TIME STANDARDS

Time standards assist swimmers with measuring their improvement. They also establish minimum entry requirements for some meets. In USA Swimming, there are two seasons: a short course and a long course. The short course season is the “winter” season and runs from late September to the beginning of April. Meets are held in 25-yard pools and events are recorded as Short Course Yards(SCY). The long course season is the “summer” season and takes place from mid-April to the beginning of August. Meets are typically held in 50-meter pools(Olympic) and events are recorded in Long Course Meters (LCM).

To locate the time standard for a swimmer’s event, you must know what season it is, what type of pool it is (25 yards or meters, or 50 meters), and you must know the swimmer’s gender, age, and event.

A swimmer's time can be converted between courses using this link:  swim time conversion.  Conversions are only for comparing.  They can't be used for meet entries.

Each season culminates with Championship meets at different levels (local, regional/sectional, zone, and national). In order to attend Championship meets, you must qualify by meeting a set time standard. As a team, PPST is a member of Pacific Northwest Swimming (PNS). The Classes of Swim Competition PNS most frequently participates in are governed by PNS Rules & Procedures. These procedures identify the eligibility, classification, type, order, and timing of all events swum at these sanctioned meets. Throughout both seasons, PPST also offers inter-squad and home meets to prepare swimmers for the more rigorous sanctioned meets.

Pacific Northwest Swimming (PNS) Inc. Time Standards - PNS Swimming Incorporated (PNS), the governing body of USA Swimming in Western WA, has set “Gold” and “Silver” time standards for each gender and age group. The Silver standard is the first goal most swimmers strive to attain. Achieving a Silver time means that the swimmer is getting strong in an event, and may want to focus on that event to get a Gold time.  Age Group, Senior and WA State Championship meets have usually followed specific standards but due to Covid, each Championship has developed improvised times.  We hope to be going back to regular standards soon.

Northwest Regional and Senior Sectional Time Standards - USA Swimming, Inc. has divided the United States into various swimming sections. All of the Western states except for California are in our section. Sectional Championship meets are held at the end of both Short Course and Long Course seasons for swimmers with qualifying times in their gender/age groupings. Typically there are both Age-Group Regionals and Senior Sectional meets for short course season, but only a Senior Sectional meet for long course season.

Western Zone Time Standards - USA Swimming also divides the United States into Zones (groupings of Sections) for the purpose of conducting Zone Championship meets. These meets occur only at the end of the Long Course season. PNS selects a team to represent Team WA at the Age Group Zones meet. To be eligible, swimmers must obtain qualifying times during the specified period and submit an application and coach recommendation to the Zones coaching staff committee. The committee then selects the team that will represent PNS at the Western Zone Age Group Championship. The Western Zone Championship is a Senior level meet. Athletes must obtain qualifying times to participate but no application is necessary to compete.

Junior/Senior National Time Standards - These times qualify the swimmer for the Junior and Senior National meets. Senior swimmers strive to achieve these qualifying times as they are the first national milestone for swimmers looking toward competing at Olympic and International events. Junior Nationals are exclusively for swimmers age 18 and under.

USA Swimming Motivational Time Standards - USA Swimming, Inc. also sets national motivational time standards by age group beginning with 10&Unders. These begin with a “B” time designation.  The standards get progressively faster and more difficult to achieve as a swimmer moves through “A”, “AA”, “AAA” and “AAAA” times.

National Top 10 - USA Swimming recognizes the swimmers, age 10-18, who have swum the 10 fastest times in each event each season.

CollegeSwimming | Recruiting Standards 

While there are numerous time standards in swimming including motivational times, qualifying times, etc., perhaps the most important for those who wish to swim in college are the recruiting time standards set each year.
 
The main link for the site is  www.collegeswimming.com
 
Men's Swimming
 
Women's Swimming
 
The links can also provide LCM times which can also count.
 
For a one time $20 fee, a swimmer can track their progress and see how they fit on any college team and how they rank locally and nationally compared to other swimmers.
 
For Juniors and Seniors in high school, they may be contacted by schools expressing interest in them and designate schools that they are interested in attending.
 
For those who do not join, the site is free and has lots of cool information to motivate swimmers.
 
Swimming is an equivalency sport for NCAA limits, so partial scholarships can be awarded as long as the combined equivalent awards do not exceed the limit.