At least A times in every event. |
Honestly, find a house in a school district that you like and then pick a Club that has practices nearby. |
Honestly you might find that some tops clubs in Nova wouldn’t consider your swimmer for their most elite practice groups without multiple AA and some AAA times. Definitely reach out to coaches and discuss your swimmer’s times and set up some visits with different clubs so you can try them out and see how your swimmer connects with certain coaches and feels about the workouts. |
+1 I would say if your swimmer has mostly A times they probably will not be considered for a high performance/elite group unless perhaps they JUST turned 11 and have AA+ in best events. If they are already 12 most elite groups are going to be full of kids at the AA-AAAA level in all events. |
Such a typical DCUM response. ![]() No, not all kids in "high performance" groups have AA-AAAA times. We swim for machine and HP for kids who are 11-12 does not mean kids have to have AA-AAAA times. Maybe name designation varies varies by club but I can't imagine most clubs have such a large number of kids with top times. |
+1 They're all similar. Since you're going to be practicing a lot, do the one that's closest to home. |
+1 Not to mention that OP never said her DC has "mostly A times" or doesn't have "multiple AA or AAA" times. They said the swimmer has at least A times in all events. Also, please tell me more about all these elite PVS groups where the 12-year-olds are "full of kids with AAAA times in ALL events". |
I have a 12 year old in a high performance group at NCAP and it’s crazy to suggest that you need to be AAA/AAAA across the board to get into those groups. 13-14 is the mark where kids really start being separated into differing groups by times, with time standards/QTs that need to be achieved for entry. I know swimmers at Machine that are in one of the groups labeled high performance that barely have B cuts. |
NP - I'm the parent of a just turned 13 year old in one of Machine's HP groups, who has B/BB times. She's making excellent progress and having a great time. Plenty of kids in her group are in the same boat. At least there, HP is more about the kind of training they do, taking that training seriously, and pushing themselves in competitions. We're glad for it! |
This is a good way to describe it. For a lot of 12 and under high performance groups it is about ability and willingness to do the training and commitment to the sport just as much as it is about times. The switch to straight times dictating placements in high level groups occurs at 13-14. Those are the groups where a swimmer will need QTs for high level meets (NCSAs, Sectionals and the like) and AAA/AAAA times in their best events. Although there is no expectation that swimmers are AAA/AAAA across the board. If say breaststroke is your bread and butter, no one really cares if you aren’t outstanding at distance free. |
Exactly. They don't exist. There are less than 5 11-12 boys in all of PVS that are doing AAAA times in ANY events. There are zero doing AAAA in every event. There are roughly 30 doing AA+ in most events. |
+1 DD is 12 and has mostly A times with a couple of AAs. She's not the fastest in her "high performance" group, but only 1-2 of the other girls at 12 have any AAA or AAAA times. Also, as a PP explained (or more than one PP), the keys to success in swimming at age 12+ are dedication to the sport, maximum effort during practices, dialed-in nutrition, and plenty of rest (sleep). |
The post never said AAAA in every event. ![]() |
AA+ = AA-AAAA. Work on your reading skills. |
DP, but see the bolded. |