Competitions

Ythan ASC caters for both competitive and non-competitive swimmers. Members who do not wish to compete do not have to. The club has competitive swimmers of different standards and there are varying degrees of meet catering for different abilities. We take members to meets which are suitable for their standard, although all swimmers must have good basic stroke technique and meet the required times for entry.

Types of Meet

Mini Meets are aimed at 8-11 year olds, and are a great way for swimmers to be introduced to competition. These are fun, noisy and entertaining galas, and all swimmers who wish to compete will start out at Mini Meets. There are around eight attended by Ythan annually, and all held locally within the North East.

Graded Meets or Development Meets are designed for swimmers who may not normally qualify for top flight meets. The meet organisers may set a “slower than” time and/or a “faster than” time for each event and age group as a qualification for the event.

District Meets bring together the fastest swimmers from around the North District region, which stretches from Shetland in the north, west to Fort William, and Stonehaven to the south. These are a mix of 'short course' (25m pool) and 'long course' (50m pool) competitions, and last a whole weekend. Swimmers must hit a set qualification time in order to be eligible to compete.

See https://www.sasanorth.org.uk for further info on all types of meet above.

Only the top swimmers in the country will achieve the required times for National Meets or Open Championships. Ythan ASC has developed many swimmers to this level over the years, with meets lasting up to five days.

See https://www.scottishswimming.com/compete/swimming.aspx for further info on national events.

Entry to Meets

Ythan ASC receives invitations from clubs organising meets. The organising club will advise on swimmer criteria for the meet, and often state slower than / faster than time bands.
A list of eligible swimmers is compiled for each meet, and placed in a ring binder meet folder.
If an eligible swimmer wishes to enter a meet, they need to mark the list for that particular meet. Please visit the meets page for further instructions on exactly how to do this. Please keep an eye out for club time trials, if a swimmer wants to gain/update a time for particular events.
Computer files with names, times and strokes are sent to the organising club along with payment for entries.
The gala convenor of the organising club selects the fastest entries from all clubs and the slower entries are rejected and returned to the club along with a refund of the entry fees.
Swimmers will then be advised whether their entry has been successful, and will then receive further information regarding the meet.

If at this stage, a swimmer decides not to attend the gala he/she will be requested to reimburse the club for lost entry fees. Ythan ASC is one of very few clubs that pay entry fees for its swimmers, and for this to continue, it is imperative the process for entering meets is not abused. Depending on the level of the meet, the average entry fee is around £6 per individual event and £8 per relay team. For District and National meets, individual swims cost around £8-10.