Vision Statement: To inspire a passion for swimming and enable our community to achieve excellence in the sport and in life.

Mission Statement: Colorado Swimming P.L.E.D.G.E.S. to provide members opportunities through Performance, Leadership, Education, Diversity, Growth, Empowerment and Safety.

Colorado Swimming LSC

Para Time Standards

This note is from USAS National Disability Subcommittee: (10Jan2025)
All USAS sanctioned Swim Meets- must admit Disability Athletes into Meets.

We are pleased to announce the introduction of the new USAS 2024-2028 Swimmers with Disabilities Parallel Time Standards which align with the USA Swimming motivational time standards: B, BB, A, AA, AAA, and AAAA. These standards empower LSCs by providing more autonomy when incorporating Disability athletes into meets and establishing parallel benchmarks for goal setting and tracking progression.

Previously, time standards were based on able-bodied motivational BB times. The new standards can now be tailored to fit your LSC or state. For example: LSC championships may use different levels of standards—LSC 1 used B times, LSC 2 used BB times, and LSC 3 used A times as qualifications for championships. The idea is to compare the new parallel times to the able-bodied motivational times. The standard that most closely resembles the parallel standard should be used. If your LSC or state calculates a qualifying time between two standards, for instance, between AA and AAA times, use the parallel standards to make the same calculation.

We’re excited to roll out the new Parallel Time Standards for our swimmers with disabilities! It’s important to remember that athletes with disabilities should must always be competitively included in meets, whether qualifying time standards are in place or not. To learn more about competitive inclusion and how to support all swimmers, check out Resources for Swimmers on the DEI page under Disability Engagement.

This initiative also establishes a common language around times for all athletes, fostering a more inclusive environment. Athletes can now discuss and share their progressions, "I just got my A cut."

It is important to note that these new standards were developed collaboratively. The Disability Subcommittee Time Standards Task Force worked together with USA Swimming's time standards staff and outside experts, including Tharon, Steve, Rayleen, Tristan, Eric, and Peter. We want to express our gratitude for their support and dedication to making swimming more inclusive for all.

Please contact your LSC Disability Representative [email protected], or the Western Zone disability contact Tharon Drake, [email protected] with any questions.