Within the swimming world there are a lot of goals to be made, most of them revolve around getting certain times in events. USA Swimming categorizes their "time standards" using part of the alphabet and all are based on age groups (9/10, 11/12, 13/14). So as you swim throughout the year you can set goals based on earning these times; the first cut is a B cut, then the next fastest is a BB, then A, AA, AAA. That doesn't even include the time standards set forth by your own LSC (Local Swimming Chapter- ours is Ohio)… those are times set per chapter to earn you a spot in the Junior Olympics twice a year. So anyway… my point is there are goals to be reached to keep swimmers motivated!
When you achieve a AAA cut, that is called a "zone" cut. That means you qualify for the Zone Meet set up through USA Swimming where you compete no longer for your specific team, but rather for your LSC (again, Ohio). The meet is described best by this bit of info I found online:
Central Zone Championship Meet
The USA Central Zone Championships is an All-Star format held each August where athletes represent their Local Swimming Chapters (LSCs). There are sixty LSC’s in the country organized into four (4) USA-Swimming Zones – Central, Eastern, Western, and Southern. Ohio is one of fifteen (15) Local Swimming Chapters (LSCs) in the Central Zone.
The Zone Championships is the highest level of age group swimming conducted by USA-Swimming. Starting in 2009, the Central Zone Championships were split into three (3) meets: two (2) Age Group meets (10-Un, 11-12, and 13-14) and one Senior Meet (15 & over). The Age Group meet offers prelim/finals for all ages groups, swimmers can compete in up to six (6) Individual Events, and stroke 200s are offered for the 11-12s. The Senior Meet offers prelim/finals for 15-18 and swimmers can compete in up to six (6) Individual Events.
So there are four zones in the US. Team Ohio is part of the Central Zone and travels somewhere in the midwest each summer to compete against other LCS (or states). It's a big deal. :) This year, Max qualified!!! His first qualifying event was the 100 fly in Dec. 2014 at Miami University. Once he got it we were like "woohoo, we are going to Kansas!" (where the meet was to be held in summer 2015)
In January, he dropped a gazillion seconds in the 200 IM in Indianapolis and qualified for that as well. Ok it was 8 seconds but in swimming that might as well have been a gazillion. In February he decided he wanted to try to go for the 500 free zone cut, even though he was 24 seconds off. Guess what? He got it! Swam a 6:05 and earned that cut by three seconds. He was super disappointed to learn they don't offer the 500 free at zones for 9/10 year olds though! Poo! Why have the time cut then?
Long course started and he swam great all season. At the Junior Olympics at Miami he earned two more zone cuts: the 200 free and the 100 free. No one was expecting that! He was headed to Kansas with 5 cuts!
The meet was amazing. He got to represent Team Ohio with the best swimmers from our state. It was a truly wonderful experience for him after a year of super hard work. He swam great, made new friends, got to stay in a hotel (!!), and had a memorable time. While there you could hire a photographer to snap photos of your child swimming. Only two per heat were able to be photographed so it was a rush to get your child signed up. I got Max signed up for the 200 IM event because that would capture all four strokes. We plan on making canvases for his room to commemorate a great year! Here are several from the week…
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