District 21 incorporates Warragul Water Warriors, Moe Swimming Club, Morwell Swimming Club, Traralgon Swimming Club, South Gippsland Bass, Sale Swimming Club and East Gippsland Water Dragons.
Note: This page contains General Meet information only. If you are looking for information about specific meets, please visit Swim Central.
Swimming competitions are referred to as Swim Meets. As swimming is an all-year-round sport there are Long Course Meets (Warmer months) and Short Course Meets (Cooler months). Long Course (LC) implies swimming in a pool that is 50m in length, while Short Course (SC) implies swimming in pools that are 25m in length.
Swim Meets include:
Open Meets: 1st,2nd and 3rd places receive ribbons at these meets. 12 years and under receive ribbons for places from 1st to 6th. 10 and under swimmers are able to collect encouragement ribbons if they placed outside of the top 6.
Time Trial Meets: Seeded on times not age, awards based on age, choice of which stroke.
10 & Under Novice Meets: Open to swimmers 10 years and under, swum on a time trial basis.
GSI Sprint Meets: Swum as a time trial, seeded on times not age.
Gippsland Championships: Swimmers must have competed in at least three (3) GSI (Gippsland District 21) meets to qualify for these Championships.
Relay Events: Where relay events are incorporated within a swim meet, the Chief Team Manager, in conjunction with the coaches, selects the teams.
All Junior Eliminations: This meet consists of 50 metre events. Swimmers 14 years and under who gain 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th,5thor 6th place are then eligible to swim in the All Junior Country Semi-finals and Finals in Melbourne. Swimmers who have won individual medals at Country or State Championships are ineligible to enter that stroke at All Junior Competition.
Winter Swim Meets (outside the GSI Season Meets), are run by various Gippsland Swimming Clubs as a private meet, starting in late June and running through until October. Entry costs tend to vary depending on the meet/host and are paid per event.
GSI Meets generally start in late October and run through until March, there are approximately 11 meets culminating with the Gippsland Championships.
The summer season is more standard with all meets costing $16 total to enter - swimming any number of events. The exceptions to those include All Junior entry which is $20 and Gippsland Championship entry is $7 per event. All prices are subject to change and are dependent on Gippsland Swimming Inc.
Entry to swim meets needs to be completed online via SwimCentral. Credit card payment is required. Entries generally close the Thursday night before the competition at midnight, however, please check event flyer as some clubs have entry closing earlier in week.
Only registered Swimming Victoria swimmers, may enter meets. Late entries are entries which are submitted after the closing date/time for online entries. Late entries may be made through the Team Manager and will incur a $30 late entry fee. A number of meets will fill to capacity before the publicised closing date. It is important for swimmers to register as early as possible to avoid potentially missing out.
Updated meet information can be found on the Gippsland Swimming website. Information, flyers and programs can also be found for swimming meets on the Swimming Victoria website (search under events for the meet you are looking for).
Families should plan on a door entry/spectator fee into the pool between $3- $5 per person. This price is determined by the hosting club of each meet.
At the commencement of the swimming season, the Head Coach or Coaching Co-ordinator distributes a calendar of swim meets to be targeted by selected squads. Swimmers may also attend non-targeted swim meets at their own discretion. Please notify the Member Registrar if swimming non- targeted meets so that results can be followed up.
Swimmers are encouraged to compete in meets of interest outside District 21, including All Juniors, December Comps, Country Short Course and Long Course Championships, and State Championships. Please refer to Swimming Victoria qualifying times for these meets.
Any outside GSI events, either a winter meet, a Melbourne meet or a Swimming Victoria meet, are also entered online. Entry costs for meets outside GSI are usually per event, and these entry costs are listed on the program for the swim meet. Programs and flyers for these meets can be found on the Swimming Victoria website under the events/calendar tab.
Please note: Any swimmer that enters a meet outside of Gippsland, that has not been targeted by the club, needs to advise the Member Registrar. This enables the meet flyer, program and results for each swimmer to be downloaded and recorded into the club database.
Sign up for a swim meet via Swim Central. You will need to have a current Swimming Victoria membership.
Many events will require a parent or spectator pass. These tickets range from free to $5. Tickets are limited and should be purchased at the time of entering your swimmer/s. Without a spectator ticket you may be denied entry into the swimming complex. If tickets are required to be purchased there will be a separate heading near the entries tab. If you have any questions regarding signing up for a swim meet, please don’t hesitate to contact the club for assistance.
An entry file and meet program will be posted on Swimming Victoria website via events, after Thursday. Parents and swimmers are encouraged to check the file for accuracy. Please see the event flyer in order for who to contact if entries are missing or incorrect.
The Sale Swimming Club participates in various competitions that require a selection of teams, including relay teams. These relay teams are an integral part of the Sale Swimming Club experience. Wherever possible swimmers are given the opportunity to participate in relay teams.
The Club Team Manager along with the Head Coach or Coaching Co-ordinator, selects the teams primarily based on the best valid times and time combinations that would give the best results for the club. The selection panel has the final discretion in the formation of teams. The participants are selected and relay teams are finalised five days before the closing date to allow time for discussion with families and entries to occur. When swimmers are named in a relay team, it is expected that they make themselves available to compete for the club in that event.
