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adam

@Turbo_Crab939
Thanks for pointing it out – we had missed it, but it’s now been added: https://swimstandards.com/meets/2025-mr-tri-fall-scy-invitational-1101

adam

Please let me know the meet name and date, and I’ll take a look.

adam

Hi everyone,

Starting with the 2025–26 swim season, Lake Erie Swimming (LE) and Ohio Swimming (OH) have officially merged into a single LSC under Ohio Swimming.

On Swim Standards, we’ve updated how rankings and profiles reflect this change:

🏅 Rankings:
All 2025–26 season and future rankings including Event Rankings and IMX Rankings are now grouped under Ohio Swimming (OH).
Swimmers who previously belonged to Lake Erie (LE) are included within the new Ohio LSC rankings automatically — so their swims continue to count just like before.
👥 Profiles:
You may still see “LE (was OH)” on swimmer pages.
This note helps preserve each swimmer’s historical LSC information while recognizing the current, unified structure.
📜 Historical Data:
We continue to keep all Lake Erie team affiliations and meet histories intact for past seasons.
That means 2024–25 and earlier results remain listed under LE, ensuring full accuracy for legacy data.

In short — nothing is lost, and no action is needed.
Your past Lake Erie results remain preserved, while new performances are ranked under the unified Ohio Swimming LSC moving forward.

Thanks as always for helping keep Swim Standards accurate and up-to-date!
If you notice anything that looks off with team listings or rankings, feel free to reach out to support@swimstandards.com.

— The Swim Standards Team 🏊‍♂️💙

adam

Swim Standards uses two distinct color systems across its platform – each designed for a different purpose:

Ribbon Colors — for rankings and placements
Heatmap Colors — for FINA (World Aquatics) performance points

These color systems serve different goals, but both make results easier to read and understand at a glance.

🏅 1️⃣ Ribbon Colors — For Rankings & Placement

This theme is inspired by swimming award ribbons and meet podium colors, used wherever Swim Standards displays rankings, places, or score positions (e.g., “Top 8”).

Place	Color	Meaning
1st	Blue	Traditional first-place ribbon
2nd	Red	Second-place
3rd	White	Third-place (used in many LSC award sets)
4th	Yellow	Excellent performance
5th	Black	High-level finalist
6th	Green	Solid achievement
7th	Purple	Finalist / emerging
8th	Brown	Participation / completion
9th+	Gray	Outside award range

🧩 These colors appear in Rankings, Leaderboards, and Meet Results “Top 8” views, matching what swimmers often see on award ribbons at meets.

🔥 2️⃣ Heatmap Colors — For FINA Point Analysis

When analyzing swim quality (FINA or World Aquatics Points), Swim Standards uses a heatmap-based scale that reflects performance level — from developing to record-breaking.

FINA Points Range	Color	Meaning
1000+	⚫ Black	Record-level or world-record equivalent
900–999	🔴 Red	World-class performance
800–899	🔵 Blue	National elite
600–799	🟡 Yellow	Regional / advanced age-group
400–599	🟢 Green	Developing swimmer
Below 400	🟤 Brown	Entry-level / early progress

🌡️ This palette behaves like a “heatmap” — darker colors represent stronger, higher-level performances.

🧮 Reality Check: FINA vs USA Motivational Standards

Group	Example	Approx. FINA Range	Notes
World-class	Top international swimmers	900 – 999 +	Equivalent to elite senior-level times (e.g., national team / international medalists).
National Elite	USA National or Junior National qualifiers	800 – 899	Roughly corresponds to AAAA for older teens (15–18), but for younger ages (13–14), AAAA is often only 650 – 750 FINA.
Regional / Age-Group Advanced	LSC Champs / Zone swimmers	600 – 799	Typical A–AAAA range for ages 11–14.
Developing	Club or B/BB level	400 – 599	Meets local meet standards (BB–A).
Entry-level	New / early progress swimmers	< 400	Below B level.

⚠️ Why AAAA ≈ 800 Isn’t Always True

FINA Points are age-neutral and event-based, while Motivational Standards are age-relative.
That means:

A 16-year-old AAAA 100 Free might be ~810 FINA
A 13-year-old AAAA 100 Free might be ~700 FINA

adam

Hi everyone! We’re happy to share that Swim Standards is partnering with Streamline Swimming to bring expert college recruiting resources and support to our community.

