Cotswold League 2023 Information

What is it and who gets to participate?

The Cotswold Series is a swimming competition between 20 clubs of the Southwest of England with ‘a small Club ethos’.  It caters for swimmers aged 11 to Open and comprises 4 rounds of 4 teams, held between January and March, resulting in a Final, larger round in April.

It is a club effort selected initially from ‘senior’ swimmers (understood as most experienced across all 3 disciplines) in swimming squads Red, Yellow & Green. The purpose of the league is to give young (but strong) swimmers competitive experience and hence a ‘speeding ticket’ system is run. This means that swimmers of Regional or above standard are not usually selected, as they will swim too fast. They can however swim relay legs.

This is the club’s more selective swimming gala, the PGL league being our entry level gala. The club relies on an initial team of four swimmers per age group (Open, 15U, 13U and 11U) who are each selected for their strength in at least one stroke. Each swimmer is expected to swim at least one individual event (maximum of 2, plus an I.M) and one freestyle relay leg (as well as a cannon relay leg if selected to swim this event). Races are 25m for U11, 50m for U13 & U15 and 100m for Open swimmers. Swimmers may swim up an unlimited number of events.

The fastest swimmers for each stroke in each age group are eligible to participate. Team selection is at the discretion of Head coach Tom Howells. The age group is defined as whatever age the swimmer will be at the date of the Finals in the year of competition i.e. 22nd April 2023. Swimmers must be at least 9 years of age at the date of the Finals to be able to participate in the Series.  Final selection will be made once the Bristol Christmas Cracker Meet times have been received and you will be informed during the week commencing 19/12. Swimmers must race twice across the whole event to be eligible for the Cotswold Series finals (which will be held on 22nd April). The exception is for 11yo and under, who must have raced once.

2023 Participating Clubs:

Academy Burnham, Backwell, Bath Dolphin, Bridgwater, Bristol North, Bristol Penguins, Brockworth, Burnham-on-Sea, Cheddar Kingfishers, Cheltenham Phoenix, CSWPC, Cinderford, Clevedon, City of Bristol, Cwmbran, Dursley Dolphins, Taunton Deane, Trident Swimming Club, Wells & Weston-Super-Mare.

Where and when does it happen?

Saturday 7th January – hosted by Taunton at Taunton Prep School Pool and featuring: Taunton, Wells, CSWPC & Cheddar
Taunton Prep School Pool, Staplegrove Road, Taunton TA2 6AD. Doors open 3.15pm. Warm up 3.30pm. Car parking is limited next to the pool so further details regarding parking will be provided shortly.

Saturday 18th February – hosted by Brockworth at the Leisure Centre Cheltenham and featuring: Cwmbran, CSWPC, Burnham Academy

Saturday 4th March – hosted by CSWPC at the Leisure Centre Cheltenham (home gala) and featuring: CSWPC, Backwell, Weston Super Mare, Cheltenham Phoenix

Saturday 18th March – hosted by Clevedon at the Hutton Moor Leisure Centre and featuring: Clevedon Cinderford, Dursley & CSWPC
Hutton Moor Leisure Centre, Hutton Moor Rd, Weston-Super-Mare BS22 8LY. Doors open 2.45 pm, Warm up 3.00 pm.

Saturday 22nd April Final:
Bridgwater will host the A Final – if not in the Final then Backwell.
Cinderford will host the B Final – if not in the Final then Clevedon.
Bristol North will host the C Final – if not in the Final then Cheddar.

The 8 teams with highest number of gala points after 4 rounds have been swum shall compete in the A Final of the Series. The 6 teams with the next highest number of points shall compete in the B Final of the Series. The 6 teams with the next highest number of points shall compete in the C Final of the Series.

Most events start between 3.00pm and 5.00 pm and last about 1.5 hours. Coaches are hired on for events taking place further afield, see below.

How do I get there?

Coaches will be provided for long distance events at a cost of approx. £8 per person.
Spaces on board coaches are allocated based on priority order as follow: swimmers, team managers, officials, +/- spectators if space allows. Please find more information below on how to guarantee your space on the coach.
Exact timings and travel arrangements will be provided nearer to the date of each round.

What do swimmers need to take?

A club T-shirt, a club swim hat (a spare is handy), a snack, a water bottle (no energy drinks please!), sliders/flipflops, a small bag (no bigger than the mesh bag used to carry the swimming kit)

Acceptable Size Bag –

What do I not need to take?

There is very limited space and no access to storage at these events. Please leave coats, shoes etc in the car/on the coach. Do not bring large sports holdalls.

Unacceptable size bag –

 

How can you help?

To make the experience for your child enjoyable and make a difference for the club

The Cotswold League is a set of challenging competitions that requires the commitment of parent/carer volunteers and club officials to ensure the events run smoothly.  We will require volunteers at each round, each event.

Parent/Carer Volunteer Roles

Team Managers (Pool Side)

This role involves helping look after swimmers’ poolside before, during and after each race and assisting coaches.

Basic Team Manager training is an easy two-step process and requires the completion of Swim England Online Safeguarding Course (approx. 120 mins): https://www.swimwest.org.uk/training followed by a Swim England DBS check the latter is organised by the Club.

Advanced Team Manager involves the completion of Swim England Team Managers Level 1 & Level 2 online courses: https://www.swimwest.org.uk/training

Swim Officials (Pool Side)

These roles include:

Chief Timekeeper/Timekeepers

Chief Inspector of Turns/Inspectors of Turns

Judges (J1, J2)

Timekeeping and Inspector of Turns is a very easy first step in becoming a swimming official.  It requires the completion of an online course: https://www.swimming.org/ios/course/3847 followed by a practical assessment (poolside) which will be organised by the Club.

Judge 1 requires the completion of Swim England Judge Level 1 Theory Online Course: https://www.swimwest.org.uk/training followed by a poolside practical which can be arranged by the Club.  Practical experience can be acquired during all Open Meetings and Club Championships.

You will need Swim England Membership to enrol in any/all SE online courses. If you are not the parent member, please email swim@cswpc.co.uk and request to become a parent club member in your own right.

How to Prepare your Child

Click here for Disqualification Rules (DQ’s) for the Cotswold League

We highly recommend you read through the disqualification rules with your child before each event as part of their preparation, even if they are a senior swimmer.

Mistakes happen and there are many reasons a swimmer can be disqualified so it’s advisable to understand these terms prior to events.  Being DQ’d is upsetting for a swimmer but if the reasons are understood this does help.  It takes much repetition and practice to master skills necessary.  Avoiding disqualification will improve our rankings in this competition.  It is important to remind your child to ask the Coaches if they are DQ’d and are unsure or do not understand. Now is the time to practice those turns and wall touches so they count in January!

Please do get in touch on swim@cswpc.co.uk if you have any questions or feel free to speak to us during your weekly training sessions.

The Cotswold Series 2023 Sub-Committee
Katie Lea, Vahena Marsili, Frances Perrett, Sarah Sanderson.