Plain-English guide
Swimming Time Standards, Explained
What do B, BB, A, AA, AAA and AAAA actually mean? Here is how USA Swimming’s motivational time standards work — and how to read them without the stress.
What motivational time standards are
USA Swimming publishes a national table of benchmark times for every age group, sex, course, and event. Each event has six progressively faster levels — B through AAAA. A swimmer “achieves” a level by swimming at or under that cut in an official meet. They exist to give young swimmers concrete, reachable goals at every stage — which is why they’re called motivational standards, not qualifying standards.
The ladder, from B to AAAA
Age groups and courses matter
Every cut is specific to an age group(10 & under, 11–12, 13–14, 15–16, 17–18), a sex, and a course — the pool the meet is swum in. SCY is a 25-yard pool (most US club and school racing, September–March), SCM is a 25-meter pool, and LCM is the 50-meter Olympic pool (most summer racing). The same swimmer has different cuts in each course, so a 100 free time from a yards meet can’t be compared directly against a long-course cut.
How the standards are set
USA Swimming recalculates the motivational standards every four years, after each Olympic cycle, from national age-group performance data. The current tables cover 2024–2028 — they will not move under your swimmer mid-season.
What parents should take from them
Standards are mile markers, not verdicts. Kids grow and develop at wildly different rates, and a 10-year-old’s letter predicts very little about their swimming at 17 — the swimmers who go far are usually the ones who stayed in the sport, not the ones who collected letters earliest. The healthiest way to use the table: celebrate when a level falls, notice which events are trending, and let the swimmer own the goal. Consistency in training beats any single cut.
Look up the actual cuts
Every current cut is in our free lookup — no account, no ads:
Coaching a team? Standards check themselves.
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Get started freeFrequently asked
What does AAAA mean in swimming?
AAAA is the fastest of USA Swimming’s six motivational time-standard levels (B, BB, A, AA, AAA, AAAA). A swimmer earns a AAAA time by swimming at or under the published AAAA cut for their age group, sex, course, and event. It represents nationally exceptional age-group speed.
What is a B time in swimming?
A B time is the entry level of USA Swimming’s motivational standards — the first national benchmark a developing swimmer reaches. It is a motivation tool, not a meet requirement: a swimmer without a B time is simply earlier on the curve, not “behind.”
Are motivational standards the same as meet qualifying cuts?
No. Motivational standards are national benchmarks published by USA Swimming to give swimmers goals to chase. Meet qualifying cuts are set separately by each meet or LSC — some borrow the motivational letters (like an “A meet”), but the actual qualifying times are defined by the meet announcement, so always check that document.
Do time standards change every year?
The motivational standards are updated every four years, after each Olympic cycle. The current set covers 2024–2028, so the cuts your swimmer chases this season stay stable through the quad.
Why does my swimmer have different letters in different events?
Because every event has its own cut for each age group, sex, and course, most swimmers hold different levels in different events — a AA in the 100 free and a B in the 200 fly is completely normal and shows where training time is going.
MySwimSet is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by USA Swimming. “USA Swimming” is used here only to identify the published standards — always verify cuts against the official source.