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Competition Entry Procedure • The procedure for entry is the same for all meets. • Check the information on the website to ensure that the meet is suitable. • Decide which events you would like to enter. Bear in mind that entering too many events will be very tiring and may mean you do not swim at your best. If in doubt ask your coach who will be happy to advise you. Open Meets often have early starts and mean long days. • Fill out the entry form in full or Enter Online via Gala Payments. Entering online is preferred. • If using the entry form sign the entry form and return it, with a cheque (I no longer will be accepting cash) for the relevant amount made payable to “Borough of Harrow Swimming Club”, to your Squad Rep or myself, by the closing date. • I then collate all the entries and post the details for you to check on the website sometimes mistakes can happen you must inform me before the closing date so I can correct it after the date has passed mistakes are impossible to rectify. I then send the information to the club hosting the meet. • Once entries have closed, the host club decides which entries to accept and sends details back to me. In some cases there are entry cards, which detail the event, submitted time and personal details. • If there are any rejections then details of any refunds available will also be given sometimes this can be a number of weeks after the event has taken place.

Filling out the entry form In most cases we use the standard Harrow form. You must fill out all the information requested as otherwise it can cause delays in processing and in sending in the completed forms. In some cases there is a different form to fill out, but the same principles apply. You must put the swimmer’s ASA number on the form. This is a wholly numeric reference (ie 123456), and is shown on the ASA registration card which all swimmers should have been given. The number will not alter from year to year so please keep the card in a safe place. ASA numbers based on the old format are not accepted, and your registration number is not your date of birth. Please ensure you only enter events which are allowed for your age, and put down your personal best times (PBs) in the box provided. You will all have a record of PBs from the Club Championships which you need to update whenever your time is improved. Please can you ensure that you have a correct record of PBs. You also need to keep a record of where these times where achieved as you are often asked for this information. I do have all this information and it can be found on the Harrow Website or British Swimming Rankings. In addition, PBs must include the full time, down to hundredths of a second (for example 3.02.45) and not just to the nearest whole second or tenth of a second. When entering some galas with specific qualifying times, a swimmer must normally present times taken from a particular size pool e.g. 25m pool times or 50m pool times. Many swimmers may have swum the required distance and have a satisfactory time, but the time was taken in the wrong size pool. That's where you must use a time conversion tool, I recomend www.pullbouy.co.uk/times. Only Official Times can now be used. Training times / DQS / Junior League / Made up times ETC will not be accepted, you and the club face a fine from the ASA if caught carrying out this practice.

Other Points In the past I have accepted some entries even though the closing date has passed. With immediate effect I shall no longer be able to accept entries after the Harrow specified closing date. The Harrow closing date is always earlier than the organisers’ closing date, and is set to enable me to process all the information and return it to the meet organisers in time; if entries are late then the date may be missed and all Harrow entries would be rejected. Some meets operate on a first come, first served entry basis, and in these cases entries need to be in well in advance of the organisers’ stated closing date. For example, our entries for Rotherham Open Meet in June arrived at Rotherham a week before their closing date; had they been two days later, the meet would have been full and all our entries would have been rejected, even though still received before the official closing date. That is why the date for return of forms is set as early as is necessary