TIME STANDARDS

Recently you should have received in your folder the NEW, updated, Top 16 Based time standards. For those of you who are experienced swimmers, you should know that USA Swimming now releases new standards every four years. The starred* times on your new standards are all times that have become faster since the last chart was produced in 2001.

For those of you who are new to year round swimming, these time standards help USA Swimming and state swimming organizations manage meet size as well as develop appropriate meets for swimmers at all levels. Swimmers use the standards to set goals for themselves as they compete against the clock. First a swimmer will try to achieve a "B" time in an event and then will progress up the chart to a "BB" time and on to an "A" time and all the way to a "AAAA" time and, perhaps, even a Top 16 time. These time standards can be quite useful and also motivational for all swimmers. However, just as with other aspects of the sport, time standards and progression along the time standard chart needs to be kept in the proper perspective.

The national time standards that are most commonly used and that you have received are based on Top 16 times. That is, each standard is a percentage of the 16th fastest time EVER swum in that particular event. A "AAAA" time is a percentage of the 16th fastest time and a "AAA" time is a percentage of that, and so on as the time standards ease down to "B" times. These standards were developed to be stepping stones to Top 16 times and as a consequence, everyone’s performance is being rated against the fastest kid of ALL TIME in the country in each event. In the younger age groups where different rates of development particularly affect a child’s performance, the standards were most likely set by kids who had physically matured quickly. In other words, a 10 year old the size of Courtney! As a result, for the average kid, achieving an "A" time is more difficult in the younger groups than it is in the older groups where everyone’s growth and physical development begins to even out.

So don’t panic when you look at the time standards and you discover you aren’t even on the chart. Don’t panic when you go to your first meet and you STILL cannot get on the chart. These standards are GOALS to be achieved and achieving success can take time.

In addition to the Top 16 time standards, there will also be time standards to qualify for particular meets. The South Carolina State Meet will have time standards for each event, and we should be able to give you those standards after the LSC meetings this weekend in historic Newberry. There will also be time standards for sectional meets, and of course time standards for higher level meets as well. On the other hand, some meets will require that you NOT have achieved certain time standards. Please ask if you need any clarification as we begin to inundate you and your swimmer with these different standards.