USA Swimming - Overview
In addition to our identity as a YMCA Competitive Swim Team, the Phoenixville YMCA is a registered USA Swimming team. We are offering USA Swimming to all those registered for the team. We participate in the Middle Atlantic LSC (Local Swimming Commttee) of USA Swimming.
USA swimming offers more meets; and depending upon the swimmers age group, a wider range of events (i.e., 400 IM, 200 back, 500 free, 1650 free, 200 fly, and 200 breast). To enter these meets, a swimmer must pay a per event fee. USA swimming culminates with a championship meet in March (short course) or July (long course) for select swimmers.
The most up to date regional time standards can be found on the Middle Atlantic website and national time standards on the USA Swimming website.
Please note: The vast majority of USA Open sanction meets in our Middle Atlantic LSC are for the 9 and Over age groups only.
If you any have questions about USA Swimming please contact our coaching staff.
What are USA Championship Meets?
USA Swimming is broken up into a number of LSC's or "Local Swimming Committes" - we are a member of the MA LSC or "Middle Atlantic". Within our LSC there is a set of championship meets (above) where swimmers who qualify can compete for the top times in our region. Beyond that there are also sectional and national time standards and championships which have much more strict time standards.
The current Middle Atlantic championship format that our team participates in includes:
Junior and Senior Champs - Formerly known as Junior Olympics or JO's.
What are Motivational Time Standards?
You can read more about the league format for Middle Atlantic here if you would like.
Qualifying Times for USA Swimming Championship Meets:
2024 Junior Champs Time Standard (11-12 / 13-14)
2024 Senior Champs Time Standard (15 and Over)
You may have seen mention of "Motivaitonal Time Standards" or meets containing A/BB/C or something similar. Within the USA meet format these are essentially a way to grade your times against a percentile of other swimmers who achieve those times. They are intended as a way to "motivate" a swimmer to achive better times.
This list is updated every four years. The current Motivational Standards for 2021-2024 can be found here.
In an A/BB/C meet generally that means anyone can come as there is no time standard "C" but the results will be divided into A, BB, and C classes so that you can get first place as a "BB" swimmer and earn an award without getting blown away by faster swimmers, essentially brackets. However, if a meet was an AAA only meet, then swimmers could only enter events which they have an AAA time in. PVAC only participates in the A/BB/C format meets.
The time standards are broken down as follows (also by age group an pool length):
- AAAA: Top 2% of swimmers in your age group, nationally.
- AAA: Top 6% of swimmers in your age group, nationally.
- AA: Top 8% of swimmers in your age group, nationally.
- A: Top 15% of swimmers in your age group, nationally.
- BB: Top 35% of swimmers in your age group, nationally.
- B: Top 55% of swimmers in your age group, nationally.
National Motivational Time Standard
2024-2028 National Age Group Motivational Times
USA Swimming Rules and Guidelines
What are IMX and IMR (IM Xtreme and IM Ready)?
IM Xtreme is a program that allows USA Swimming members to track their times (or coaches to track their team's times) against swimmers all across the nation! Just by swimming a specific program of events, you can see where you rank against your teammates, your region and yes, even across the USA!
IM READY (IMR)
To get "IM Ready," swimmers compete in a series of five events at shorter distances. Below, we've listed the line-up by age groups.
9 & Under, 10-year olds: 100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SCY) or 200 IM (LCM)
11-year olds, 12-year olds: 200 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SCY) or 200 IM (LCM)
13, 14, 15, 16, 17, & 18-year olds: 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM
Once you've swum each event at least once at an official meet, you can log-in to your USA Swimming Account, and find out where you rank against all the other swimmers on your club team. You do not need to complete the IM Ready program to participate in the IM Xtreme. It is simply a stepping stone.
IM XTREME (IMX)
Ready to move forward? The next step is IM Xtreme (IMX). The IMX ranking includes a series of five or six events at longer distances. Once you've completed the IMX program, you can find out where your IMX score ranks nationally, within your zone, within your LSC and on your club.
