Swimming Time Standards

Triathlon Forum
1

I would be interested in seeing some swimming time standards so I have a good idea of how I’m doing, roughly. My times per 100m are slowly improving, but just relative to me and I don’t know how they relate to other swimmers. But, longer distances I think tell a better story than 100m distances. For example, I can swim 500m in just under 10 minutes, but I don’t have a clue if this is basically an amateur time, or if I’m improving to a mildly decent level.

Can someone fill me in? Might be useful for others as well as a performance gauge. I suspect untrained would basically be someone who can (or could) freestyle and is just getting back into the water after years out whereas Elite would be pro level.

100m
Untrained
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite

500m
Untrained
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite

750m
Untrained
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite

1500m
Untrained
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite

1.2 mile
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite

2.4 mile
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite

To steal from EXRX, here are the definitions I had in mind:

Untrained
Expected level of strength in a healthy individual who has not trained on the exercise before but can perform it correctly.

Novice
A person training regularly for a period of 3-9 months.

Intermediate
A person who has engaged in regular training for up to two years. The intermediate level indicates some degree of specialization in the exercises and a high level of performance at the recreational level.

Advanced
An individual with multi-year training experience with definite goals in the higher levels of competitive athletics.

Elite
Refers specifically to athletes competing in strength sports. Less than 1% of the weight training population will attain this level.

2

USA Swimming publishes a wealth of different time standards.

http://www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=1488&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en-US

They are aimed at age group swimmers and can be a bit dispiriting for adults taking up the sport later but, they are good for showing relative performance relationships between events. (and what is possible if you were to really train like the kids do). The basic motivational time standards run from AAAA to B http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/504b9a9f-d629-4114-8a9e-d730208d2015/2008MotivationalTimes-Top16.pdf AAAA is generally a national meet qualifying time, AAA would be a regional or sectional qualifying time and AA would be a state meet qualifying time.

For adults, probably the best way to see where your times fit is to check out masters swim meet results. I’m not aware of masters motivational time standards like the ones for age groupers.

3

Motivational times for adults

http://forums.usms.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=1785&d=1260709586

However for a triahlete, 10 minutes for 500 isn’t terrible. It isn’t good, but isn’t terrible.

4

If 2 min per 100 isn’t terrible, then I don’t know what is…

5

Wow, that is discouraging!

My 4 minute PR in 1650 SCY this morning would have been 10 seconds off of a BB for an 11 year old boy…

This was timely because my ego had been hovering around normal and it was time to knock it down a few thousand points.

6

Wow, that is discouraging!

My 4 minute PR in 1650 SCY this morning would have been 10 seconds off of a BB for an 11 year old boy…

This was timely because my ego had been hovering around normal and it was time to knock it down a few thousand points.

Yeah, but remember that the 11 year old boy has been swimming since he was a zygote and has less weight to pull through the water, AND has 11 year old frantic energy that you and I don’t have.

7

My 4 minute PR in 1650 SCY this morning would have been 10 seconds off of a BB for an 11 year old boy…

But that 11 year old boy is swimming 5 days a week and probably has been for 4 or 5 years and you can surely crush him on the bike and run . . . .

I wasn’t aware of the masters standards when I posted the age group ones. Those are a little less troubling :wink:

8

Yep. That confirms what I have been thinking for a while now. Somewhere between now and 1987, I lost something. It was my speed in the water.

9

My local indoor pool has the pool records by age on a wall
you walk by to get into the pool. I feel confident that I could
dominate the 6 and under division. Beyond that I’m toast :frowning:
That’s depressing.

10

I need to get my masters swim on! I’d have mostly AAAA times for my age group

11

This is strictly my opinion and based on Triathletes, not real swimmers

100m
Untrained over 3:00
Novice 2:00
Intermediate 1:30
Advanced 1:10
Elite <1:00

500m
Untrained 12:00
Novice 10:00
Intermediate 7:00
Advanced 6:00
Elite 5:00

1500m
Untrained 35:00
Novice 30:00
Intermediate 25:00
Advanced 21:00
Elite <19:00

1.2 mile
Novice over 45:00
Intermediate 38:00
Advanced 30:00
Elite well under 28:00

2.4 mile
Novice over 1:25
Intermediate 1:10
Advanced <1 hr
Elite <50
.

12

Wow, that is discouraging!

My 4 minute PR in 1650 SCY this morning would have been 10 seconds off of a BB for an 11 year old boy…

This was timely because my ego had been hovering around normal and it was time to knock it down a few thousand points.

Yeah, but remember that the 11 year old boy has been swimming since he was a zygote and has less weight to pull through the water, AND has 11 year old frantic energy that you and I don’t have.

That is true. I just saw the Master’s swim times. I feel a little bit better. I would be a solid BB in my AG for 1000 or 1650 free. I need a little more speed on the short stuff, then time to shoot for the A group!

13

Let me guess, you have a strong biking or running background?

14

Not at all. Ran track (slowly) in high school. That’s about it. As of this past weekend I’m just now at the point where I can complete a 1.2 mile swim/56 mile bike/13.1 mile run brick and it’s taken me a couple months to get there, so that’s pretty depressing. The 13.1 was actually the farthest I had ever run in my life at once.

15

I was scrolling through and thinking ‘i’m not so bad…’

then I realized I was looking at the Girls standards.

.

16

20% of the 200+ men 40-44 at the recent columbia triathlon went slower than 33 minutes for the 1650 yard swim. That’s with wetsuits.

I suppose whether top 80% is “terrible” or simply “bad” is a matter of opinion :slight_smile:

17

It’s only depressing if you compare yourself to everyone else you read about on this forum. Just remember, it’s probably less then 20%, actually probably way less then that, who are actually “racing” in a triathlon. About 80% THINK they are racing, but have no prayer to contend for anything except personal pride…AND THAT’S FINE. You need to keep some perspective. A workout that includes HIM distances is nothing to sneeze at after a few months.

Relax and enjoy.

18

Actually I have a strong biking background but I also stated that those were for triathletes and not real swimmers.

Those times are not even close for real swimmers. If that is what you are getting at then I would agree.

To get elite triathlete times all one needs to do is look at what the pro’s are swimming
OD they are swimming 17 to 18 min
HIM they are swimming mid to low 20’s
IM they are swimming high to mid 40’s

19

Yes! My daughter swam a 24+ minute 1500 meter swim as a 10 year old and placed 3rd at a local meet! At the time, I was swimming about 28+. She weighed about 90 lbs…

Really depressing stuff for old people… :slight_smile:

(Actually, I’m happy to be moving FORWARD in the water.)

-Robert

20

On that note, the age group swimming time standards are based on actual performance but the group ranges from fairly serious about swimming to outright obsessed. Most kids who don’t have at least a “B” time after 4 or 5 years of swimming either end up quitting and taking up another sport or are not swimming in USA Swimming sanctioned meets. So the time standards, partiularly in the older age groups, are based on a self selected sample of pretty serious competitiors which results in even the “slow” swimmers being pretty darn fast by normal mortal standards.