USA Swimming has released time standards for the 2021 Pro Swim Series meet, and they remain even with the US Olympic Trials time standards, albeit with a set of Bonus Standards for those athletes who are already otherwise qualified for the meet. There is also a set of yards qualifying standards for th emeet.
This comes amid a shortened PSS schedule that has seen the series reduced to 4 meets in 2021, beginning with the Pro Swim Series in Knoxville in January.
Current 2021 Pro Swim Series Schedule
- Knoxville, Tennessee – January 13-16, 2021
- San Antonio, Texas – March 3-6, 2021
- Mission Viejo, California – April 8-11, 2021
- Indianapolis, Indiana – May 12-15, 2021
This means November stops in Richmond, Virginia and Irvine, California were both canceled, though both sites will instead host meets as part of the 9-site U.S. Open series announced earlier this week .
While some coaches have expressed concern that the move is a deliberate attempt by USA Swimming to suppress the number of new Olympic Trials qualifiers, with an extra year for swimmers to hit those standards, USA Swimming Chief Operating Officer Mike Unger says that this isn’t the case.
“We debated the topic of the time standards for the Pro Swim Series, but ultimately we believe we will still have state and local health restrictions on competitions like the Pro Swim Series in 2021, and thus we had to make the decision to keep the standards faster than in the past,” Unger said. “We have to keep in mind that the central purpose of this series is to prepare our best athletes for international competition.”
In other words, USA Swimming wants the meets to remain a viable competitive outlet for top swimmers to get an opportunity to race against elite competition.
Unger also pointed out that Olympic Trials standards can be set at any USA Swimming sanctioned event, including intrasquad meets and the upcoming 9-site US Open Championships.
Unger says that there are currently 1,225 athletes qualified for the Olympic Trials, with a handful of new Trials standards having been hit since meets restarted in July. He calls this a “healthy number,” and it’s in-line with USA Swimming’s original stated goal of between 1,200 and 1,400 qualifiers.
USA Swimming has left the Olympic Trials standards intact through at least December of 2020 after the Olympic Games were postponed until 2021.
TIME STANDARDS FOR 2020 PRO SWIM SERIES
| MEN’S CUT TIME (SCY) | MEN’S CUT TIME (LCM) | EVENT | WOMEN’S CUT TIME (LCM) |
WOMEN’S CUT TIME (SCY)
|
| 19.79 | 23.19 | 50 Free | 25.99 | 22.29 |
| 43.09 | 50.49 | 100 Free | 56.29 | 48.89 |
| 1:35.59 | 1:50.79 | 200 Free | 2:01.69 | 1:45.89 |
| 4:19.39 | 3:57.29 | 400 Free | 4:16.89 | 4:43.79 |
| 9:04.99 | 8:12.99 | 800 Free | 8:48.09 | 9:48.09 |
| 15:10.09 | 15:44.89 | 1500 Free | 16:49.19 | 16:18.09 |
| 46.79 | 56.59 | 100 Back | 1:02.69 | 53.29 |
| 1:44.79 | 2:02.99 | 200 Back | 2:14.69 | 1:55.39 |
| 53.39 | 1:03.29 | 100 Breast | 1:10.99 | 1:00.69 |
| 1L58.29 | 2:17.89 | 200 Breast | 2:33.29 | 2:11.69 |
| 47.29 | 54.19 | 100 Fly | 1:00.69 | 52.99 |
| 1:45.09 | 2:01.19 | 200 Fly | 2:14.59 | 1:57.79 |
| 1:45.19 | 2:04.09 | 200 IM | 2:17.39 | 1:58.29 |
| 3:46.99 | 4:25.99 | 400 IM | 4:51.79 | 4:12.09 |
Bonus Standards
COMPARISON TO LAST YEAR’S STANDARDS
| 2019 GREENSBORO STANDARDS | 2020-2021 MEN’S CUT TIME (LCM) | EVENT (LCM) | 2020-2021 WOMEN’S CUT TIME (LCM) |
2019 GREENSBORO STANDARDS
|
| 24.29 | 23.19 | 50 Free | 25.99 | 26.89 |
| 52.89 | 50.49 | 100 Free | 56.29 | 58.19 |
| 1:55.69 | 1:50.79 | 200 Free | 2:01.69 | 2:04.99 |
| 4:05.29 | 3:57.29 | 400 Free | 4:16.89 | 4:23.79 |
| 8:33.79 | 8:12.99 | 800 Free | 8:48.09 | 9:03.49 |
| 16:14.99 | 15:44.89 | 1500 Free | 16:49.19 | 17:20.49 |
| 58.89 | 56.59 | 100 Back | 1:02.69 | 1:05.19 |
| 2:08.99 | 2:02.99 | 200 Back | 2:14.69 | 2:20.39 |
| 1:06.99 | 1:03.29 | 100 Breast | 1:10.99 | 1:13.79 |
| 2:25.79 | 2:17.89 | 200 Breast | 2:33.29 | 2:39.09 |
| 57.09 | 54.19 | 100 Fly | 1:00.69 | 1:02.99 |
| 2:07.69 | 2:01.19 | 200 Fly | 2:14.59 | 2:18.99 |
| 2:09.79 | 2:04.09 | 200 IM | 2:17.39 | 2:22.09 |
| 4:37.29 | 4:25.99 | 400 IM | 4:51.79 | 5:00.99 |
| 2019 GREENSBORO STANDARDS | 2020-2021 MEN’S CUT TIME (SCY) | EVENT (SCY) | 2020-2021 WOMEN’S CUT TIME (SCY) |
2019 GREENSBORO STANDARDS
|
| 20.79 | 19.79 | 50 Free | 22.29 | 23.39 |
| 45.39 | 43.09 | 100 Free | 48.89 | 50.69 |
| 1:39.39 | 1:35.59 | 200 Free | 1:45.89 | 1:49.29 |
| 4:30.49 | 4:19.39 | 400 Free | 4:43.79 | 4:53.09 |
| 9:25.49 | 9:04.99 | 800 Free | 9:48.09 | 10:03.59 |
| 15:46.99 | 15:10.09 | 1500 Free | 16:18.09 | 16:46.19 |
| 49.99 | 46.79 | 100 Back | 53.29 | 55.79 |
| 1:49.99 | 1:44.79 | 200 Back | 1:55.39 | 2:00.99 |
| 56.99 | 53.39 | 100 Breast | 1:00.69 | 1:03.19 |
| 2:04.59 | 1L58.29 | 200 Breast | 2:11.69 | 2:18.79 |
| 49.59 | 47.29 | 100 Fly | 52.99 | 55.39 |
| 1:51.59 | 1:45.09 | 200 Fly | 1:57.79 | 2:02.09 |
| 1:50.79 | 1:45.19 | 200 IM | 1:58.29 | 2:02.69 |
| 3:59.09 | 3:46.99 | 400 IM | 4:12.09 | 4:22.39 |
Does anyone know if USA Swimming will return to its previous time standards for the PSS as states begin to ease out of restrictions?
Hmmm… so my swimmer who won the C final at Greensboro last year as a high school junior, who thought he would make his trials cut in March before Covid canceled his sectional meet, is not invited?! He has been working his ass off for several months since then. What long course opportunities will he have now that this decision has been handed down?! As the head coach of a small club you can’t imagine how infuriating this is. And as a coach who has been very involved in LSC governance, I can’t believe USA Swimming is being so short-sighted.
I am extremely disappointed in our NGB right now and I hope that there is some sort of plan… Read more »
With COVID, travel restrictions, budget cuts and lots of teams preferring local competition, bold of them to assume more than 2 heat’s worth of people will show up in each event