USA Swimming has released the standards for the 2023 National Championships, which will take place from June 27-July 1, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The meet is expected to attract hundreds of the top swimmers in the country. Unlike 2022, USA Swimming will not host a separate international team trials, instead having Nationals serving as the qualifying competition for selection to the US team for the 2023 World Championships, 2023 World Junior Championships, and 2023 Pan American Games. In place of the traditional Nationals meet in August, USA Swimming will host a new event called the TYR Pro Championships.
With the changes to the meet line-up, USA Swimming made several adjustments to the qualifying times for US Nationals, with qualifying opportunities being offered in both SCY and LCM. On the women’s side, the short course qualifying times got faster in all but 2 of the 14 events offered. The same was true for both the women’s LCM and men’s LCM cuts, with the men’s SCY cuts getting faster in 13/14 events. Notably, the cuts for the SCY 1000 freestyle got slower for both genders as compared to 2022. In addition, the long course distance events saw no change in qualifying time for either gender. At the 2022 International Team Trials, there were only 22 swimmers in the women’s 800 freestyle and the men’s 1500 freestyle, while the women’s 1500 freestyle only had 20 women total. In comparison, most other events featured anywhere from 40 to 50 swimmers, with a few exceeding that. All of the distance events were also extremely limited in entries at US Nationals last August, with fewer than 20 swimmers in some of the events, including international entries.
Aside from the distance freestyle events, some of the most notable differences came in the IM events for both genders. The women’s 400 IM cut dropped nearly 2.5 seconds from 4:53.19 to 4:50.79, while the cut in the 200 IM went down nearly 1.5 seconds from 2:17.99 to 2:16.59. The differences were mirrored in the men’s events, with the 400 going from 4:26.89 t0 4:25.79 and the 200 IM cut decreasing to 2:03.49 from a 2:04.69.
2023 USA Swimming Nationals Cuts
| Women | Men | |||
| SCY | LCM | Event | LCM | SCY |
| 22.29 | 25.79* | 50 Free | 22.79* | 19.59* |
| 48.59* | 55.89* | 100 Free | 49.89* | 42.89* |
| 1:45.29* | 2:01.29* | 200 Free | 1:50.09* | 1:34.29* |
| 4:41.59* | 4:16.09* | 400/500 Free | 3:55.79* | 4:17.99* |
| 9:51.69** | 8:48.09 | 800/1000 Free | 8:12.99 | 9:06.79** |
| 16:17.59* | 16:49.19 | 1500/1650 Free | 15:44.89 | 15:03.59* |
| 52.59* | 1:02.09* | 100 Back | 55.89* | 46.49* |
| 1:54.09* | 2:14.19* | 200 Back | 2:02.39* | 1:42.09* |
| 1:00.19* | 1:10.39* | 100 Breast | 1:02.49* | 52.89* |
| 2:10.09* | 2:32.39* | 200 Breast | 2:16.29* | 1:55.09* |
| 52.49* | 1:00.39* | 100 Fly | 53.69* | 46.29* |
| 1:56.39* | 2:14.19* | 200 Fly | 2:00.79* | 1:43.69* |
| 1:56.99* | 2:16.59* | 200 IM | 2:03.49* | 1:44.49* |
| 4:10.49* | 4:50.79* | 400 IM | 4:25.79* | 3:45.99* |
*Denotes faster time standard than 2022
** Denotes slower time standard than 2022
Time Standard Comparison: 2022 vs 2023 USA Swimming Nationals
| Women | ||||
| Event | SCY (2023) | SCY (2022) | LCM (2023) | LCM (2022) |
| 50 Free | 22.29 | 22.29 | 25.79* | 25.99 |
| 100 Free | 48.59* | 48.89 | 55.89* | 56.39 |
| 200 Free | 1:45.29* | 1:45.89 | 2:01.29* | 2:01.79 |
| 400/500 Free | 4:41.59* | 4:43.79 | 4:16.09* | 4:16.89 |
| 800/1000 Free | 9:51.69** | 9:48.09 | 8:48.09 | 8:48.09 |
| 1500/1650 Free | 16:17.59* | 16:18.09 | 16:49.19 | 16:49.19 |
| 100 Back | 52.59* | 53.29 | 1:02.09* | 1:02.89 |
| 200 Back | 1:54.09* | 1:55.39 | 2:14.19* | 2:15.59 |
| 100 Breast | 1:00.19* | 1:00.69 | 1:10.39* | 1:10.99 |
| 200 Breast | 2:10.09* | 2:11.69 | 2:32.39* | 2:33.79 |
| 100 Fly | 52.49* | 52.99 | 1:00.39* | 1:00.89 |
| 200 Fly | 1:56.39* | 1:57.79 | 2:14.19* | 2:14.59 |
| 200 IM | 1:56.99* | 1:58.29 | 2:16.59* | 2:17.99 |
| 400 IM | 4:10.49* | 4:12.09 | 4:50.79* | 4:53.19 |