The objectives of the Relay Selection Process are to:
Points for GSI events are awarded to swimmers for their club which go towards the presentation of shields at the end of the District Season.
The first eight swimmers overall in each event receive points – 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
The first swimmer from each club in each event receives points. These points are determined by the number of clubs in the competition. For example; 10 clubs – 1st has 10 points, 2nd has 9 points, 3rd has 8 points and so on. In this same example; a Sale Swimming Club swimmer may be placed 7th and yet be awarded 9 points, because the first six swimmers are from the same club and only the 1st swimmer from that club can obtain points for their club.
Will be displayed in a prominent position at the Meet venue.
If a swimmer is disqualified in a race, an announcement will be made advising the event number, the heat number and the lane number of the disqualified swimmer, and printed on the results sheets. The reason for the disqualification is noted on a disqualification slip filled out by the stroke judges.
These are collected by either the Coaches or Team Managers. If the swimmer is going to swim that stroke again that day, they may find out what they were disqualified for through the Coach or the Team Manager. Under no circumstances are parents or swimmers to approach the Recorder.
Remember that we require parents to help out with time-keeping at swim meets, as our swimmers cannot achieve their personal best times if we have no timekeepers. All lanes need to have three (3) timekeepers for each race for the times to become official and placed into the Swimming Australia National Database.
If times are not official, then they cannot be used for qualifying times, ie. for Country Championships. Rosters as previously stated, will be formulated on families attending swim meets, if for some reason you are unable to fulfil your timekeeping spot, then we request that you find a substitute who can take your place. This ensures that each family has equal responsibility when volunteering for the club and enables all swimmers’ times to be official.
At GSI (Gippsland District 21) Meets, Sale Swimming Club along with all other District 21 Clubs, are required to provide a number of timekeepers based on the number of swimmer entries. This is to ensure that our meets are ‘qualifying meets’, meaning that that our children’s times are recorded in the National data base. The table below shows the ratio of club officials to the number of competitors attending the meet.
Please note that it is only fair to share this job responsibility evenly around the parents/guardians of swimmers attending. If you are unable to fulfil your timekeeping responsibility, it is expected that you will kindly arrange a replacement or a swap. Any novice timekeepers will be placed with an experienced official whilst they learn this role. Once an entry list for each meet has been obtained, an email and Team App notification with a timekeeping roster will be sent out prior to each meet to families with swimmers attending and Team Managers. This roster will be used to ensure that our officiating duties are met. If we do not meet the expected ratio, our club will be fined. Records are kept for each season of swimmers attending meets and families who have time kept.
Parents are also encouraged to learn other roles around the pool other than timekeeping. If you have an interest in learning starting, marshalling, helping in recording, please make yourself known to a GSI official and the club will also support you in this pursuit of further qualifications in officiating.
Clerk of Course: Call swimmers for their event; instruct on the event to be swum; instruct on lane allocation. Swimmers must report to the marshalling area at least three events prior to their event.
Timekeepers: Keep an accurate time of events by starting the stopwatch on the light flash or starting gun, and then stopping the stopwatch when the swimmer touches the pool wall at the completion of the race. Timekeepers are also required to stop the electronic timing device by depressing the button when the swimmer touches the pool wall at the completion of the race. They then manually record this time on the provided sheets.
Recorders: Run the Meet from the computers; manage the Meet entries; compile the results of the Meet.
Starter: Instructs swimmers regarding the distance to be swum, the method of recall in the event of a false start, and the rules that apply to breaks and disqualifications.
Referee: Ensures that the rules of swimming are adhered to, and that the Meet runs smoothly and efficiently. The Referee’s decision is final.
If a swimmer wants or needs to be scratched from an event on the day of competition, their coach needs to be spoken with as first point of call. Scratching from events is then to be done through Club Team Managers, or the on-duty Team Managers only.
Swimmers and parents are not to go up to the recording table to discuss swimmers’ scratchings. Team Managers are required to supply all appropriate forms for swimmers being scratched by 9.30am. This enables the meet to continue to run smoothly and a refreshed program to be printed for all officials prior to the meet beginning.
Swimmers who are unable to attend a meet that they have entered in, should contact either the Duty Coach or Team Manager so that they can be scratched from all events at their earliest convenience.
Parental involvement is always encouraged and welcomed within the club. This is your families club, and the swimmers need your support in every way if it is to operate successfully.
It is important to recognise that a personal best cannot be achieved every time a swimmer enters the water and that swimming should remain a fun and healthy activity for all.
Over the years, the club has come to notice one very important thing when it comes to racing; happy swimmers are fast swimmers! Therefore, don’t put too much pressure on the swimmers, just let them do their thing and enjoy it.
Below are a few steps that you can take to assist in keeping our club a healthy, safe and supportive environment.
Talk to your child’s coach if you have any questions or concerns, however do this at a convenient time for your coach - please do not interrupt training sessions by approaching the coach whilst on pool deck. If for whatever reason, you are not satisfied after talking to your child’s coach, please address your concerns to the Club President.
The facilities we enjoy as a club are made available to us by Wellington Shire Council. Consequently, at all times, we must respect the property and equipment at the Aqua Energy complex.