Member's Information
Sunbeam Swimming Club Home Gala
Following the success of our first club gala last year, Sunbeam Swimming Club will host its second gala on Saturday 6th June from 12:30pm until 15:00pm with a celebration and award ceremony in the hall immediately afterwards, until 16:00pm.
The fee will be £5 per swimmer for the whole session. Entries close 28th May.
Spectators are FREE so please invite all your family, friends, carers and supporters to cheer and celebrate your achievements with Sunbeam.
You might have lots of questions, and we hope to have answered most of them below, but please talk to a committee member or coach if you have more questions.
Download Gala Checklist for Swimmers
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What date would the gala be on?
A: Saturday 6th June 2026.
Q: Will other clubs be there too?
A: We have invited our friends from Leatherhead Swans to join us this year. The Swans have always invited Sunbeam to their autumn gala in Dorking and this is a chance for us to host.
Q: Do I have to enter any races?
A: No, if you don’t want to race, you can spectate and have fun cheering on your friends from Sunbeam. If you have never swum at a gala, this might be a nice one to try as it would be at the Pavilions with all the usual friendly faces from our club, in a place that you feel familiar with.
Note that our usual Sunbeam swimming session will not take place on this date.
Q: Will it be very competitive?
A: No, this is a fun gala and everyone is encouraged to take part. It is not what is called a licenced meet, where swimmers are competing for qualifying times. This means there is no pressure or very technical rules about how we swim and race. We might have some helpers coming on the day who are used to running galas. They will be there to help our Sunbeam volunteers to get things right and might be wearing a uniform on the day.
Q: Can I have any special requests?
A: We will do our best to include all swimmers, so let us know what requests we can help with. For example, if you need a noodle/float, carer in the water, side lane by the wall, steps to get in/out, hoist….. anything else…. we want you to be able to join in and have fun!
Q: What day of the week or time of day will it be?
A: The gala is on a Saturday, and the warm up starts at 12:30pm so it is suggested that you aim to arrive with plenty of time to join the warm up as the events will start a few minutes later.
Q: Will it cost anything to enter?
A: We want to keep costs to a minimum, so we ask for a £5 entry fee in advance. All the money will be put toward the costs of hosting the gala, for example, hire of the pool, hire of equipment, hire of a room for an awards ceremony afterwards, medals, etc.
Q: What are the fun events?
A: We have been practising some fun events in the pool recently having lots of fun with noodle seahorses, duck and float and handlebars.
Noodle Seahorse
Duck and Float
Handlebars
Q: How many races will there be?
A: There will be 25m and 50m races in Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle. You might only want to do 1 race, especially if this is your first gala. We hope your family and carers enter too so we can have a fun race for them to get wet!
Q: Will there be awards or medals?
A: YES! We want to celebrate everyone taking part so there will be a ceremony afterwards to congratulate you.
Q: I have family and friends who want to volunteer for the gala, what can they do to help?
A: That’s great! Here’s some jobs that we need covered, please complete the form to volunteer!
In advance:
- organising entries/applications
- attending other club galas to learn how to use the computer equipment
- liaising with Pavilions
On the day:
- 8-10 timekeepers
- 1 computer systems assistant
- 6 competitor marshals
- 1 volunteer marshal
- 1 raffle organiser
- 1 family/carer liaison
- 1 announcer
- 1 runner
- 2-3 people to set up the awards ceremony