Suburban Aquatic League (SAL) - This is a local league and all PWAC swimmers are members.
USA Swimming - This is a national league and swimmers must be registered with USA Swimming. Registration is handled by PWAC. USA swimmers are either attached to a specific team or they are designated as unattached. Any swimmer registering for USA Swimming with PWAC who was previously attached to another team or was unattached must submit a transfer form to Middle Atlantic to become attached to PWAC.
SAL Meets:
SAL Dual Meets
These are meets where PWAC competes against another local team in the same SAL division.
Dual meets are TEAM functions, not individual functions. There are 5 dual meets in a season.
All swimmers are expected to swim in dual meets.
Parents are expected to volunteer for meet jobs. Most jobs do not require any special training or experience.
Coaches pick the events. Swimmers swim up to 4 events which represent a combination of individual events and relays.
SAL Championship Dual Meets (playoffs)
Conference Dual Meet Finals - PWAC swims against a team in the other division of our conference with a comparable record.
League Dual Meet Finals - PWAC swims against a team of the other conference with a comparable record.
Swimmers must have competed in a minimum of 2 regular season dual meets to be eligible to swim in either of these championship meets.
SAL Individual Championship Meets
Division Championship (a.k.a. B champs) - This meet is open to all swimmers in SAL. There is no minimum meet requirement to participate.
League Championship (a.k.a. A champs) - Swimmers must qualify for this meet. Only the top 18 swimmers in the league for an event may swim that event in this meet. Swimmers must have competed in a minimum of 2 regular season dual meets to be eligible to swim in this meet.
A swimmer may swim a maximum of 5 events (3 individual events and 2 relays) between A and B champs combined.
SAL Invitational Meets
These are optional meets that are hosted throughout the season by various teams throughout the league.
All SAL swimmers in the league may attend these meets.
Swimmers select their own events.
These meets provide swimmers with the opportunity to obtain times or better times in specific events that they may not swim often in dual meets.
There is a per event fee charged for these meets.
USA Swimming Meets (U.S. Meets)
PWAC typically competes in one U.S.swim meet per month.
U.S. meets are often multi-day events that may require a hotel stay.
Times achieved by swimmers are maintained in a national database and are used to determine eligibility for meets from the local level up to Olympic Trials.
With the exception of a few Invitational Meets, times achieved in a SAL meet cannot be used in U.S. meets.
US meets are either short course meets (25 yard pools) or long course meets (50 meter pools)
Short course meets occur in the fall and winter and conclude in March with championship meets.
Long course meets occur in the spring and summer and conclude in July with championship meets.
All US meets charge a fee per event for swimmers which is typically $5.00 per short course event and $6.00 per long course event. In addition, PWAC adds a per event surcharge to cover the coaching expenses for the meets.
