Swimming Gala Rules

CW12 District Swimming Gala Rule

1. General Rules
1.1. All attendees are to remember and uphold the ideals of the Scout Laws and good, honest sportsmanship.
1.2. The judge’s decision is final.
1.3. Any behaviour deemed to be disruptive, harmful or disrespectful or amounting to cheating will result in a score penalty to the group. This includes the behaviour of any non-uniformed attendees accompanying a group.
1.4. The judges acknowledge that there will be times when our eyes miss things and times when races may seem unfair; and we try to compensate for these to the best of our ability. We invite representatives from all groups to join the judge’s team for the day and we will not base any of our decisions on the comments of observers who are not part of this team.
1.5. The judges are not total party-poopers and will not be too harsh on juniors and will only get technical for the participants performing the fastest, especially when ones actions give them an unfair edge.
1.6. The judges reserve the right to amend these rules and the program at any time.

2. ‘Official’ Swimming Styles
2.1. Backstroke
2.1.1. Backstroke races start in the water, with participants touching the wall both hands and feet.
2.1.2. Swimmers must be belly-up at all times, except when making a turn at the wall (this includes underwater dolphin-kicks).
2.1.3. The leg and arm motion of the participant must be alternating and not symmetrical.
2.1.4. Participants must finish belly-up.

2.2. Breaststroke
2.2.1. Participants are ‘belly-down’ and use a simultaneous arm pull, with the arms pressing out (a “Y” shape), then sweeping in, with the hands meeting under the face then extending forward. The elbows must be underwater during the pull and the hands are not allowed to pull past the waist/hips.
2.2.2. The kick resembles a frog kick, but it is not exactly the same. The legs should not break the surface of the water.
2.2.3. The breaststroke requires that the left and right half of a swimmer do the same thing at the same time – if one arm is pulling, then the other arm is pulling; they must mirror each other.
2.2.4. The head must break the surface of the water once each stroke cycle (1 pull + 1 kick = 1 cycle).
2.2.5. For purposes of simplicity, the CW12 Swimming Gala ignores the official rule of ‘pull-outs’ used in Olympic breaststroke, and stays with the general rules in 4.3.

2.3. Butterfly
2.3.1. Participants are “belly-down” and must use a simultaneous arm pull, similar to doing the front crawl pull with both arms at the same time; the arms are recovered over the surface of the water.
2.3.2. The kick is a butterfly kick. The legs must stay in the same horizontal plane relative to each other. They may not change their relative position to each other. Most butterflyers will have their legs lined up parallel to each other, as close together as possible, trying to create a big fin with their legs and feet (toes pointed in or pigeon-toed). They cannot do a breaststroke kick.

2.4. Freestyle
2.4.1. Freestyle is generally regarded to be the ‘Front Crawl’ style, however, no formal style is necessary and participants are free to swim in and way they deem fastest.
2.4.2. Participants must still adhere to the rules in 4.1., 4.2. and 4.3.
3. ‘Fun’ Swimming Styles

3.1. Egg-and-spoon race
3.1.1. In the egg-and spoon race, participants need to balance an item on a spoon and race across the pool without dropping the item or getting it wet.
3.1.2. No equipment other than that provided by the judges may be used.
3.1.3. The spoon must be held by the handle, with 1 or 2 hands, and the item may not be touched by the participant.
3.1.4. Egg-and-spoon races start in the water.
3.1.5. Participants are not required to swim, and can walk/run in the pool.

3.2. Piggy-back race
3.2.1. In the piggy-back race, one participant needs to be seated on the back of another. The standing participant must then walk as quickly as possible to complete their lengths.
3.2.2. To finish or turn around, the participant being carried must touch the wall.
3.2.3. In piggy-back races, a Scout may substitute for an Adult.
3.2.4. Cubs wishing to piggy-back an adult will be awesome, but not earn bonus points.

3.3. Wet t-shirt race
3.3.1. In the wet t-shirt race, participants need to start by putting on a soaking wet t-shirt and then swimming their lengths while wearing this.
3.3.2. The starting position is the participant lying on their belly, facing the pool, with their t-shirt in front of them. The t-shirt must be dunked in the pool prior to this, and spread out flat on the ground. The participant may not be touching the t-shirt.
3.3.3. The participant must put the t-shirt on completely, such that the lower opening is pulled to the waistline, concealing the back and belly, before entering the water.
3.3.4. The t-shirt must be provided by the participant, must be cotton, must have traditional short sleeves and must be appropriately sized for the participant. Sneakiness will be penalized at the judge’s discretion.
3.3.5. Participants may wear anything under the t-shirt.
3.3.6. Swimming styles rules are as those in 2.4.

4. General Swimming Rules
4.1. Relays
4.1.1. Relay teams consist of 4 members, each swimming 1 length or width.
4.1.2. Participants in relays must individually follow the rules of the event type they are taking part in.
4.1.3. Upon a changeover, the second participant may only break contact with the wall or starting block (depending on event type) when the first participant has touched the wall. Early changeovers may result in disqualification at the judge’s discretion.
4.1.4. In the event that a Group does not have enough members to make up a 4-man relay team, a member may, at the judge’s discretion, swim multiple times. However, this member may not swim their lengths/widths consecutively and must exit the pool before re-entering.