9 & Under, 10-year olds: 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM
11-year olds, 12-year olds: 400 Free (LCM) or 500 Free (SCY), 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM
13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18-year olds: 400 Free (LCM) or 500 Free (SCY), 200 Back, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 200 IM, 400 IM
What is VCC (Virtual Club Championships)?
The purpose of the VCC program is to recognize and highlight clubs that are developing athletes and achieving success at multiple levels in the club swimming continuum emphasizing the team element in club swimming. This program serves as a key part of the Athlete Development & Performance component of the Club Recognition Program.
PERIOD
The Virtual Club Championships will be tabulated annually for both the short course and long course seasons. Both Short Course Yard (SCY) and Long Course Meter (LCM) rankings will be tabulated using results achieved between September 1 and August 31. (Prior to the SCY 2008-2009 season the yards season was from 9/1 to 5/31 of the following year.)
TABULATION
All registered USA Swimming clubs will be scored automatically. The USA Swimming Star Times Data Base will be used in combination with the Hy-Tek Single-Year Age Group Power Point system. The program scores single age groups from 11-16 years old and has a combined 17-18 age group. After all eligible swims have been scored using the power point system, a team score for each registered USA Swimming club will be calculated. The tabulation will occur once every evening.
TEAM EVENT LIMIT
Each team will be limited to two entries per event by age group and gender. The program will automatically tabulate which two events in combination with other teammates produce the highest team score.
INDIVIDUAL EVENT LIMIT
Each swimmer will be limited to four events. A swimmer may contribute only four times per season even if they age up (i.e. may have two times selected as an 11-year old and two as a 12-year old, but not four as an 11-year old and four as a 12-year old). The program will automatically tabulate which four events in combination with other teammates produce the highest team score. For larger clubs, the computer will go through more than 1,000,000,000,000 (1 Trillion) calculations to determine the optimum score!
ELIGIBILITY
For a swimmer’s point total on a specific swim to count toward the overall team total, the athlete and/or their swim must meet the following eligibility criteria:
Times must have been achieved while representing a registered USA Swimming club (no unattached times may be used).
AGE GROUPS AND EVENTS
The following event results will be tabulated for both men and women:
- 11 & 12 year olds – 50 Fr, 100s of each stroke, 200 Free, 4/500 Free, 200 IM (8 events).
- 13, 14, 15, 16, 17-18 year olds – All recognized Olympic events (13 events) plus the long distance event not swum at the Olympics (Men's 1000y/800m freestyle and the Women's 1650y/1500m).
- No relays will be scored.
The Virtual Club Championship rankings are updated nightly with any new times submitted by Local Swim Committee (LSC) times volunteers.
For details on annual VCC rankings, please refer to this link
What Else?
USA Swimming is the national governing body for swimming in the United States. Therefore, all swimmers who participate in the Olympics or represent the country at any national level meet go through the USA process by qualifying for and winning at meets at every level of competition and working their way up. This means that in addition to the above meets there are additional ways the league is broken down. This is regionally, sectionally, nationally, etc.
If your swimmer was posting times which qualify for competition at these levels then there are additional meets you would participate in beyond the structure I have outlined above. Generally these higher levels of swimming are limited to the upper age groups or collegiate level swimmers and would require travelling to another state to participate in. For example the 2024 Olympic Trials are happening in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The general progression in terms of time requirements and overall "difficulty" in USA Swimming is as follows:
LSC Level (Middle Atlantic):
- Silver Champs
- Junior / Senior Champs
Zones and Sectionals (Eastern Zone Level):
- Zones (Age Group Swimmers) - Usually representing their home LSC
- Sectionals (Senior Swimmers) - Usallly representing their home Club
National Level:
- Futures
- Junior Nationals
- Nationals
- Olympic Trials
- Olympics
More information can be found by reading this helpful article.
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