USA Swimming has announced the time standards for the 2014 Junior National Championships that will take place in Irvine, California the week before the Pan Pac/World University Games/World Championship Trials.
Unlike the senior National Championship standards, announced earlier this week, Junior Nationals standards are weighted heavily towards long course meters. For example, in the girls’ 50 free, only 35 swimmers aged 18 & under had the yards standard in the 2013 season, as compared to 91 who hit the long course meters standard.
This is also a referendum on just how fast junior level swimming has gotten. A decade ago, in 2013, only five junior swimmers would’ve had these yards standards, and only 22 swimmers would have had these long course standards. The time to qualify for the Junior Nationals, in most events, would have dominated the high school state championship meets in states as big and prominent as Texas.
Times standards are a bit faster than Winter Juniors, but not much. Winter Juniors, a meet swum in yards, has time standards much more evenly split between long course and short course specialists. Standards in 2014 will be quite a bit faster in the summer of 2014 than in the summer of 2013, with standards getting faster somewhere in the range of two-tenths of a second per 50 meters.
The qualifying period runs from June 25th, 2013 until the entry deadline (not yet announced).
Note the bonus time standards. In 2013, swimmers who qualified for the meet could swim up to two additional races in which they’d hit the bonus standard, regardless of how many events in which they’d hit the primary standard.
See Also:
2013 Winter Junior Nationals Time Standards.
| Girls | Boys | |||
| SCY | LCM | Qualifying | LCM | SCY |
| 22.89 | 26.69 | 50 free | 24.09 | 20.59 |
| 49.89 | 57.79 | 100 free | 52.19 | 44.59 |
| 1:47.79 | 2:04.69 | 200 free | 1:54.69 | 1:38.79 |
| 4:49.09* | 4:22.19 | 400 free | 4:03.59 | 4:29.29* |
| 9:58.79* | 9:00.29 | 800 free | 8:24.69 | 9:15.19* |
| 16:35.89* | 17:14.29 | 1500 free | 16:08.09 | 15:37.49* |
| 54.69 | 1:04.59 | 100 back | 58.99 | 49.89 |
| 1:58.09 | 2:18.69 | 200 back | 2:07.39 | 1:48.39 |
| 1:03.09 | 1:13.49 | 100 breast | 1:06.29 | 55.99 |
| 2:15.89 | 2:38.69 | 200 breast | 2:23.69 | 2:01.59 |
| 54.19 | 1:02.59 | 100 fly | 56.69 | 49.19 |
| 1:59.59 | 2:17.39 | 200 fly | 2:05.49 | 1:48.29 |
| 2:00.99 | 2:21.39 | 200 IM | 2:08.69 | 1:49.29 |
| 4:15.59 | 4:58.09 | 400 IM | 4:33.89 | 3:53.49 |
| 3:56.49 | 400 Free Relay | 3:34.89 | ||
| 8:29.99 | 800 Free Relay | 7:47.69 | ||
| 4:22.69 | 400 Medley Relay | 3:56.99 | ||
| Girls | Boys | |||
| SCY | LCM | Bonus Events | LCM | SCY |
| 23.49 | 27.19 | 50 free | 24.49 | 21.19 |
| 50.79 | 58.29 | 100 free | 52.89 | 45.39 |
| 1:49.39 | 2:05.69 | 200 free | 1:56.49 | 1:40.09 |
| 4:52.19* | 4:23.89 | 400 free | 4:05.49 | 4:30.09* |
| 10:05.19* | 9:05.09 | 800 free | 8:27.69 | 9:19.39* |
| 16:45.09* | 17:29.69 | 1500 free | 16:27.39 | 15:46.39* |
| 56.09 | 1:05.59 | 100 back | 59.69 | 50.49 |
| 2:00.69 | 2:20.89 | 200 back | 2:09.69 | 1:49.69 |
| 1:03.89 | 1:14.29 | 100 breast | 1:07.09 | 56.59 |
| 2:18.89 | 2:40.49 | 200 breast | 2:25.09 | 2:02.89 |
| 55.69 | 1:03.59 | 100 fly | 57.69 | 49.89 |
| 2:02.39 | 2:19.29 | 200 fly | 2:07.29 | 1:49.89 |
| 2:03.99 | 2:22.39 | 200 IM | 2:10.09 | 1:50.69 |
| 4:22.09 | 5:00.49 | 400 IM | 4:37.29 | 3:56.89 |
Another bonus – the state pays for it & parents don’t go.
Short course metres is missing in this mix.
As the last comp before the spring holiday vacation Australia has a states challenge . Each state puts their best up for a straight finals meet.
Whilst there are only 7 states here even the slower kids from smaller states get a chance to compete with the top. Kids being kids – they make big improvements . They also receive equal sports science input . Talent is everywhere – it is the training opportunities that makes the difference.
USA could have 1 per state entry. ( it would split the DC & Virginia split mega club )
It would be interesting demographics. Who is doing the nurturing?
Bonus – no heats.
the reason winter jrs are were they are is because of schubert. when he was natl team director, he pushed for long-course to start sooner. i guess he felt all other organizations – ncaa, nisca, etc – would follow suit. wrong!
so bob gillet stepped in and, with friends, created ncsa and put jr nats back in march… where 99% of the club coaches knew it needed to be.
i doubt usa-s will go back to having a spring jr nats. why should they?
the ncsa meet can be huge. i recall one year it was over 1600 kids at orlando. that was ridiculous. the pool would open at 5:00am for early warm-ups. even by 6:00, there could be as… Read more »
It’s great that US swimming is getting so much faster every year but, its very discouraging when the goal most young swimmers train for and dream of is the Summer Jrs meet and it just keeps getting more elusive every year esp for the sprinters. The long course season is so short. Yes, you could say that Winter Jrs is where it’s at for short course swimming but, the timing of that event is so bad. The best of the short course swimmers are left with a non-USA swim meet if they want to compete at a junior national level championship meet (NCSA Jrs). If USA Swim is going to make the SCY times out of reach wouldn’t it be… Read more »
I SO agree with you. Why US swimming has not figured out that most swimmers at this 18 & under group need a national year end meet. Having jrs mid year is pointless considering most swimmers are not fully tapered or rested. US swim needs to move jrs back to where is needs to be…end of the season!
The emphasis in swimming is the long course competition. Having the SCY Juniors in December allows more time (Jan-Aug) to develop the swimmer for long course competition. USA Swimming is looking for dominance on the world scene – which is long course meter competition.
What’s the point of making the qualifying period so short? I’d hate to have to rest mid year to have kids re-cut.
On usa swimming web. Cut off date isnjune 25th. Still early nut better than July. At least now athletes who qualified this past summer at sectionals will be able to go.