New Zealand swimming clubs keep a busy calendar: weekly club nights, interclub meets against neighbouring towns, regional championships, and for the fastest swimmers, national age group championships in the autumn. Club prizegiving celebrates all of it, often in the clubrooms at the pool or a school hall, with cups that carry names engraved back to the 1970s and certificates for every swimmer who reached a new milestone.
A slideshow at prizegiving celebrates the whole club, not only the cup winners. The trouble is that swimming photos are scattered across dozens of phones, taken from crowded stands and steamy concourses, and the swimmers who train hardest are often the ones whose parents have stopped coming to every meet. A little structure makes it fair.
The club year, meet by meet
The start of the club year
Send the season's link to every squad's families, with a line asking for a squad photo on the pool deck in club caps.
Interclub meets
Interclubs are informal and friendly. Ask families to photograph the team bay, relay teams waiting behind the blocks, and the post-meet sausage sizzle.
Regional championships
Regional meets bring nerves and personal bests. Remind families of the venue's photography rules before they go.
The halfway check
Look at the coverage list squad by squad. Teenagers, whose parents drop them off rather than stay, are the usual gap. A reminder naming them, sent to the whole club, often brings photos from other parents.
Club championships
Every swimmer races at club champs, so it is the single best day to fill gaps. Ask families to photograph every heat, not just their own child's.
Steps for a swimming club
Split the club into squads
Clubs with more than forty swimmers usually make one season per squad, each with its own link and a short slideshow played before that squad's trophies.
Paste first names and mark consent
Swimmers do not wear numbers, so the roster is first names, with initials added automatically for repeats. Flag any swimmer without photo consent before sharing; their photos never reach other families or the slideshow.
Ask for breaststroke and butterfly
Freestyle photos are mostly splash. Breaststroke and butterfly lift the swimmer's face every stroke, and backstroke starts show faces too. A few of each make the slideshow personal.
Collect the team bay
The team bay at a meet, with towels, snacks, card games and squad chants, says more about a club than any race photo. Ask for it specifically.
Rename meet chapters and export
Meets become chapters, the sharpest shot of each moment is kept, and every swimmer reaches the same minimum. Name the club champs chapter and export.
Chapters for a Kiwi club year
A New Zealand club year has a clear shape. Start with the winter training block, when swimmers train in the dark before school; a photo of the squad on the pool deck at 6am is a favourite. Interclub meets bring the friendly rivalry with neighbouring towns, regional championships the nerves, and the summer long-course season the outdoor pools and sunburnt noses. Club champs close the year. Name the chapters accordingly and add a caption where something special happened, such as "Regionals: 14 finalists" or "Club champs: our youngest ever 400 metre swimmer".
How long should a prizegiving slideshow be?
A squad of 15 to 20 swimmers fits into three to four minutes with three appearances each. A single slideshow for a club of 60 would take seven minutes or more, which is long for a room full of children waiting for cups, so squad slideshows work better.
How many photos do I need?Photos to collect for your team size and video length.The Splash style was designed for swimming: airy colours and wave transitions. Swimmers finishing school can be marked as leavers so their tribute closes the slideshow.
Prizegiving checklist
Before prizegiving
- Pool clubrooms are humid; test the projector and laptop there, not at home.
- Order the squad slideshows to match the order of the cups.
- Ask each head coach for one sentence to introduce their squad.
- Bring a spare charger; slideshows and certificates take longer than planned.
- Share each squad's private link with its families afterwards.
Privacy and safeguarding
Faces are never scanned or recognised. Children are matched to photos by the tags their families add and the numbers on their jersey. Only first names are stored, location data is removed on the phone before upload, the season’s link is private and never appears in search engines, and anything inappropriate for a youth sports setting is hidden automatically. Any parent can report a photo, and the organiser has the final say on every photo in the video.
Swimming club questions
Can we mention the club records broken this year?
Use a chapter title or a caption line, for example "Club champs, three club records". The photos themselves stay focused on the swimmers.
We have several squads. Is there a club option?
Yes. The Club Pass covers up to 10 seasons with everything in Team Plus, run from one club account.
Can coaches add photos from poolside?
Yes. Coaches upload as supporters and tag swimmers photo by photo or in batches.
Our pool bans photos during races. What can we use?
Team bays, warm-ups where allowed, medal presentations outside the pool hall, and squad photos at training all work well.