| Men | ||||
| Event | SCY (2023) | SCY (2022) | LCM (2023) | LCM (2022) |
| 50 Free | 19.59* | 19.79 | 22.79* | 23.09 |
| 100 Free | 42.89* | 43.09 | 49.89* | 50.49 |
| 200 Free | 1:34.29* | 1:35.59 | 1:50.09* | 1:51.29 |
| 400/500 Free | 4:17.99* | 4:19.39 | 3:55.79* | 3:57.79 |
| 800/1000 Free | 9:06.79** | 9:04.99 | 8:12.99 | 8:12.99 |
| 1500/1650 Free | 15:03.59* | 15:10.09 | 15:44.89 | 15:44.89 |
| 100 Back | 46.49* | 46.79 | 55.89* | 56.59 |
| 200 Back | 1:42.09* | 1:44.39 | 2:02.39* | 2:03.29 |
| 100 Breast | 52.89* | 53.39 | 1:02.49* | 1:03.29 |
| 200 Breast | 1:55.09* | 1:57.69 | 2:16.29* | 2:18.09 |
| 100 Fly | 46.29* | 47.19 | 53.69* | 54.39 |
| 200 Fly | 1:43.69* | 1:45.09 | 2:00.79* | 2:01.69 |
| 200 IM | 1:44.49* | 1:45.19 | 2:03.49* | 2:04.69 |
| 400 IM | 3:45.99* | 3:46.99 | 4:25.79* | 4:26.89 |
The cuts keep on getting faster. That means swimmers are too.
This article says Nationals are now June 27-July1 in Indy? Hmmmm. Thought they were in Irvine in August. So they just canceled the international time trials and moved Nationals up 5 weeks?
These time standards were released this past fall.
Why are yard cuts being offered for this meet? They don’t offer yard cuts for Olympic Trials. USA Swimming looking for a little extra cash from entry fees?. Just asking..
snarky meritless take. In additional to be a qualifying meet USA Swimming needs to continually promote growth of the sport. Give the break out Spring 2023 age grouper or break out mid-major college swimmer or developing power 5 swimmer a chance based on their short course championship season without forcing another taper and focus to qualify before a June meet. And yes, maximize participation at this meet. Meets are expensive and need athletes and families to generate buzz and make them financially viable. Nothing wrong with that is there?
Perfect. For most age levels, American swimming is a SCY sport punctuated by a much shorter LCM season. If our intent is to figure out who the fastest swimmers are it is important to have SCY cuts for Nationals. Stars emerge to join the cadre of Trials qualifiers and international swimmers. Watch this year for young breakouts that then put more into LCM. Looking forward too to seeing those who had transformative college seasons, at whatever levels.
Excellent analysis, plus LCM pools and meets are a lot harder to come by.
One extra point: Since LCM entry times are seeded in faster heats than any SCY entry times, swimmers are incentivized to get LCM cuts if possible. But it can also help swimmers who only have one or two cuts get an extra cut via SCY times and make the meet more worth their while, which is advantageous to the membership.
If you look at the yards cuts they are pretty fast. I don’t think the meet will be that big
Even the 2022 international team trials had yard cuts. The Olympic Trials are the exception because the qualifying period is usually longer, published further in advance, and swimmers are a lot more likely to attend with a marginal Olympic Trials cut.
Cuts are too fast — they have moved too far, too quickly — this meet will be smaller, and the ultra quick cuts (many are well below an NCAA B cut) will lessen the chances for some youngsters to make it into this meet.
It may make the meet higher level in the near term, but in the long run it will hurt high level participation in the sport. It’s a delicate trade-off that has now swung too far.
A similar phenomenon is happening with Olympic Trials, and USA Swimming had better pump the brakes a bit on these moves, or they will see a much thinner meet and some empty stands.
But isn’t there already a meet for the youngsters to make? Junior Nationals? Both as a fan and a coach, I much prefer the motif of those youngsters making a B final at Juniors rather than finishing 150th at Seniors. Juniors are a great meet – let’s make Juniors great again.
women’s 1000 is way too obtainable imo