USA Swimming has announced the five sites for this summer’s Futures Championship meets.
All meets will be held concurrently in the following locations from July 29-August 1:
- Region 1 – Austin, Texas – Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center
- Region 2 – Greensboro, North Carolina – Greensboro Aquatic Center
- Region 3 – Knoxville, Tennessee – Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center
- Region 4 – Madison, Wisconsin – Soderholm Family Aquatic Center
- Region 5 – Sacramento, California – North Natomas Aquatic Center
This summer will mark the 11th year of the Futures Championships, with the format undergoing a change in 2022 as USA Swimming’s Board of Directors added a fifth region and adjusted the boundary map accordingly. Prior to 2022, there were only four hosting sites for the four designated regions.
This past summer, the Futures meets were held in three of those same five cities: Greensboro, Madison, and Sacramento, in addition to Ocala, Florida, and Justin, Texas.
The Futures Championships are designed as an intermediate step between Sectional Championships and Junior National or National Championships, and are open to swimmers of all ages. However, the inclusion of senior-aged swimmers has come into question in recent years.
The Futures time standards remain the same as they’ve been since 2023, with the exception of 50 standards now being added due to their addition to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. See below:
The event order for the 2026 meets has not yet been publicized, but since stroke 50s have already been included at Futures meets in recent years, their addition will likely not cause any major schedule shake-ups.
fortunate enough to have one of these in my hometown, theyre fun to watch casually!
Why not add Ft Lauderdale and their Magnificant Hall Of Fame facility.
In JULY?!
Outdoor pool during hurricane season is a gamble.
Hurricanes + 90 degree highs on average + average 75% humidity + average dew point of 75 = great conditions for elite performance.
(I think they should’ve kept the PSS there though).
Based on last year’s distributions, there are already too many Futures meets. Last thing they need to do is add another one at any location, let alone outdoors in South Florida.
are there any large pools either under construction or in the planning stages that could potentially add to the current crop of sites for these types of meets?
I am unaware of any
The problem is both a lack of pools fit to run the meets and also a lack of professional staff to run the facilities as special event sites. So many of the pools get cuts for deck space, seating, etc. Then there is the air quality when you put 1000 swimmers and spectators in the building. One of the things that Greensboro should be commended for is upgrading their facilities when they opened and had these issues instead of adjusting their ambitions. So many places open up and think they are going to be hosting these big meets, and then the problems start and no one wants to go there, so they scale it back to hosting a LSC championship,… Read more »
Deaconess Aquatic Center in Evansville, IN.
Gee, Sr Zones, Sectionals, Futures, Juniors, Seniors plus YMCA Nats & AAU. We should invent some more levels so everyone can get a trophy! Maybe Semi-Futures and Past-Futures
I don’t see the problem. We all know which meet is the highest level, so by adding stepping stones, how is that a bad thing? We are getting the appropriate kids to the appropriate level meets with the appropriate competition and allowing them to master one step at a time. Isn’t that a good thing?
please provide counter argument. I am open.
I agree, I don’t mind Futures – but I’m not sure the marketplace agrees. At a minimum there are too many Futures meets right now, as was evidenced by Justin last year, which I’m not sure really served the purpose it was intended for.
Idk why we can’t just refocus on Senior Zones meets as that stepping stone and slot them into the appropriate slot on the calendar. Maybe the geographic delimitations and ‘championship’ feel could make the series more popular.
How do we find our region?
This was the map in 2023. They haven’t published one for 2026, but I think it’s the same?
https://swimswam.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2023-Futures-map-courtesy-of-USA-Swimming.webp
Can it be the same though with both Greensboro and Knoxville playing host since they’re in the same region above?
I don’t think Futures is region locked any more. In 2025 teams could simply choose the site to go to until the site reached it’s cap.
If it’s capped, it’s a very high cap. Greensboro was jammed last year.
Caps are sight dependent but can be as high as 1000 swimmers. So yeah, the popular spots can get pretty crowded.
as someone already mentioned, the meet isn’t region locked and hasn’t been for a couple of years. the cap is up to the host facility but maxed at 1000 swimmers, with an exception for new qualifying swims after the cap is reached, but the swimmers team is already entered, at least based on last year’s meet information.