Time standards assist swimmers with measuring their improvement. They also establish minimum entry requirements for some meets. Time standards are different for each season and for each type of pool.  “SCY” means Short Course season times attained in a 25-Yard pool. “SCM” means Short Course season times gained in a 25-Meter pool. “LCM” means Long Course times obtained in a 50-Meter pool. To locate the time standard for a swimmer’s event, you must know what season it is, what type of pool it is (25 yards or meters, or 50  meters), and you must know the swimmer’s gender, age, and event.  You can usually find these qualifying times on Oregon Swimming's Time Standards page.
Two notes:
  • When calculating meet eligibility you need to look at the swimmer's age on the first day of the meet.  You may have an 11YO "A" time today, for example, but if you turn 12 before the meet in question then you will need to have the 12YO "A" time in order to qualify.
  • Age-group meets have age-based standards and are conducted w/ individual age groups.  Senior meets have only one set of qualifying times regardless of age and the meet is not broken down by age. 

 

Oregon Time Standards - Oregon Swimming Incorporated (OSI), the governing body (Local Swim Committee or LSC) of USA Swimming in Oregon, has set “A” and “B” time standards for each gender and age group. The B standard is the first goal most swimmers strive to attain. Achieving a B time means that the swimmer is getting strong in an event, and may want to focus on that event to get an A time.  An A time qualifies a swimmer to compete in the Oregon State Championships in that event.  C times are any times slower than B times.

Northwest Regional and Senior Sectional Time Standards - USA Swimming, Inc. has divided the United States into various swimming sections. All of the Western states except for California are in our section. Typically there is a Northwest Regional Age Group meet at the end of Short Course and Senior Sectionals at the end of both Long and Short course seasons.

Western Zone Time Standards - USA Swimming also divides the United States into Zones (groupings of Sections) for the purpose of conducting Zone Championship meets. The Age Group meet occurs only at the end of Long Course season. OSI selects a team to represent Team Oregon at the Age Group Zones meet. To be eligible, swimmers must obtain qualifying times during the specified period and submit an application and coach recommendation to the Zones coaching staff committee. The committee then selects the team that will represent OSI at the Western Zone Age Group Championship. The Western Zone Senior Championship is held at the end of both Short and Long Course seasons.  Athletes competing at the Senior meet must obtain qualifying times to participate but no application is necessary.

Futures - USA Swimming conducts several Futures meets around the country at the end of each Long Course season. The Futures Championships are designed as an intermediate step between Sectional Championships and Junior National or National Championships and are open to swimmers of all ages.

Junior/Senior National Time Standards - These times qualify the swimmer for the Junior and Senior National meets. Senior swimmers strive to achieve these qualifying times as they are the first national milestone for swimmers looking toward competing at Olympic and International events. Junior Nationals are exclusively for swimmers aged 18 and under.

USA Swimming Time Standards - USA Swimming, Inc. also sets national motivational time standards by age group beginning with 10&Unders. These also begin with a “B” time designation.  The standards get progressively faster and more difficult to achieve as a swimmer moves through “A”, “AA”, “AAA” and “AAAA” times.  Some LSCs use these times as a basis for State Meet qualifying, but Oregon sets its own as described above.  For us, these cuts do not serve as a gateway to any particular meet but can be a useful measuring stick.