What are some of the differences between YMCA and USA swimming?
• USAS spreads its events over a 2-3 day period, with distance events swum on a weekday evening, and the other events swum on Saturday and Sunday. You are not required to attend every day. Some choose a day that fits best into their schedule and choose from the events offered that day; others select specific events which may require attending the meet on different days. • For USAS, your age group is determined differently than in YMCA – you swim in the age group where your age on the first day of a meet places you. For example, in YMCA swimming, you may be 11 but still swimming with the 9-10 year olds because of the YMCA cut-off date. in USAS, if you are 11 years old, you swim with the 11 year olds. As in YMCA swimming, you may “swim up”, but you must do so for the entire meet. • USAS categorizes swimmers based on their best time in a given event. Swimmers range from “B” to “AAAA”, depending on their times. USAS meets (other than “Open” meets) may require qualifying times in each event
