In USA Swimming, our sport is based on individual progress and improvement.  One of the ways we measure this is by time.  If an athlete's time is improving from meet to meet, and season to season...they are improving.

As a way to help measure this, USA Swimming has established what are called "Cuts."  These "cuts" help swimmers set goals.  

ALL swimmers begin as "C" swimmers.  As times improve, a swimmer can achieve a "B" cut in an event.  Time "cuts" progress by speed as follows:

C-B-BB-A-AA-AAA-AAAA

A swimmer could be an "A" swimmer in the 100 freestyle, a "B" swimmer in the 50 butterfly, and a "C" swimmer in the 100 butterfly.  As they improve, so do their times and even the level of swim meet they will attend.  In North Texas Swimming (our team's "LSC" or region) we typically break down meets into "A/BB" Meets and "B/C" Meets.  Sometimes a swimmer even has to go to a 2nd meet during the month to compete in one of his/her best events because they just have that one "BB" Cut.

HERE is a link to these motivational times.  Page down to the "Short Course Yards" for the fall and winetr months.  April-July we will have "Long Course" meets where the pool is turned to the long 50 meter course like you see when watching the Olympics.