Quick answer
To know if a swim time is good for your child's age, compare it with the official standards for their age group, gender, event and pool type. In the US, USA Swimming's motivational standards run from B (entry level) through BB, A and AA up to AAA and AAAA. For example, a 12-year-old girl who swims the 100 Free in 1:05 in a 25-yard pool is past BB (1:09.39) and 1.01 seconds from A (1:03.99). Canada has no letter levels: provincial and national meet cuts play that role.
"Is my time good?" Rafa asked me this after every single meet when she was eleven. I never had a clear answer until I sat down and figured out how swimming standards work. Once I did, everything clicked.
Here is the short version, with real numbers, so you can answer that question for your own swimmer.
What Swimming Standards Are
Swimming standards are official time benchmarks published by governing bodies like USA Swimming and Swimming Canada, and by provincial, state and regional organizations. They do three jobs:
- Benchmarks. They answer "how fast is fast?" for a given age, gender and event.
- Qualifying times. Many championship meets require a standard before a swimmer can enter.
- Goals. "Drop 1.5 seconds to reach AA in the 200 Free" is far more motivating than "swim faster."
Every standard is specific to four things:
- Age group. USA Swimming's motivational standards use 10 & under, 11–12, 13–14, 15–16 and 17–18 (and there is a single-age version too). Times get faster as swimmers age up.
- Gender. Separate tables for girls and boys.
- Event. Every stroke and distance has its own time.
- Pool type. SCY (25-yard pools), SCM (25-metre pools) and LCM (50-metre pools). Short course times are faster because of the extra turns. See what SCY, SCM and LCM mean.
Is My Swim Time Good for My Age? The 100 Free Example
Here are USA Swimming's 2024–2028 motivational standards for the 100 Free in a 25-yard pool (SCY), the event most parents ask about first.
Girls, 100 Free SCY
| Age group | B | BB | A | AA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 & under | 1:30.79 | 1:21.09 | 1:11.49 | 1:08.29 |
| 11–12 | 1:14.69 | 1:09.39 | 1:03.99 | 1:01.39 |
| 13–14 | 1:10.99 | 1:05.89 | 1:00.89 | 58.29 |
| 15–16 | 1:08.79 | 1:03.79 | 58.89 | 56.49 |
| 17–18 | 1:08.09 | 1:03.19 | 58.39 | 55.89 |
Boys, 100 Free SCY
| Age group | B | BB | A | AA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 & under | 1:27.99 | 1:18.89 | 1:09.79 | 1:06.79 |
| 11–12 | 1:11.49 | 1:06.39 | 1:01.29 | 58.69 |
| 13–14 | 1:04.99 | 1:00.29 | 55.69 | 53.39 |
| 15–16 | 1:01.99 | 57.59 | 53.19 | 50.99 |
| 17–18 | 1:00.29 | 55.99 | 51.69 | 49.59 |
Source: USA Swimming 2024–2028 Motivational Standards, age group version (PDF). AAA and AAAA are faster still; they are in the same PDF.
Notice how much the bar moves: a 1:05 is a BB-plus swim for an 11–12 girl but below B for a 15–16 boy. That is why "is 1:05 good?" has no answer without age, gender and pool type. For more events and single-age tables, see what is a good swim time for my child's age.
What the Levels Mean
USA Swimming presents these as motivational goals, not official labels. As a rough guide for parents:
| Level | Roughly what it looks like |
|---|---|
| B / BB | Competing regularly and building skills |
| A | A solid age group swimmer, often the entry to many championship meets |
| AA | Strong at the regional level |
| AAA / AAAA | Among the faster swimmers in the country for that age |
Exact meet entry times vary: your LSC's championship meet publishes its own cuts. Every level is real progress, and how long each step takes varies a lot from swimmer to swimmer. Treat standards as markers on a long path, not a pass/fail test.
How It Works in Canada
Swimming Canada does not use letter levels. Its national standards are qualifying times for named meets: the Canadian Open and the Canadian Swimming Trials (Senior, Junior and a U Sports route). Below that, the provincial sections (Swim BC, Swim Ontario, Swim Alberta, the Quebec Swimming Federation and the others) and the regional championships (Western Region and East Coast) publish their own age-group cuts.
For most Canadian age groupers, the provincial championship cut is the first big milestone. The full picture is in our Swimming Canada standards guide. For the US side in more depth (Sectionals, Futures, Junior Nationals), see the USA Swimming time standards guide.
Why Context Matters More Than the Label
- Age within the group. A swimmer who just turned 11 is racing the same cuts as one about to turn 13.
- Training phase. Mid-season times, swum tired, are usually slower than taper times.
- Pool type. Always compare SCY with SCY, LCM with LCM.
- Growth. Kids mature at different ages, and that reshuffles an age group quickly.
Never compare standard achievements across age groups. The only comparison that matters is your swimmer against their own past times.
How to Check Where Your Swimmer Stands
By hand: find the right PDF, find the age group, event and pool type, compare, subtract, and repeat for every event.
In Gophin: the Standards page lets you browse official qualifying times by organization, age group, gender, season and pool type. Compare → Standards goes further: it puts your swimmer's best official time next to the standard in every event, with the exact gap and colour coding (met or not yet). Gophin holds 60+ official time standards from the US, Canada and Brazil.
The Standards page: official qualifying times by organization and age group.
Check your swimmer's times against age-group standards
Compare → Standards: your swimmer's time, the standard and the gap, event by event.
Our standards comparison tutorial walks through every step.
Standards Are Guideposts, Not Verdicts
Every swimmer's journey is different. Standards do not define a swimmer; they show the next step. What matters most is steady progress in the same event and pool type over time.
When you want to see that next step for every event at once, open Compare → Standards in Gophin. Free.
