Quick answer
Set short course goals from last short course season, not from a long course time. Pick one or two events, aim at the next official cut, and check the gap after each meet. Gophin (free) keeps the goal visible: Compare → Standards shows the gap to the cut, Compare → Seasons shows the trend.
Short course season is the long haul of the year, roughly September to March. In Canada that means SCM (25-metre pools). In the United States it mostly means SCY (25-yard pools). Either way, September is when families ask the same question: what should we actually aim at before the winter championships?
A useful goal is specific, in one course, and checkable. "Get faster" is not a goal. "Drop the 100 Free SCY from 1:05.89 to the A cut" is.
Start from last short course season
Pull last winter's best times in the same course. A long course 100 Free from July is a different race. Keep SCM, SCY and LCM apart. Gophin's Best Times already splits personal bests by course, so nothing gets mixed.
If you need a refresher on the three pool codes, see what SCY, SCM and LCM mean.
Aim at a cut, not a round number
Official standards (B, BB, A, AA, plus championship cuts) give you a mark the whole team already understands. A 12-year-old girl chasing A in the 100 Free SCY is chasing 1:04.09 (USA Swimming's 2024–2028 single-age standards), not "break 1:05." Good swim times by age has the B through AA tables. In Canada, the provincial championship time is usually the first target; see the Swimming Canada standards guide.
Open Compare → Standards in Gophin
Pick the standard that matches your target meet (USA Swimming, Swimming Canada or your province) and each event shows how far your swimmer is from the cut. It is free.
One or two events, not eight
Championship meets have a full program, and a swimmer may race several events. The season goal should sit on the one or two that matter most for the target meet. Everything else is supporting work. Coaches already know this. Parents get calmer when the family is not tracking eight different "must hit" times.
- Write last season's best in the goal event, same course.
- Write the next cut (BB, A, a provincial time, a Junior cut).
- Write the gap in seconds. That is the season project.
- After each meet, check whether the gap shrank. Ignore one noisy prelim.
Check the trend, not one Saturday
Mid-season meets are usually swum unrested. A time 0.8 seconds slower than last championship does not mean the goal is dead. Compare → Seasons in Gophin puts this winter next to last winter so you see the shape, not the panic. The Compare → Seasons tutorial walks through it, and taper explained covers why the fast swims come at the end.
If the gap is growing for two months in the same course, that is a conversation with the coach. If it is bouncing around a tenth, you are still in the work.
The Bottom Line
Short course goals live in one pool length, point at a published cut, and get checked after meets without a spreadsheet. Open Compare → Seasons in Gophin after each meet and let the official results update the picture for you. Free.
