Club Night FAQ

 

Q: What is Club night?

 

Club Nights are regular Tuggeranong Vikings Swimming Club event featuring regular competition and relay practice that are run on a regular basis around the clubs training and external competition programs.  The events (a maximum of three per swimmer) are seeded from slowest to fastest. All ages and sexes swim together.

 

 

Q: Why does the club hold club nights and what do they aim to achieve.

 

The coaching staff identified a lack of competitive opportunities for developing athletes, and a lack of opportunity for experienced athletes to compete in low-pressure situations.  We also identified a lack of opportunity to compete in a setting where improvement rather than outright placing’s are the focus. 

 

As a result, the Club Night programs were re-developed to introduce less experienced athletes to competition in a relaxed, friendly environment where the emphasis is on participation and personal improvement.  The meets also provide a full range of competitive events allowing our more experienced athletes to diversity their events and practice new race tactics prior to major competitions.

 

The program aims to introduce athletes to competitive swimming and broaden their horizons by encouraging them to swim a full range of events and distances as they progress and become more competent. 

 

Q: How will club night help my child?

 

You child will benefit from club night by having more race practice opportunities and a chance to experience a variety of events and distances as they progress.  Your child will also benefit from the combination of training followed by racing in developing mental and physical fortitude.  They can also use club nights to:

 

·      To try new races in different strokes and distances than they normally compete in.

·      To rehearse race plans and refine race skills

·      To swim against their friends in a friendly low-key atmosphere.

·      To familiarise themselves with race procedures.

·      To eat enjoy the BBQ that is held in conjunction with each club-night.

 

Q: Who can attend?

 

·      All Club members irrespective of their age (yes, even parents can swim if they can stand to be beaten by their offspring).

·      Brothers and sisters of Club members and invited friends may also attend and participate.

·      Student at our partner swim-schools (subject to the swim-school managers approval)

 

Q: What does it cost?

 

Entries into the Club night races are free for all TVSC members and guests. Food at the BBQ is modestly priced and used to fund club social activities.

 

Q: How often and when will they be held?

 

We aim to host 8 club nights per year, plus a number of other club-nights where we compete with other teams on a bi-lateral or cooperative basis.

 

Club Nights are normally held each month on a Friday night as advised via the TVSC web site or newsletter. The night for club night varies during the month to fit around the busy ACT Swimming calendar. Events commence at 6.30 pm. Swimmers train prior to the event, starting at 4.30pm (out by 6pm) this doubles as a warm-up.

 

Club Night normally finishes by around 7.30 pm. Entries can lodged using a paper form. We request that entries be received by the Club Night Co-ordinator by 5.30 pm on the Thursday preceding Club Night.

 

Q: Do I need to do anything to enter events?

 

It’s a simple matter: Fill out an entry form and submit it by the required closing time

 

Q: Can I help?

 

Yes. There are many things that need to be done for Club Nights to run smoothly. There is always a need for timekeepers and other jobs (such as marshalling, seeding events, collecting used entry slips, helping out with the serving of the burgers and sangers, etc. etc.) that need to be done.  It is a requirement of entry into club-night that you indicate what role you can assist with on the entry form. None of the jobs are difficult or onerous.

 

Q: What do you mean by ‘break time’?

 

Swimmers in learnt-to-swim programs or the clubs Development squad will usually begin their racing experience by trying the 25m events.  These are ‘developmental events’ designed to introduce athletes to racing at a young age in a friendly, relaxed environment.  Once they have achieved (i.e. swim faster than) the ‘break’ time, they are ready to race 50m events and can no longer race 25m in that particular stroke in which they have bettered the break time.

 

Q: How do “qualifying” and “break” times differ?

 

When you achieve a break-time, you must swim the higher distance (in this case, 50m).  Once you achieve a qualifying time, you MAY choose to swim the next highest distance.  For example; once a swimmer can swim 45s for a 50m freestyle, then now have the option of racing either the 50m or 100m freestyle races (but not the 200 unless they have achieved the qualifying time)

 

Q: Why do you have qualifying times for the events over 50m?

 

The qualifying times ensure that athlete race distances when they are ready to tackle them.  They also assist in keeping the club nights running at a fast pace by ensuring athletes are of an adequate standard before tackling the longer events.

 

Q: My child wants to swim more than 2 events from a single category, can I do this?

 

No.  As part of the club night design, athletes can only swim two events from a single category.  The categories are Developmental (25m events) Sprint (50 and 100m events) Middle distance (200m events) and Distance (400, 800, 1500m events).  Athletes can choose three events but only two from any single category, provided they have the prerequisite qualifying times.

 

This has been done deliberately to both encourage athletes to swim a variety of events and distances but also to ensure that the meet runs at a brisk pace

 

Q: Do you give out medal or ribbons for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd?

 

No prizes are given for placing at club night.  However, the club keeps a point score based on improvement with awards given out each season. 

 

Q: Is there a point score?

 

Yes, a point score competition runs in each season (Summer / Winter). The point score competition operates as follows:

 

·      Points will be allocated to swimmers participating at Club Nights only.

·      Shortly after each Club Night, the point-scores will be placed on the notice board.

·      There are 2 seasons:

o     Winter: 1 April to 30 September and…

o     Summer: 1 October to 31 March

 

Trophies will be awarded to highest points for Male and Female for each season and a perpetual trophy to the swimmer with the highest points for the previous 12 months. The perpetual trophy will be awarded at the Club’s annual presentation night. 

 

Don’t forget that there is a maximum of three events per Club Night for the allocation of points, and only two from any category.  The 100IM, 200IM, and 400IM are bonus point events (1 extra point per swim) to foster all-round swimming excellence and to encourage younger swimmers to focus on improving all four strokes

 

Q: What about the relay events?

 

To foster team spirit and to encourage swimmers to work together towards common goals, as part of the club-night revamp relays were introduced.  The relays that are included are the 4 x 50 Freestyle, 4 x 50 Medley, 4 x 100 Freestyle, and 4 x 100 Medley relays. 

 

At the end of each season, swimmers will be allocated into teams for the two 4 x 50 relays.  The coaches (on the basis primarily of speed and age group) determine the teams.  A special prize (donated by our two dedicated coaches, Jaan Murphy and David Murphy) will be given to the team that improves the most over it’s established total time each season; thus the focus is on the four swimmers working together to improve their total time. 

 

The 4 x 100 relays will generally consist of the four fastest possible male and female teams.  In addition, a number of ‘fun’ relays such as handicap relays, will also be conducted – in those events, swimmers will form their own teams.

 

Q: What happens to club night if it is prior to an external competition?

 

We plan to try and avoid running a club-night prior to an external competition.  However, a primary goal of the club night program is to provide more competitive opportunities to all our swimmers.  As a result, it is likely that the club night will be run prior to the competition and the more experienced athletes competing at the external meet will be encourage to focus on the external meet instead.

 

Q: Does my child have to train prior to the competition?

 

Yes.  Training will finish slightly early prior to the club-night.  We do not want our athletes to get into the bad habit of missing training prior to competitions (or the day after for that matter).  The role of the club nights is to add to the overall training and development of our athletes, not to subtract from it.  By skipping training prior to competition, swimmers will be detracting for their overall development.