About Streamline Swimming
Streamline Swimming, a division of Streamline Athletes, is a trusted college‑recruiting resource for athletes, parents, and college coaches. With 30+ years of college coaching experience and a decade of helping student‑athletes find their collegiate fit, their team delivers individualized recruiting guidance based on realtime roster needs and scholarship availability among college programs.

What this means for you

Get access to expert recruiting resources and practical advice
Ask questions and receive guidance tailored to swimmers and families
Hear about college recruiting opportunities as they arise

New features coming to Swim Standards
Opt in from your Swim Standards dashboard (more on that soon!). When it goes live, you’ll be able to:

Receive recruiting resources from Streamline Swimming
Share your Swim Standards profile information (with your consent), so college coaches can see your times and progression
Be contacted when you are a fit for one of the college programs recruiting with Streamline Swimming

Questions? Let me know in the comments or email me at adam@swimstandards.com.

Adam

adam

Both Motivational Time Standards (B–AAAA) and Power Points are age-based systems created by USA Swimming, but they serve very different purposes.
Together, they give swimmers and coaches two complementary ways to measure progress — one based on percentiles, the other on performance quality.

💡 Scope note: USA Swimming Power Points apply only to Short Course Yards (SCY) and Long Course Meters (LCM) swims recorded in the SWIMS database.
Power Points are not calculated for Short Course Meters (SCM) events.

🎯 Different Goals

System	What It Tells You
Motivational Standards (B–AAAA)	“How does this swimmer rank among others right now in their age group?”
Power Points	“How close is this swim to the best performances ever recorded for swimmers of the same age and gender?”

Time Standards are percentile-based — goal-setting tools that define levels like B, A, AA, AAA, and AAAA.
Power Points are algorithm-based — scoring tools that quantify performance strength across events and ages.

🧮 How Each System Is Built

🔹 Motivational Time Standards

Derived from percentiles of USA Swimming’s database every four years.
Represent where a swimmer ranks relative to peers in the current era.
AAAA ≈ top 2%, AAA ≈ top 6%, etc.
Used mainly for goal-setting and meet qualification.

🔹 Power Points

Calculated from mathematical models of the fastest historical times ever recorded for each age, gender, and event.
Age-adjusted so that a 500-point swim at age 11 is equivalent in quality to a 500-point swim at age 16.
Updated only when rule or record changes affect the benchmarks.
Used mainly for performance analysis and national programs such as IMX, IMR, and VCC.

⚙️ Why USA Swimming Uses Both

Audience	Motivational Standards	Power Points
Swimmers & Parents	Simple milestones (A, AA, AAA)	Numeric performance scoring
Coaches	Group swimmers by level	Evaluate improvement & balance
Meet Hosts / LSCs	Control meet qualification	Rank “Swim of the Meet” or “Most Improved”
USA Swimming Programs	Age-group standards & recognition	IMR, IMX, and Virtual Club Championships

The two systems complement each other:

Standards are categorical — easy to understand and track over time.
Power Points are continuous — detailed and quantitative.

🧠 An Easy Analogy

Think of them like school grades vs. test scores:

Motivational Standards → “You’re in the top 10% of your class.”
Power Points → “You scored 720 out of 800 on a national scale.”

Both measure success — one relative to peers, the other relative to excellence.

🏁 How They Work Together

Used together, they offer a complete view of development:

A 12-year-old might have AAA times (top 6%) and a 610-point average.
At 13, they may still hold AAA times but now average 670 points — showing real improvement even if their letter level didn’t change.

Time Standards show where a swimmer stands today among peers.
Power Points show how close that swim is to the best ever for that age.

✅ Summary

Aspect	Motivational Standards	Power Points
Basis	Percentiles of current swimmers	Historical best performances
Updates	Every 4 years	Only for rule or record changes
Scale	B–AAAA categories	1–1100 numeric scale
Purpose	Goals, meet cuts, motivation	Analytics, rankings, consistency
Age Handling	Broad age groups (10&U, 11–12, 13–14…), though single-age tables exist	Single-age curves (9, 10, 11…)
Courses	SCY, SCM & LCM	SCY & LCM (no SCM)
Focus	Relative placement	Relative quality

🏆 In Summary

Motivational Standards inspire. Power Points quantify.
Both systems together help swimmers set goals, measure growth, and celebrate steady progress at every level of the sport.

