USA Swimming Extends Deadline for Scholastic All-America Program Swims

USA Swimming has extended the deadline for qualifying swims to earn a spot in the 2019-2020 Scholastic All-America program. Swimmers with the requisite GPA will now have until August 31, 2020 to hit a Winter Junior Championship qualifying time and earn the organization’s top student-athlete honor.

This is the 2nd change that has been made to the program to deal with the challenges presented by the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. A few weeks ago, USA Swimming decided to only consider grades from the fall semester, rather than the fall and spring semester, as part of the 3.5 GPA requirement.

Both moves were precipitated by the disruption to both the swimming and academic calendars in mid-March as the number of cases, and deaths, caused by the coronavirus grew rapidly in the United States.

For many athletes, the cancellation of the end of the short course season precluded them an opportunity to hit their final taper for the season. While season-ending tapers are not the same as the small intrasquad or dual meets that have been the majority of the competition since USA Swimming began sanctioning meets again in July, swimmers across the country have demonstrated that it is still possible to drop time coming out of the quarantine.

• Petter Sacca Finishes Intrasquad with 5th Best Time in 5 Swims

The USA Swimming Times & Recognition committee agreed to the latest change on Wednesday morning.

• Read more about the criteria and apply for the Scholastic All-America program here.

Full Updated Criteria

• The only method for application will be the online application on the USA Swimming Website
• Applicants will be required to have a USA Swimming account.
• Qualifying pool times for the applicant will be validated through Times on the USA Swimming website (time MUST be in SWIMS and have been achieved by August 31, 2020).
• Applicant will be required to have a TRANSCRIPT for the FIRST REPORTABLE SEMESTER (TERM) OF THE 2019-2020 academic year available for uploading to the application.
• Applicant must have been a member at the time of the swim and a current member when applying for the 2019-2020 SAA team.
• Applicant must have all application documents completed by August 31, 2020. Late applications will NOT be accepted or considered.

Academic Requirements

• Grade completion requirement – applicant must have completed 9^th, 10^th 11^th or 12^th grade

• GPA Requirement – minimum 3.5 GPA for the current academic year
  • A=4, B=3, C=2.  If numerical grades are used, the following scale will be used unless the school’s letter grade conversion is given on the transcript: A=90-100; B=80-89; C=70-79.  In calculating the GPA no rounding will be used – one decimal place only.
  • Honors, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, PLTW courses, and dual credit college level academic courses will earn one half (.5) extra Grade Point.
  • Grades for academic subjects only are calculated – history/social studies, English, mathematics, sciences, foreign languages, computer sciences, visual and performing arts if indicated as academic.
  • A grade lower than a C in an academic subject will mean automatic rejection of the applicant.  Grades for non-academic courses – art, band, orchestra, choir, home economics, health, driver education, physical education, shop, etc. and any other class marked as non-academic will not be included in the GPA calculation (unless transcript indicates ‘academic’ or AP or IB).
  • There will be no special status designation for a 4.0 GPA other than for a national champion who also has a 4.0 GPA.         

   

  Pool Requirements 

• Applicants must have swum an individual pool time equal to or faster than the 2019 Winter Junior qualifying time in any individual event during the SAA qualifying period (August 16, 2019 – August 31, 2020) with the qualifying times in SWIMS.  Only ONE time is necessary and only ONE application is necessary.
  • Disability/Para
    • Applicants must have competed in one of the following meets:
      • 2019 USA Paralympic Swimming Nationals – December 6-8, 2019, Lewisville, TX
      • 2020 Jimi Flowers Classic – January 18-19, 2020, Colorado Springs, CO
      • 2020 World Para World Series – February 14-16, 2020, Melbourne, Australia

Questions:

Eastern and Southern Zones – Anissa Kanzari, [email protected]

Central and Western Zones – Betty Kooy, [email protected]