High School Meet Progression: Sectionals, Districts, States

There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding the meet format and qualifying to the next level of high school swim meets.  It is hoped that this will help you understand how the system works.

We will use one of our former BKYS swimmers, Taylor McCabe to demonstrate how the progression works.  First, here are some background facts that you need to know to understand how to qualify to the next level:

OCC's - timed finals; has nothing to do with Sectional or District meets

Sectionals - timed finals; everyone swims (teams are limited to 4 entries per event); ONE person advances from each Sectional (3 spots - Marysville, Worthington, UA) to Districts - the remaining 27 spots are "at-large" qualifiers based solely on time (you could be third at your Sectional and not advance to Districts).  Seeded with your season best time.  If you advance to Districts, you will be seeded with your time swum at Sectionals.

Districts - 30 swimmers per event; timed finals; seeded with time swum at Sectionals; the 3 automatics from sectionals (1 from each of the above mentioned sites) are combined with the 27 at-large qualifiers based on times from Sectionals.  The 30 swimmers at Districts are swimming to qualify for States - TWO automatic qualifiers advance from each of 4 districts leaving 16 "at-large" spots for states based solely on time.

States - 24 swimmers per event; prelims (Friday) / finals (Saturday) for the top 16; seeded with times swum at Districts

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Now, let’s look at Taylor’s progression in the 100 Breaststroke:

Season Best (entry time for Sectionals):  1:11.62

Time at Sectionals:  1:10.00 (seeded 8th / 6th place finish).  Only the first and second place swimmers automatically advanced to Districts (1:07.14 / 1:07.97) so Taylor was competing for one of the 27 “at-large” spots.  Here are the other times from the Sectional meets:

Place	Worthington	Upper Arlington	Col. Academy	Athens	Overall Ranking / Seeding	Place at Districts	Time swum at Districts (TIMED FINALS)
1	1:07.14-A	1:09.37-A	No D1 Teams	1:22.03	1:07.14-A	3	1:05.25
2	1:07.97-A	1:09.42-A			1:07.97-A	2	1:05.18-A
3	1:09.02	1:09.57			1:09.02	4	1:06.02 – QAL
4	1:09.41	1:09.62			1:09.37-A	1	1:04.98-A
5	1:09.67	1:10.73			1:09.41-A	7	1:07.07
6	1:10.00*	1:11.23			1:09.42	8	1:07.27
7	1:11.65	1:11.55			1:09.57	10	1:08.89
8	1:14.23	1:12.26			1:09.62	9	1:07.62
9	1:14.54	1:12.59			1:09.67	11	1:09.55
10	1:14.72	1:12.73			1:10.00*	6	1:06.94 – QAL
11	1:14.81	1:13.04			1:10.73	5	1:06.41 – QAL
12	1:15.64	1:13.21			1:10.94
13	1:16.47	1:13.31			1:10.98
14	1:16.67	1:14.50			1:11.23
15	1:17.59	1:16.29			1:11.55
16	1:17.83	1:18.16			1:11.65
17					1:12.26
18					1:12.59
19					1:12.73
20					1:13.04
21					1:13.11
22					1:13.14
23					1:13.21
24					1:13.31
25					1:14.23
26					1:14.50
27					1:14.54
28					1:14.72
29					1:14.81
30					1:15.64

A= Automatic Qualifier (last year was top 2 – the addition of Marysville decreases that to 1 for each Sectional meet); QAL – Qualified At Large for States

Time at Districts: 1:06.94 (seeded 10th / 6th place finish). Only the first and second place swimmers automatically advanced to States (1:04.98 / 1:05.18) so Taylor was competing for one of the 16 “at-large” spots. Here are the other times from the District meets:

Now let’s look at qualifying to States:

Place	Central / Southeast (3)	Southwest (4)	Northwest (1)	Northeast (5)	Overall Ranking / Seeding @ States
1	1:04.98 - A	1:04.58 - A	1:04.39 - A	1:03.84- A	1:03.84 - A
2	1:05.18 - A	1:04.60 - A	1:05.36 – QAL	1:06.51 - A	1:04.32 - A
3	1:05.25 – A	1:04.91 – A	1:06.32 – QAL	1:07.37 - A	1:04.58 - A
4	1:06.02 – QAL	1:05.16 – A	1:07.40 – QAL	1:07.59 - A	1:04.60 - A
5	1:06.41 – QAL	1:05.43 – QAL	1:11.11	1:07.91 - A	1:04.91 - A
6	1:06.94 – QAL	1:05.48 – QAL			1:04.98 - A
7	1:07.07 – QAL	1:06.84 – QAL			1:05.16 - A
8	1:07.27 – QAL	1:07.64			1:05.18 - A
9	1:07.62				1:05.25 - A
10	1:08.21				1:05.43
11					1:05.48
12					1:05.86
13					1:06.02
14					1:06.32
15					1:06.41
16					1:06.51 - A
17					1:06.84
18					1:06.94*
19					1:07.07
20					1:07.27
21					1:07.37 - A
22					1:07.40
23					1:07.59 - A
24					1:07.91 - A

Times in Italics indicate who would have qualified on a straight time basis

Exam Week Schedule

 

Some of you have asked if you could switch your high school practice day or your day off this week due to exams.  The answer is “Yes.”  Please adjust your schedule to allow you to study for your exams.  Academics is more important to the coaches than your attendance at every practice.  You will do better on your exams, be more focused at school and at the pool, and accomplish more in the long run by adjusting your schedule to accommodate your exam schedule.

Remember that you are always welcome to attend practice and bring homework / study materials for before or after practice (and swim for a shorter time period).

Superpower Energy Bars for School Days and Work Days

From Chow.com

Here are some great snack bars that you can make to have after school, after practice, and at meets.  These are a great way to get something that staves off your hunger, provides some fuel, and raises your blood sugar to allow you to feel revived enough to keep going.

 

Once you get to the recipe page, click on the picture of the bar that you think sounds good and it will take you to the recipe and instructions.

Recipes here