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Explanation of
Seasons
There are two seasons in USA swimming, short course and
long course season.
September to March is short course season when meets
are held in a 25 yard pool. Typically, practices are held after
school. April to August is the long course season as meets are held
in 50 meter pools. Practice sessions continue on the after school
schedule until school ends for the summer. Practices are held twice
a day during summer to allow as many training sessions as possible
since the long course season is shorter.
Time Standards
USA swimming publishes time standards for girls and
boys by age group that is used as a scale to gauge a
swimmer’s level of achievement in all
events. The slowest is a B
time then moves to faster times BB, A, AA, AAA, and AAAA. Striving
to reach for the next level can be very motivational to
swimmers.
Time standards are published annually for TAGS times,
Texas Age Group Swimming.
Swimmers must achieve the qualifying times for each
event during respective seasons in order to enter that event at
TAGS.
Types of Meets
Swim meets are often restricted to swimmers above
or below a certain level in order to limit the number of entries in
a given day. For example, to enter an event at an A & UP meet,
you must have an A time or better in that event. To enter an event
at a BB & Under Meet, you need to
have a qualifying time of BB and under. Open Meets allow the
swimmer to enter an event with a qualifying time and/or a No Time
if applicable. Meets are held throughout the year for swimmers of
all levels.
Most meets are in
and around the Houston area, usually no more than 45 minutes from
Katy .Occasionally, the club travels to an out of town meet in
Texas or even other States. Go
to the Katy Website or to Gulf Swimming website to familiarize
yourself with the calendar for upcoming meets.
More details soon to come
regarding:
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