4.2. Starting
4.2.1. Unless otherwise specified, Cub events always start in the water.
4.2.2. Unless otherwise specified, Scout and adult events start outside the water.
4.2.3. When an event starts outside the water, participants may enter in any dive or jump they want (that does not break 4.5.).
4.2.4. Participants entering the water with a dive must follow the same rules regarding underwater kicks as kick-off in 4.3.).
4.2.5. False starts will be disqualified, unless a race is restarted at the judge’s discretion.
4.2.6. Participants need to line up in an orderly fashion, as directed by the judges.

4.3. Wall Contact
4.3.1. In events of more than 1 length, participants are allowed to kick-off from the wall when they turn around.
4.3.2. While ‘flip-turns’ are advised, participants can turn around in any manner at the wall as long as they do not violate 4.4.
4.3.3. Following a wall kick-off, participants are allowed to do any number of underwater ‘dolphin kicks’ or ‘fish kicks’, provided they do not surface further that 15m from the wall (or 5m for Cub events involving widths).

4.4. Standing
4.4.1. Standing at any point other than a water start can result in disqualification at the judge’s discretion.
4.5. Interference
4.5.1. If in the judge’s opinion, the manner or style of an event participant is such that is inhibits the ability of other swimmers in the same event, that swimmer will be disqualified and the group may be penalized.

4.6. Finishing
4.6.1. Participants finish the race by touching the wall with some part of their bodies. This touch should be above the waterline to avoid the judges not seeing it.
4.6.2. Participants need to stay in the finishing area until they are told to leave by the judges.
4.6.3. Participants who take too long to finish, such that it delays the start of the next event, will be asked to leave the pool. At the judge’s discretion this may constitute a disqualification.

5. General Competition Participation
5.1. Age
5.1.1. Participants should be appropriately aged for an event, eg. 17 year olds should not take part in events for younger scouts.
5.1.2. Younger Scouts/Cubs may enter an event in an older age category, but only if not Scouts/Cubs in a Group are available in that age category.
5.1.3. Cubs may not swim in Scout events and Scouts may not swim in Adult events (with the exception of the Piggy-back race).
5.1.4. ‘Junior Scouts’ are counted as ages 11, 12, 13 and 14.
5.1.5. ‘Senior Scouts’ are counted as ages 14, 15, 16 and 17.

5.2. Clothing
5.2.1. The host requires that all participants wear swimming caps.
5.2.2. Participants are asked to wear swimwear that is appropriate to their age, and please bear in mind that this is a competition in front of very young children.
5.2.3. Participants are asked make sure that all swimwear fits, and will not come off during events.

5.3. Pool Area Behaviour
5.3.1. At no time is horseplay or running permitted around the pool or judges area.
5.3.2. During intervals, no jumping into the pool is allowed.
5.3.3. During intervals, no games that involved climbing on each other’s shoulders is allowed.
5.3.4. People in the pool are expected to get out promptly at the end of intervals.
5.3.5. Nobody other than event participants and judges is allowed in the starting and finishing area of the race. Observers should be standing at the sides, not the ends.
5.3.6. No food or drink is allowed in the pool.
5.3.7. Groups are expected to make sure all their litter ends up in the bins provided.
5.3.8. Nobody other than participants or lifesavers is to enter the pool, unless an interval is specified.

5.4. Supervision
5.4.1. No consent forms for Cubs/Scouts means no swimming is allowed.
5.4.2. Each group is expected to have sufficient adult supervision to look after their children, and to assist with getting them to the correct events at the correct times.
5.4.3. The judges will do their best to ensure that all event announcements are made clearly, however it is the Groups job to ensure that their participants are organized and to check with the judges if they are confused about the events.
5.4.4. Children not taking part in events are the responsibility of their group’s adult leaders, not the judges, and judges will only intervene when behaviour is problematic.
5.4.5. During the intervals, adult leaders are expected to supervise their children, including those who enter the pool. The judges reserve the right to use this time for our own break.
5.4.6. While an on-site first aider and lifeguard will be present, groups are asked to have their own basic first aid kits to deal with stubbed toes and scuffed knees.

5.5. Scoring
5.5.1. All participants need to know their own name and Group (weirdly this is a very common problem).
5.5.2. At the end of the event, judges will get the names and groups of the top 3 finishers.
5.5.3. At the beginning of an event, judges will mark off the number of participants from each group in the event. Leaving the event at this point without informing the judges will be considered cheating.
5.5.4. The maximum number of participants per group per event is 3 in individual events and piggy-back races and 1 team per relay, unless otherwise stated.
5.5.5. The score values of events are worked out as follows:
5.5.5.1. First place – 6 points
5.5.5.2. Second place – 4 points
5.5.5.3. Third place – 2 points
5.5.5.4. Participation – 1 point (only those who finish without disqualification)
5.5.5.5. The participants placing top 3 do not get additional participation points.