Swimming New Zealand is looking at making significant changes to the their development system.
When reviewing their competitive pathway Swimming New Zealand has outlined some areas of concern such age as it relates to performance, gender differences in development and competition format.
Right now swimmers younger than 12 compete in junior meets. At the age of 13 there are two streams based on performance. The two divisions are NAG, which is the more advanced and Div II.
The age range for these competitions are 13-18 years for both male and females. At any time during this period athletes can qualify for and race at open competitions.
The competition structure throughout the entire development system is almost identical.
The proposed changes would include:
- The pathway would be broken down on ages rather than performance. National Age Group and National Youth Championships would replace the current NAG and Div II.
- Males and females flow along the pathway would be slightly different.
- The format of the three National competitions: NZ Junior Festival, NZ National Age Group Championships and NZ Youth Championships would need to undergo significant changes to adapt them to suit the different stages of gender development
The structure of the competitions is outlined below:
NZ JUNIORS FESTIVAL
- Male10 to 12, Female 10 and 11
- Short course
- Key Qualifying events 100/200IM as the initial qualification requirement
- Timed finals
- Programme and qualifying times would be revised according with the new format
- Recognition to swimmers performing across different strokes and distances (similar to the take your marks rankings) would be applied.
NZ AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHPS
- Male 13 to 15, Female 12 and 13
- Long course
- Olympic and distance non Olympic events
- Heats and finals except for 400, 800 and 1500 that would be timed finals
- 1 final and 1 podium per event/age
NZ YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Male 16 to 18, Female 14 to 16
- Long course
- Olympic and distance non Olympic events
- Heats and finals except for 800 and 1500 that would be timed finals.
- A,B and C finals (ages combined)
- 1 podium per event
NZ SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Qualifying times for three categories:
- Age Group
- Youth
- Senior
- Olympic and non Olympic events
- Heats and finals except for 800 and 1500 that would be timed finals
- One final for Age Group and two finals (A and B) for Youth and Senior (combined).
NZ OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- 4 days format except on Olympic years (6 days)
- Olympic and non Olympic events
- Heats and A and B finals except for 800 and 1500 that would be timed finals.
Those involved in New Zealand Swimming will be invited to provide their feedback through an online survey which will be made available on Wednesday March 11th.
The full document describing the current system and changes can be found here.
Well done NZ swimming a massive step in the right direction. A change to keep up with the times (21st century)
Hope it works! Will Australia be as brave.
Don’t change the current system, Its a stupid idea. The swimmers work so hard to get to the level of max performance and qualify for those times. Taking out division 2 is a stupid idea as the swimmers who are not as fast might never experience the feeling of getting a medal due to the faster competition. Stop wrecking NZ SWIMMING.