2012 USA Swimming Rule Book

205.2
205.2 ELIGIBILITY
.1 Eligibility to compete in a particular age group shall be determined by the swimmer’s date
(not hour) of birth.
.2 Age on the first day of the meet shall determine the swimmer’s age for the entire meet
except as follows:
A In a preliminaries and finals meet, when the preliminaries are separated from the finals
by more than two days, swimmers shall compete at the age they are on the first day of
the finals.
B In a timed finals meet that covers more than one weekend, swimmers shall compete at
the age they are on the first day of each continuous session of the meet.
.3 When an Age Group Meet is scheduled over two weekends the younger age groups must
compete on the first weekend.
.4 A swimmer must compete in the age group events corresponding to the swimmer’s age,
except when competing in consolidated events (102.1.4), mixed classification meets
(102.2.8), and in events combined by the Referee (102.7.2).
.5 USA Swimming Group Members may establish their own age group eligibility requirements
for seasonal closed competition. Times achieved in competition conducted under different
age group eligibility rules shall be recognized as official USA Swimming times only if
achieved in conformance with 205.2.1 and .2.
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205.3 PROGRAM AND EVENTS
.1 In order to promote maximum achievement and recognition, competition may be separated
by age, gender and level of ability. Meets and/or events shall be structured by the LSC to
assure fair competition.
A Age Group swimming competition shall be conducted in conformance with the USA
Swimming Technical Rules.
B USA Swimming shall establish and publish national motivational times for the recognized
events in 102.1.2.
C An LSC may establish its own age group time standards for use within its jurisdiction or
may sanction competition without any entry time requirements.
D Only swimmers whose best times correspond to the event’s time standard for their age
shall be eligible to participate in the particular event.
E Age Group meets may be designated by ability classifications.
F With the exception of championship meets, the program in all other age group competition
shall be planned to allow the events for swimmers 12 years and younger to be completed
in four (4) hours or less for a timed finals session or in a total of eight (8) hours or
less per day for a preliminaries and finals meet.
.2 Programs for Age Group meets and/or those of mixed classification may be tailored to meet
local requirements and conditions. Recommended events are those listed in 102.1.2. An
LSC, at its option, may open its oldest Age Group at any competition to Post Age Group
swimmers. Dual meets between clubs and LSCs are encouraged.
2012 Rules & Regulations 67