Junior Swimming Gala 2024
Venue: Willesden Leisure Centre
Donnington Road, Willesden, NW10
Time: 17.00 to 20:30
Date: Saturday 16th November 2023
Changes for 2024
We will separate the Beaver and Cub galas; however, they will both be on the same night. Cubs can arrive early and watch the Beavers, and Beavers can stay and watch the Cubs - but we will only have one section poolside at a time.
Beavers: 17:00 | Cubs: 18:30
Entry Fee
This year, there will be a £2 entry fee per competitor.
Young people swimming
Younger members can swim in an older age group within their section, but older ages cannot swim in younger age groups. A person whose birthday is on the day of the Gala must swim in the older age group. i.e. A Cub Age 9 = Class B
| Class | Beavers | Cubs |
|---|---|---|
| Class A | Age 6 | Age 8 |
| Class B | Age 7 | Age 9-10½ |
Races:
All races except relays are held for both Class A and Class B
Beavers:
Egg & Spoon (Width)
Floatation race (1 width)
Swimming Stroke (1 Width)
Swimming Stroke (Length 25m)
Relay - 4 widths of any stroke
Two from Class A & two from Class B
There are eight Beaver Scout races; if you have more than 16 competitors, they won't all be able to swim twice. If you have over eight 7-year-olds, you should consider splitting them into two teams, as they can't swim in Class A races.
You must fill in and hand in the race card with competitors at the start of the event.
Cubs:
Floatation race (2 widths)
Front Crawl
Backstroke
Breaststroke
Relay - 4 lengths of any stroke
Two from Class A & two from Class B
There are ten Cub Scout races; if you have more than 20 competitors, they won't all be able to swim twice. If you have more than ten 9-year-olds, you should consider splitting into two teams as they can't swim in Class A races.
You must fill in and hand in the race card with competitors at the start of the event.
Scoring of points
Points will be awarded according to the finishing place of each entrant in the race; the points are allocated as follows:
First place = 10
Second place = 8
Third place = 6
Fourth place = 4
Fifth place = 2
NOTE: Double points were scored for relay races—half points were awarded in heats.
Number in events
Each Colony or Pack may only enter a maximum of 2 competitors for each race.
Each competitor may enter a maximum of 2 events, excluding the Relays
No competitor may swim twice in the Relay.
POR ruling on swimming
All youth members need to be able to swim to take part in the competitive swimming races, but members taking part in the non-swimmers (Beavers Egg and Spoon race) need to be members who cannot swim.
Flotation races use floats as shown here:
Heats and Finals
Heats will be run for each event with more than six entrants. The race will be run in two or more heats; where possible, entrants from the same group will be put in different heats.
If a race has six or fewer competitors, it will be run and scored as a final.
Time Keeping
Races are timed to select the six fastest competitors for the final, and timings are also used to verify winners.
Swimming Strokes
We are not part of any Swimming Clubs, and we do not expect all of the young people taking part in the event to be of club level, but we do expect all competitors to know how to do the strokes, including which leg kicks to use, if a young person does not know how to swim a stroke, or fails to swim the correct stroke, that young person could be disqualified from that race.
Footwear
No outside footwear to be worn at the poolside.
Members and leaders watching and cheering
Can you all please make sure that while we all know that we all get very excited while we are at the event, it is of uppermost importance that you all remain seated so that we don’t have any accidents. Can you please make sure that all young people walk on the poolside as this again will stop any potential accidents. Video recording and photography are prohibited at the poolside.
In all Rules and matters above, the Judge’s decision is final