Deal Tri Swim Development Gala

Deal Tri and invited guests Dover Lifeguards had a development gala on Saturday, with 41 swimmers (aged 9 to 70+), 37 races and 15 fantastic volunteers.

These galas are entry level, suitable for novices through to experienced swimmers; no prizes or trophies, no winners or losers, just experience gained in a friendly supportive atmosphere.  There were 10 events covering 25m and 50m of all 4 strokes plus 100m freestyle and 4 x 25m IM.  And as we finished ahead of schedule, coach Darren did some impromptu work on diving with some of the swimmers.

Massive kudos to our Swim Captain Rebecca Simcox and Membership Sec Jax Lee, who put the event together incredibly well, ensuring it went smoothly.

Huge thanks also to the start team of Sue Bolton, Tony Millar and Gloria Riley; Chief timekeeper Jo van Velzen and the timekeeping team of Dawn Bisset, Micha & Logan West, Sophie Peach, Carolyn Ellis, Henry Simcox, Eryka Smith and Dan Rayment.  Roz Pleasance who looked after the marshal team between her races and last but not least Andy Russell who paraded the race number in a manner worthy of an international boxing title fight!

Results times can be found on the Deal Tri website here: https://www.dealtri.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Development-gala-2026.xlsx