TIME STANDARDS
Swimming is a sport that is almost entirely governed by time standards. We're aware of standards from day to day life. There are minimum standards to graduate from high school. There are standards in order to be employed in various job markets. Parents have standards for their children to determine what is acceptable, or unacceptable behavior.
With regards to our sport, time standards are simply standards that are based on times. Every swimmer that ever competed can be ranked by a time standard. Within USA Swimming, one of the most common standard is the Motivational Times list. Most of our sports participants are at the Age Group level, and as such, can be categorized using this list.
This list begins with 'B' times and ends with 'AAAA' times. There are a total of 6 standards on this list for each stroke, each distance., and each age group. These standards are as follows
B BB A AA AAA AAAA
These standards are generated as a percentage of the Top 16 times from each stroke, distance, and age group. Many years ago, these lists were generated annually. At this point, however, the Motivational times lists are produced every four years to mirror the Olympic calendar.
The above standards allow coaches, parents, and even swimmers to easily identify a specific level of competence / swimming ability. A 'AAA' 100 yard butterflier is significantly faster than a 'BB' level 100 yard butterflier
There was a time when there were several meets that were based solely on these standards. An 'A' meet was open to anyone with who had achieved an 'A' time. As PVS has grown, there is a wider range of swimming needs, abilities, and meet formats, which has all but eliminated these types of meets.
Other uses of time standards occurs when running swim camps, such as the camp being run April 27th. Participants need at least two 'BB' times to be eligible for the Catch The Spirit Camp.
The above time standards can be found at the following link. Keep in mind there are three sets of standards. One set for Long Course Meters, Short Course Meters, and Short Course Yards.
For other time standards, visit the USA Swimming web page (USSWIM.ORG) and visit the TIME STANDARDS link.