There are many different types of competition which those new to swimming may find confusing. The Committee and coaches of the Club try to enter a range of competitions which are appropriate to the standard of our swimmers, in other words not all swimmers will be able to compete in every competition.

Following is a list of the types of competitions we attend:

Friendly and Trophy galas: Either at home or away, we compete as a team over a full range of swimming races against other clubs. Points are awarded to the position achieved in each race and added up to give each clubs final position in the gala. We try to compete against clubs of a similar standard to ourselves. Swimmers are picked according to ability. The more lanes available, the more swimmers are picked to swim.

Diddy League: Actually called the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Junior Swimming League. It currently has 18 clubs in one league. There are three galas, one in April, one in May and one, "the final" in June. Swimmers are picked on ability, in age groups of 9/10/11/12 - age as per date of the June final (last day of competition)..

Speedo League: This is the National League. Member clubs are in different regional divisions. We are currently in the West Midlands Division 2. There are three galas, one in each of October, November and December. Swimmers are picked on ability, in age groups of 11/13/15/open - age as of 31st December.

The Derbyshire Age Group Championships: As the name says, this is Derbyshire's main competition. Galas take place during February and March over three weekends, there are three galas each day, Saturday and Sunday. Swimmers enter the races of their choice, ages from 9 to open, events 50m to 1500m. There are qualifying times to enter and the standard is high.

The Midland District Age Group/Youth Championships: This is the next grade of competition up from the County Championships. Derbyshire is in the Midlands region. Entry is by way of a qualifying time for each event. Qualifying times are tough, the best swimmers from 17 Counties compete.

The ASA National Championships: This is the next grade of competition up from the Midlands. Qualifying times are very tough, the best swimmers from GB compete.

Open Meets: Open meets are "open" to anyone to enter. Age groups and qualifying times may differ to attract a certain standard of swimmer. We try to choose open meets that are designed for the standard our swimmers are at. So not all swimmers can enter every open meet. The meets we enter are not set in stone, we may change the ones we enter from year to year.

Open water and Biathle: We have at Rykneld, in the form of Chris Moorcroft, The Derbyshire Open Water Secretary. Chris runs open water training, during the summer at Matlock Bath. Anyone interested in competing in either open water events or the quite new sport of biathle, run/swim/run, please see Chris.

All competitions will be displayed on the notice board in the form of the calendar for the year and with posters for open meets and team lists for the league, trophy and friendly galas.
If you are interested in competing in an open meet, see Alan as soon as possible, because there is always a closing date.

Team lists for league, trophy and friendly galas will be put on the notice board at least 2 weeks before the gala.
Please indicate ASAP, by ticking or crossing against your child's name, whether they are available to swim, or not.

It is understandable that not every swimmer can be available for every gala, children and parents have other commitments. However, the sooner we know that a swimmer is not available, the sooner we can ask a swimmer not selected, to swim. After all Rykneld Swimming Club is a competitive swimming club, we were formed 35 years ago for the purpose of racing.

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