FINA has announced the qualifying standards for the 2018 World Short Course Championships. The meet, which will be held at the end of the year in Hangzhou, China, is held every two years– the last edition was in 2016 in Windsor, Canada.
The A standards were determined based on the 16th place time at the 2016 World SC Champs. B standards were derived from A standards, but adding 3.5%. Standards listed below are in SCM.
The qualification period for the meet began in August of 2017, and it will run through November 22nd, 2018.
Read more about the qualification procedure below, courtesy of the FINA memo regarding the time standards:
If a National Federations enters only one (1) swimmer per event all swimmers entered must meet the qualifying B standard time. If two (2) swimmers are entered in the same event, both of them must meet the qualifying A standard time. Federations may enter swimmers regardless of standard time as follows: # having no swimmer qualified: two (2) men and two (2) women; * # having one (1) or two (2) swimmers qualified, additional swimmers up to a maximum of four (4) swimmers (two (2) men and two (2) women); # having three (3) swimmers qualified one (1) additional swimmer provided that both gender are represented.
* Note: Please refer to FINA Rule BL 9.3.6 and BL 9.3.6.2
BL 9.3.6 The minimum age for swimmers competing in the Olympic Games, FINA World Championships and FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) shall be the same as the minimum age for the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships: Women, 14 years of age, and Men, 15 years of age, on 31st December in the year of competition, except younger athletes may participate in these competitions if they have achieved at least the “B” Standard Entry Time in the respective event.
BL 9.3.6.2 At the World Championships, National Federations may enter swimmers who have not achieved either Standard Entry Time as follows:
a) With no swimmers who have achieved the “A” or “B” Standard Entry Time: National Federations may enter up to four (4) swimmers, two (2) men and two (2) women. b) With one (1) or two (2) swimmers who has achieved the “A” or “B” Standard Entry Time: National Federations may enter up to a maximum of four (4) swimmers (two (2) men and two (2) women), and with three (3) swimmers who have achieved the “A” or “B” Standard Entry Time, one (1) additional swimmer provided that both genders are represented. c) The swimmers who have not achieved either Standard Entry Time will only be permitted to enter up to two (2) individual events each. d) An individual entry for a swimmer without an “A” or “B” Standard Entry Time must be in an event where no other swimmer from the National Federation has been entered.
Swimmers entered without qualifying time must have participated in the National Championships of the Federation. These swimmers will be allowed to enter in two (2) different events each, but they cannot swim in the same event, p.a. 50 m Freestyle.
Are these qualifying times in SCM or LCM since there are no SCM meets available in U.S.? Thanks!
Standards listed are in SCM, as they are derived from results of the 2016 SC World Championship meet (I’ve added a note to explicitly clarify that). We’ve actually just reached out to USA Swimming to see if they have a plan for getting their athletes SCM standards, and will post an article when we hear back.