Sarpy County Swim Club is a member of USA Swimming, our national governing body, and Midwestern Swimming, our local swim committee (LSC). As such, we compete in swim meets sanctioned by USA Swimming through Midwestern Swimming. 

Types of Swim Meets

Swim meets are often categorized by the time standards required to compete in the meet. The time standards are usually referred to like this, from fastest to slowest...

AAAA, AAA, AA, A, BB, B

To take a look at these time standards, go to the "USA Swimming Motivational Time Standards" document on our Time Standards page.

Most of our local meets are categorized as B+ or B- meets. A "B+" meet means that a swimmer must have achieved at least a B time in an event  in order to enter that event. This type of meet might also be called a "B minimum" meet. A "B-" meet means that a swimmer's best time in an event must be slower than the B time standard in order to enter that event. This type of meet might also be called a "B maximum" meet.

You might see meets categorized as BB+ or BB-, A+, etc. It works the same way as the B+ or B- meets, just using a different time standard.

Midwestern Championship and Qualifier Meets

For many of our club's swimmers, the biggest meet of the season for both our short course season (25-yard pools, meets usually run September through March) and our long course season (50-meter pools, meets usually run May through August) is the Midwestern Championship meet. The minimum time standards to qualify for this meet are listed for each age group in the "Midwestern Swimming Long Course or Short Course Championship qualifying times" document on the Time Standards page. You may hear these qualifying times referred to as "D1" times because the championship meet used to be referred to as the D1 Championship meet.

The Midwestern Qualifier meet is for swimmers who have not achieved the championship meet qualifying times in an event or events. Swimmers who are faster than the championship meet qualifying time in an event are not allowed to swim in that event at the Qualifier meet. This meet is the perfect "last chance meet" for swimmers who are trying to qualify for the championship meet. It is also ideal for swimmers who will not compete in individual events at the championship meet, even if they are not likely to achieve the qualifying time at the Qualifier meet. Sometimes this meet is referred to as the "D2 meet" because the meet used to be called the D2 Championship meet.

Sectionals

Region VIII Sectionals is a championship-level meet held near the end of each season. It is considered to be a "Senior" meet because there are no minimum or maximum age limits for the meet. Everyone swimming in the meet competes together in the same category; there are no age groups. There are separate time standards for this meet. See the "Summer or Spring Sectionals Qualifying times" document on the Time Standards page.

Zones

The Zone Championship meet in only held in the summer, usually at the beginning of August right after our Midwestern Championship meet. Swimmers represent Midwestern Swimming at this meet.  It is an age group meet for 14 & Under swimmers, with the age groups 10 & Under, 11-12, and 13-14. The qualifying standard is a AAA time for each event in the respective age group. Our zone meet typically includes the following LSC's:  Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Midwestern, Missouri Valley, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ozark, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. 

All Stars

The All Star meet is held in January each year and includes swimmers in the 13-14, 11-12, and 10 & Under age groups. Swimmers are chosen by Midwestern Swimming and compete for our LSC. To qualify for this meet, a swimmer usually has to achieve one of the 5 fastest times in our LSC for the short course season (from September through December of a given season) in at least one event. The all star meet usually includes Colorado, Iowa, Midwestern, Missouri Valley, and South Dakota.