swimmer starting first

2. Swimmers will be allocated to their race according to their times irrespective of their age or sex.

3. A swimmer's handicap is based on the fastest time swum in the last three races for that distance and/or stroke.

4. Times and places are determined by the electronic timing system, but may be overruled by the Race Referee in cases of system or operator malfunction.

5. Where a member swims two races of the same category on the same day then the results in the first race are used to determine their point score points and the second swim is disregarded. (The situation can arise when a swimmer competes in a special trophy final in addition to the normal Club races or when a swimmer competes in both their age group and Open Championship races).

During the season where a member has not swum a particular event, his or her first race will be treated as a time trial. Swimmer’s swimming a time trial will be awarded 1 point for that race (i.e. the same points as a non-placegetter in a handicap event). Swimmers who have never swum an event at the club will need to let the marshaller know of their intent to time trial.

Points

Members accumulate points on a 4, 3, 2, 1 basis for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place or for completing a swim or for swimming a time trial (provided that the swimmer has not earned points from a corresponding event). Progressive points are displayed on the Club's web site.

400 Metre Qualifying

To qualify for a 400m freestyle swim, members must record a 200m freestyle time of 200 seconds (3 minutes and 20 seconds).

Club Championships

The Club Championships are determined through a series of races, which are held during the season. The races are for boys and girls separately and are based on age and groupings - under 8, 9 , 10, 12, 14, 16 and senior (over 16's) plus the Open Championships. Age groupings for Championships are determined by the member's age at the 1st October 2011. Competitors in the open events will be the eight fastest swimmers on the day, irrespective of age for the particular event. When one or more of the eight qualifying swimmers does not swim, then the allocation of other swimmers to that event will be based on swim times starting from the next fastest swimmer.

Points are allocated for the results in each race and the member who accumulates the most points wins the championship. On Championship race days, the Championship race will be the first on the programme for that day and the Championship races will be swum in the following sequence:

1. Seniors, 16, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8 then Open.

2. Boys will precede girls in each category.

3. Swimmers are eligible to swim in Championship events only if they have swum at three Club meets during the current season in an age race.

Lanes will be allocated on the basis of Club times with the fastest swimmer in lane 4, second fastest in lane 5, third fastest in lane 3 and so forth. When there are more than eight swimmers, the swimmers will be divided into heats according to their times with the fastest heat having the maximum number of swimmers, provided there is a minimum of three swimmers in any other heat. The Championship points will be awarded on the basis of times swum irrespective of which heat the swimmer swims in.

Championship Events

Age Group	Freestyle					Breast		Back		Fly		Medley
Open	50m	100m	200m	400m	800m	50m	100m	50m	100m	50m	100m	4x50m
Senior	50m	100m	200m	400m		50m	100m	50m	100m	50m	100m	4x50m
Under 16	50m	100m	200m	400m		50m	100m	50m	100m	50m	100m	4x50m
Under 14	50m	100m	200m	400m		50m	100m	50m	100m	50m	100m	4x50m
Under 12	50m	100m	200m	400m		50m	100m	50m	100m	50m		4x50m
Under 10	50m	100m	200m			50m		50m		50m		4x50m
Under 9	50m	100m	200m			50m		50m		30m		4x30m
Under 8	30m	50m	4x30			30m		30m		30m		4x30m
Under 6	20m	30m	4x20					20m

See the Calendar for the dates of Championship events.

Trophies

There are numerous trophies that can be won by swimmers during the season. The trophies are perpetual trophies that are held by the winner until the completion of the next swimming season. In summary these trophies fall within one of the following classes:

Championship trophies: These are awarded to the winner of each age Championship point score.

Point score trophies: A number of trophies are awarded to the members who accumulate the most handicap points during the season in each of the trophy categories. Each member's accumulated points are displayed on the Club web site. The point score is updated each week and accumulated points are shown separately for the freestyle sprints, BBB events and the long-distance races.

Specific event trophies: A number of trophies for specific events are run on a handicap basis during the course of the season. All members who have swum the relevant stroke and distance may compete for these trophies.

Trophies are presented at the annual Presentation event which is held several weeks after the end of the swimming season.

Swimming New South Wales - South East Area (MetSEA)

This Club is a member of Swimming New South Wales, operating in the Swimming Metro South East Area (MetSEA). For further information on regional swim meets, see the MetSEA web site at www.metsea.com.au or call Sia Christodoulou on 9181 4932.

Race Referees

Race referees will oversee all Club races to ensure that swimmers are using the correct stoke and are swimming according to the Club Rules and the rules of Swimming. If the referees believe that the swimmer should be disqualified then the swimmer will be advised before the swimmers leaves the water at the end of the race. When a swimmer is disqualified they will be awarded 1 point in the handicap point score but their time for that race will not be used for the future handicapping purposes. Swimmers in 20m races will not be disqualified but will be advised of any stroke correction that they need. Stroke correction following disqualification will be advised to you by the Race Referee.

Squad Training

A swimming Squad is held on weekday mornings in lanes 1 and 2 in the pool from 6am to 7.30am.

Junior Squad is held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

If you are interested in joining the Squad or seek more information about the Squad, speak to our Squad Coach, Frances Christodoulou on (02) 9181-4932 or email christofam@netspace.net.au.

Club Merchandise

Club members are strongly encouraged to wear club swimming costumes and other swim wear on race days.  We have a full range of sizes of all club swimming costumes and other swim wear, which can be purchased or ordered pool-side on race days.

All proceeds from the sale of club swimming costumes will go towards the Club.

General Information

Whilst the above offer a general explanation of how the club is run, please ask one of the Club officials if you are unsure of procedures.

Please also see our Frequently Asked Questions section for answers to common questions.