Types of Gala Bridgefield enter

Internal Gala

Our Club Championships are held annually in June. The gala is for all our club swimmers, and races range from walking events for our Duckling swimmers through to races up to 100m for our competitive swimmers. The gala includes a very popular ‘skins’ knockout event for Advanced swimmers.

Following the Club Championships a Presentation Night is held in the autumn at which all swimmers receive medals and trophies for the events in which they participated. In addition special recognition awards are presented to swimmers and volunteers.

Inter-club / Team Galas

In these galas the club has a nominated lane and enter a swimmer or relay team in each event on the programme. Points are awarded to each club in the gala based on finishing places.

The club participates in two leagues.

We enter a team ranging from 9 years old through to Open age in the Merseyside & District Swimming League. In 2026/27 the team will compete in Division 1, having gained promotion in 2025/26 following victories in all four league galas.

We also enter a junior team covering the age ranges 9’s to 12’s in the Micro League of the North West. In 2026 we are competing in Division 2, having gained promotion from Division 3 in 2025.

Team gala process:

Teams are selected for the galas by the Head Coach.
Advanced notice of gala dates is provided through the club website and other social media channels.
Selected swimmers parents / guardians will be contacted by e mail no later than 14 days before a Gala is due to take place advising them that they have been selected to swim The e mail will advise the date and time of the gala and travel arrangements. Parents should respond promptly to the e mail confirming their swimmer(s) availability to the Head Coach.
Given the club provides advance notice of galas swimmers should only declare themselves unavailable due to exceptional circumstances.
Coach transport is usually made available if the gala is not taking place locally.

Licensed Open Competitions

The club enters swimmers in licensed open competitions. In these galas swimmers represent the club, (or on some occasions the City of Liverpool Swimming Club) but compete on an individual basis.
Medals are awarded based on the finishing place of a swimmer in an event within their age category. Swimmers are however placed in heats based upon their entry time. Heats are swum from slowest to fastest, and results are often Heat Declared Winners (HDW)
Swimmers must be at least nine years old and registered as a Club Compete member to enter licensed open competitions.
Swimmers choose which events they would like to compete in from those on the programme of events for the competition. Coaches are happy to provide advice and guidance to swimmers on which events swimmers should enter. We strongly recommend parents of inexperienced competitive swimmers seek Coaches advice before submitting entries.
If a swimmer is entering an event they haven’t competed in before they should speak to the Head Coach or Competition Secretary who will provide a ‘coaches time’.
As swimmers become more experiences we strongly encourage them to enter a variety of events, testing themselves on all four strokes and also on longer distances.
To compete in a Licensed Open Competition an entry form must be completed and submitted to the Competition Secretary. An entry fee is applicable per event entered.
Results from these events are added to the Swim England Rankings database.

We enter in the region of 8 to 10 Licensed Open Competitions each year across the North West. Competing in these events provides a pathway to higher levels of competition for which qualifying times are required. The pathway is as follows:

Lancashire County Age Group Championships is Level 1 Long Course meet that takes place in January/February. Qualifying times required to enter.
Swim England North West Summer Regional Championships is a Level 1 Long Course Meet that takes place between March and May. Qualifying times required to enter.
British and Home Nations Summer Meets. Entry by invitation based on national rankings. Qualification times must be achieved at Level 1 meets.