USA Swimming has published a set of maximum times to govern qualifying times for its Speedo Sectional meets.
You can view the full list of maximum times here.
(Update: we originally reported that the maximum times would limit Sectional meets by keeping swimmers faster than the ‘maximum’ times from entering. It appears the times instead set a standard of qualifying times for the various meets. We’ve updated the article accordingly and are waiting for a response from USA Swimming clarifying the times.)
The maximum times appear to set a base-line standard for what each individual sectional meet can set as its qualifying times. The maximum times are the fastest any Speedo Sectional meet can set as its cut times.
The issue lately at sectional meets has been that national-level athletes are competing in them as a tune-up for their end-of-season meets, raising the level of sectional meets and often crowding out the swimmers whose times make sectionals the top level they can swim at.
These maximum times essentially ensure that the rising level of sectional competition won’t cause the qualifying times to rise too far past younger swimmers, locking them out of the meets.
Speedo Sectional meets can (and likely will) have slower qualifying times in individual events, but no meet can set their times faster than USA Swimming’s new benchmarks.
http://swimswam.com/
Folks,
The maximum times for sectional qualification were passed in 2013 at USAS Convention. They have been in rule book for 2 years…(see below) They are designed to regulate sectionals from becoming too fast on the qual times. i.e. some sectional meets were reaching qual times that were leaving very talented and hard working athletes at home. This rule simply ensures that every athlete who is within 5% of summer junior nationals has the opportunity to compete at a sectional meet. USA Swimming is just trying to do a better job of promoting this policy, as a couple sections where still using times faster than the 5% margin.
See 204.9.2 in the USA Swimming rule book….
… Read more »
If these times are correct this seems to be an indirect way to increase the participation at the new futures meets around the country.
As you can probably guess, the comments to this point all pertain to the earlier version of the article.
These are intended to be the fastest times a sectional meet can list as the entry time. Not as the fastest time a swimmer can gave to enter.
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is USA swimming familiar with the definition of minimum and maximum?
I really hope the commenters are right as all of these times are almost right on with a lot of the current sectional cut times already.
It would seem self-defeating to have these particular times as the ceiling (with current individual meet cut times). Off the top of my head these “ceiling times” coupled with a sectional standard would probably cut the number of possible entries by about 70%.
I suppose I would see the premise of the article if the ceiling times were more around summer junior cuts, but these seem impossible.
This is a shame for the high school swimmers who have been able to swim this in the past. There are very few meets for fast high schoolers to get good competition. Not everyone can travel to a national meet.