We had 147 swimmers registered for this gala, including 8 masters.
In the event 20 didn’t turn up, or cancelled on the day, and 6 came unexpectedly on the day. So we didn’t quite have 8 teams of 16, but it wasn’t far off.
Sarah and I spent many hours organising the teams, and trying to balance them out – then I spent a further few hours making sure that the individual races were carefully balanced, so as to make it as fair as possible. In the event, because of the no-shows, there were some groups that found it hard, but it wasn’t too bad, and the time difference between first and last in the final race was only a few seconds.
The team captains found it very hard to manage their teams, but did extremely well, and allocated places in relays very thoughtfully. They organised their final race well, and made sensible substitutions where necessary.
We decided not to use the timings for club records, as we were not sure of their consistency and accuracy. I will, however, use the times for the younger swimmers for whom we do not have any times at all to date.
Overall, although a bit chaotic at the beginning, the gala went really well, and was much enjoyed by swimmers and parents alike. The deputy Mayor of Hackney came and watched quite a large part of it on poolside, and was very impressed by the level of commitment and organisation. Thanks to Marnie for bringing her and organising that.
The final results were
8th – Dopey – 158 points
7th – Happy – 141 points
6th – Sleepy – 140 points
5th – Grumpy – 138 points
4th – Doc – 125 points
3rd – Bashful – 107 points
2nd Snow White – 101 points
1st Sneezy – 98 points
Medals were awarded to all participants
