Swim Meets
From your first Development Series race to international travel meets.
Participation in swimming competition is an important part of being a member of Stingrays. It is the only true way for an athlete in this sport to test themselves physically, mentally and emotionally. Competition provides an opportunity to gauge development in terms of conditioning, skill acquisition, race pacing and more. However, competition should be primarily focused on fun, enjoyment and the thrill of competing.
As your swimmer gets into the rhythm of training, they will start to participate in internal Stingrays Meets (Development Series, Club Meets, Team Meets), inter-school or inter-club competition and HKGSA Meets. As they progress through the club there will be opportunities to travel to international meets.
Stingrays Meets
Taking part in swim competitions is critical, as this will be a measure of your swimmer’s progress. Every month or so, we organise Stingrays Meets, where swimmers practise the sequence of events for a race, from marshalling and getting ready to race to diving and hitting touch pads. These Stingrays Meets are an excellent way to ease into competing, and a great way to log race times and track your progress.
Development Series
The Stingrays Development Series is the entry level for most swimmers: a chance to test out your skills with your own club. Events are held on Friday or Saturday as scheduled, and all swimmers are entered for all races they qualify for.
Club Meets
Club meets are for all swimmers in the club. The event list is based on the USA Swimming IMX event list.
Team Meets
Team meets are fun, team-based competitions where we split the club into teams (Blue, White, Yellow) who race against each other.
Stingrays Invitational
Usually held over three days, inviting multiple clubs from throughout Hong Kong and Asia. There are normally 400 to 600 swimmers attending this meet.
HKGSA Meets
Hong Kong China Swimming Association (HKGSA) is the National Governing Body for swimming within Hong Kong. It is a member of FINA, AASF and the Olympic Committee of Hong Kong. You may still hear it referred to by its former name, the Hong Kong Amateur Swim Association, or HKASA. When our swimmers meet a qualifying time for a particular race, they will be asked to represent Stingrays at one of the divisional meets.
Division 3
The first level of qualification.
Division 2
Once a swimmer has logged a qualifying time in Division 3, they are only allowed to attend Division 2 or higher.
Division 1
The top divisional level of HKGSA competition.
Championships
After racing successfully in Division 1, swimmers aim for Age Group and Hong Kong Open Championships.
Qualifying Standards
Team Travel Meets
Throughout the season there will be opportunities to attend swim meets overseas within specific training squads. Normally we aim to offer target overseas competition once per term. Historically we have travelled throughout Asia (Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand) and further afield to Australia, Europe and North America with our performance swimmers.
School Meets
School swim season runs from September to November (locally) and then into January (internationally with APAC). Stingrays runs the HKIS Middle School and HS Varsity swim team.
- HKSSF: Hong Kong School Sports Federation
- ISSFHK: International School Sports Federation Hong Kong
- APAC: Asia Pacific Athletics Conference