Why Do Power Points on Swim Standards Sometimes Differ from USA Swimming?

[adam]

Q: Why does my Power Point score on Swim Standards sometimes differ from USA Swimming’s?
A: We use USA Swimming’s Power Point tables to convert times into points. However, USA Swimming does not provide a point value for every possible time—only specific times have exact Power Points assigned.

If a swimmer’s time falls between two official point values, we:
Always use the lower point value (rounding down).

Example:

• 1:00.50 = 500 points
• 1:00.49 = 501 points
• 1:00.48 is missing from USA Swimming’s table

→ We assign 500 points to 1:00.48 (always rounding down).

Why does USA Swimming sometimes show a 1-point difference?
USA Swimming may use a proprietary formula to estimate points for missing times, possibly rounding up or averaging values. Since we don’t have access to their exact algorithm, we always round down to ensure consistency.

This is why you may occasionally see a 1-point difference between Swim Standards and USA Swimming.