The below information is specific to the 2020 Medal Shots Long Course Preparation Meet, and will be different to recent events hosted by Swimming Queensland. Furthermore, this year the Medal Shots LC Preparation Meet will begin on Friday evening. Refer to the program of events available on the event page for details.
Club administrators have been emailed this information with more detail.
All nominations for this event are managed and actioned by clubs. Therefore, please direct any questions related to your swimmer’s eligibility to participate to your Club.
FIVE DISTINCT SESSIONS
A decision has been made to split the event into five distinct sessions, allowing us to maximise the number of spectators able to attend each session and watch their child compete. This means it’s highly likely each swimmer will have the ability for a spectator to attend. While this can’t be guaranteed, with extensive modelling based on previous year’s nominations and adjustments to the ticketing purchase experience, we’re confident this is the best process to implement at this point in time.
In order to split the event into sessions there are some programming changes compared to 2019 and a requirement to clean the Western grandstand between sessions. Therefore, a 45 minute break will be in place between each, with all spectators required to depart at the conclusion of the session. Closer to the event, a detailed timeline will be released outlining arrival and departure times for spectators as well as swimmers and club managers.
SPECTATOR CAPACITY & TICKETING
We’re continually working to increase the number of spectators who are able to come and watch their swimmers at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre.
We’re pleased to inform, based on the successful audit from Queensland Health at the recent Queensland Short Course Championships, we have approval for a seating plan which improves the capacity. This new seating plan will allow us to seat a maximum of 1068 people per session, using a paired seating arrangement with some individual seats also on offer.
A small number of accessible seats are available for this event for those unable to safely navigate the stairs and priority will be given accordingly. To request an accessible seat, please complete this online request form.
Spectator tickets will be available specific to each session, at a cost of $5 per session (plus fees). These will be predominantly paired seats (i.e. two ‘known’ people may sit side-by-side, including friends, family, club members etc.) with spectators required to purchase both seats. A single transaction will be restricted to one pair or one individual, to better allow the opportunity to secure a seat.
Further, in order to best manage the high demand and speed of transactions in the system, each session will go on sale at different times and Ticketbooth will be implementing a ‘queueing’ process. This means when tickets go on sale, the number of people purchasing at any given time is closely monitored and managed so as not to overwhelm the system. This is a common function used at larger events and enables a calmer purchasing experience for the user. Once available, the dates, time and direct links for spectator tickets will be on the event page of the website.
There is still a requirement to separate spectators and all active participants in the ‘field of play’. This means that in any one day, swimmers, coaches and club managers may not access the Western grandstand. Likewise, a spectator may not enter the Eastern grandstand. Spectators can move freely around most other areas of the venue and therefore can utilise the café and amenities, as well as see / sit with their swimmers in other areas (e.g. front concourse, café, grassed areas of the complex, etc.). As such, we do encourage families to ensure they provide contact details to their swimmer and plan collection / meeting points etc.
COACH & CLUB MANAGER ALLOCATIONS
Swimming Queensland will be allocating coach and club manager passes after nominations have closed, based on a ratio of swimmers. Clubs will be notified of their allocation and provided their unique access codes and will be responsible for assigning these.
We recognise that some swimmers may require additional parental assistance / supervision. Where possible, this should be accommodated within your Club’s club manager allocation. Where this is unachievable, club administrators can advise us of the additional support person tickets needed on behalf of those parents (name, mobile, email, which day/s they require). These tickets will not allow pool deck access (unless required for multi-class swimmers). These tickets are not limitless, so please only use them where absolutely necessary.
Club manager and support person tickets will be $7 per day (plus fees); coaches are free.
Each club group (swimmers, club managers, support persons and coaches) will be allocated to a designated section in the Eastern grandstand. Some clubs will also have access to space around the outdoor pool deck to setup marquees.
Please note, the above details relate only to the 2020 Medal Shots LC Preparation Meet. For information relating to any other event, please refer to that specific event’s information.
We understand that many aspects of adjusting our sport to be COVID-Safe can be overwhelming and/or frustrating. We’re working hard to ensure we comply with the restrictions and move forward in resuming activities by running meets for our swimmers to enjoy racing again and implement and execute training effects, race skills and race plans.
If you have questions or require any further clarification please get in touch with us in the office via email (admin.qld@swimming.org.au).