Related Reading:
🏊 USA Swimming Power Points Explained
🕓 USA Swimming Motivational Time Standards Explained

adam

USA Swimming assigns a Power Point value to eligible swims recorded in its national database for Short Course Yards (SCY) and Long Course Meters (LCM).
Power Points provide a fair way to compare performances across strokes, distances, and ages—something raw times or age-group standards alone can’t do.

📝 Note: USA Swimming does not publish Power Points for Short Course Meters (SCM).
International SCM and LCM scoring is handled separately by FINA Power Points, which are based on world-record times and not age-specific.

Power Points appear on meet results, IMX reports, and SwimStandards.com.
They help swimmers, parents, and coaches understand the quality of a swim, not just its place or time.

💡 What Power Points Measure

Each swim receives a numeric score from 1 to 1100 points:

1000 + points → world-class, record-level performance
≈ 800 points → roughly equal to a AAAA motivational time
600 – 700 points → strong, competitive age-group or sectional swim
≈ 500 points → developing or emerging performance

The higher the score, the closer that swim is to the fastest historical performances for swimmers of the same age and gender.

⚙️ How the System Works

Power Points are calculated from tables developed by USA Swimming’s analytics team.
Each table defines a mathematical curve for a specific event, course (SCY or LCM), gender, and age.

Key facts:

🧮 Age-adjusted: Each age level has its own curve so a 500-point swim for an 11-year-old represents the same quality as a 500-point swim for a 15-year-old.
⚙️ Stable over time: Tables rarely change; updates occur only when a rule change alters times (e.g., underwater-distance limits).
🏊‍♂️ Course coverage: Official tables exist only for SCY and LCM.
📈 Range: 1–1100 points, with ≈ 800 ≈ AAAA.
🕒 8 & Under: All 8-and-under swimmers use the 9-year-old table.

Because each curve is age-normalized, a 500-point 100 Free by an 11-year-old and a 500-point 200 Fly by a 15-year-old represent equivalent quality within their age groups.

🏅 Official USA Swimming Uses

Power Point tables are integral to several national programs:

IM Ready (IMR) and IM Xtreme (IMX) Challenge
Virtual Club Championships (VCC)
Club Recognition and Excellence Programs

These programs rely on Power Points to fairly compare swimmers who race different events and distances.

🔍 Other Common Uses

Coaches, clubs, and LSCs use Power Points to:

Compare strength between distances in the same stroke (100 Back vs 200 Back).
Evaluate stroke balance (freestyle vs breaststroke).
Track short-course to long-course improvement.
Assess training or taper effectiveness.
Select “Performance of the Meet” or “Most Improved” swims.
Run intrasquad or inter-age competitions using points instead of raw times.
Assist in setting qualifying standards or advancement benchmarks.

Because Power Points normalize quality, they allow comparisons such as 11-12 girls vs 15-16 boys 200 Free—something times alone can’t do.

🔢 Power Points vs. Motivational Standards

Feature	Motivational Standards	Power Points
Basis	Percentiles of current swimmers	Historical best times by age & gender
Age Handling	Age-group bands (10&U, 11-12, 13-14…), though single-age tables exist	Single-age tables (9, 10, 11…)
Cycle	Updated every 4 years	Updated only for rule or record changes
Courses	SCY, SCM, & LCM	SCY & LCM ( no SCM )
Units	B – AAAA categories	1 – 1100 numeric scale
Purpose	Goal-setting & meet qualification	Performance comparison & analysis
Approx. Relation	AAAA ≈ top 2 %	800 ≈ AAAA swim

🧮 Why Scores May Differ Slightly

SwimStandards.com uses the same official USA Swimming Power Point tables.
If a swimmer’s exact time falls between two entries, we round down to the lower value for consistency.
USA Swimming’s online calculator may interpolate differently, producing a small 1-point difference—this is normal and doesn’t affect rankings.

🎓 Final Thoughts

Power Points give swimmers, parents, and coaches a single, objective measure of swim quality across ages, strokes, and distances.

They complement motivational standards:

Time Standards show where a swimmer stands among peers this season.
Power Points show how close that swim is to the best ever for their age and gender.

Used together, they encourage both short-term goals and long-term growth.

Related Reading:
🕓 USA Swimming Motivational Time Standards Explained
🧭 Why Two Systems? — Power Points vs Motivational Standards

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