Q&A on USA Swimming Power Points and Time Standards

[adam]

Q: Why does a swimmer with a time close to a AAA cut only have a power point score of 562?

A: AAA cuts are based on percentiles, typically representing the top ~6-7% of swimmers in an age group. Power points, however, are calculated differently:

• Power points compare times to the fastest historical performances ever recorded, not just recent years.
• They don’t reset every four years like AAA times, so older, exceptionally fast swims continue to impact the benchmarks.
• Different events have different scoring scales—longer races often require larger time drops to significantly increase power points.

For example, in a distance event like the 500 Free, small time drops may not lead to major power point increases because the top historical times are extremely fast. That’s why a AAA time doesn’t always translate to a high power point score.

Q: How often does USA Swimming update power points?

A: USA Swimming doesn’t officially disclose how frequently they update power points, but they are based on historical all-time data, rather than just the past four years like AAA, AA, and other time standards.

[Zany_Blenny603]

How often are time standards updated? For example, if my child had a meet on Friday November 14, how soon will her updated times be reflected in the time standards and “did I qualify” search? Thanks

[adam]

I just replied to your email as well, but for others who may have the same question:

“Did I Qualify” uses each swimmer’s personal best based on all times currently available in our database. For meets swum this week, the update timing depends on when your LSC publishes the results or uploads them to USA Swimming’s SWIMS system. Some LSCs release results as early as Monday, in which case the new times will appear right away.