Power Points and Move-up Requirements

Power Points and Move-up Requirements

Overarching Wave Philosophies and Ideas We strive to be a Meritocracy Competition and Meets are Important Group Advancement needs to be Difficult Swimmers Best Strokes can Change

Overarching Wave Philosophies and Meritocracy: Ideas A system in which advancement is based on individual ability or achievement. We want to give the swimmers concrete objectives to strive for in a variety of ways to help move them forward in the sport of swimming. Having published move-up requirements is a big part of this.

Overarching Wave Philosophies and Ideas Competition/Meets are Important Healthy Competition Pushing beyond comfort zone and discovering new boundaries The reason we have practice in the first place

Overarching Wave Philosophies and Ideas Group Advancement needs to be Difficult Two main reasons for this: 1. We don t have room for everyone in any one group 2. The more homogenous each group is in terms of speed and ability, the better the group can train.

Overarching Wave Philosophies and Ideas Swimmers Best Strokes can Change Most often, best strokes occur because of how a swimmer floats in the water- a function of their natural buoyancy, limb length, density, etc. This changes as they grow and develop. Age group swimmers need to be well rounded- or prepared for this to happen. Best strokes can also change as new skills are developed

Overarching Wave Philosophies and Ideas Move-up Requirements Reflect Previous Ideas: Posted and updated so kids can see how they are progressing Based primarily on meet results Bar is set fairly high providing a challenge for most kids Requirements are IM based- forcing kids to learn and be competent in all four strokes

A Few More Items to Keep in Mind 1. Coaches want to do the best by each individual swimmer on the team 2. Wave as a team has grown from ~130 to over 200 swimmers within the past 2 years 3. Wave as a competitive team is an evolving entity. We will continue to look at how things are working and what we can do to improve as we move forward.

IM READY (IMR) The first step in the IMX Challenge is IM Ready (or IMR). To get "IM Ready," swimmers compete in a series of five events at shorter distances. Below, we've listed the line-up by age groups. 9 & Under; 10-year olds: 100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SC) or 200 IM (LC) 11-year olds; 12-year olds: 200 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SC) or 200 IM (LC) 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, & 18-year olds: 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM Once you've swum each event at least once at an official meet, you can log-in to your USA Swimming Account, and find out where you rank against all the other swimmers on your club team.

IM XTREME (IMX) Ready to move forward? The next step is IM Xtreme (IMX). The IMX ranking includes a series of five or six events at longer distances. Once you've completed the IMX program, you can find out where your IMX score ranks nationally, within your zone, within your LSC rank and on your club. 9 & Under; 10-year olds: 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM 11-year olds; 12-year olds: 400 Free (LC) or 500 Free (SC), 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, & 18-year olds: 400 Free (LC) or 500 Free (SC), 200 Back, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 200 IM, 400 IM

+ HOW DO I SCORE POINTS? Rankings in the program are based on power points, a system developed by USA Swimming and Hy-Tek. See the Power Points page for more information and to use the Power Point Calculator. Wave Power Points uses the IM Ready and IM Xtreme events

What are Power Points? Points assigned to swimmers performance based on age, speed and gender.

What Are Power Points? HY-TEK POWER POINTS - WHAT IT IS Every swim listed in the USA Swimming times database includes a Hy-Tek Power Point value. This point system allows for comparison of the quality of performances across strokes, distances and events, as well as between age groups. HOW IT WORKS The power point scale ranges from 1 to 1100 points. The higher the points, the stronger you are in that event. We use these points to rank you and your club in our IM Ready, IMX and Virtual Club Championships programs.

What Are Power Points? WHY USE IT AS A SWIMMER Ever wonder how your long course times compare to your short course times? Wonder no more. Comparing your season swims is just one way Hy-Tek Power Points can be of use to you. So you re pretty decent in your events across the board, but you want to know which events are stronger for you on a national scale. Use Hy-Tek power points! For example, you can compare your score in the 100 back vs. the 200 back or across several freestyle distances such as the 100, 200, and 400. Look at the strength of one stroke vs. another stroke. For example, compare your freestyle to your breaststroke. Determine the quality of you short course vs. long course swims. This comparison is a great way to measure progress from the end of the short course season through the long course season.

What Are Power Points WHY USE IT AS A COACH Hy-tek power points aren t only for swimmers. Coaches can also use the system to motivate their swimmers, evaluate progress and more. Read below for ideas on how you can take advantages of the power point system. Evaluate relative performance over different maturation periods (i.e. 11-12 boys vs. 13-14 boys or 11-12 girls). Evaluate effectiveness of training or taper by looking at point improvement across different strokes and distances. Facilitate fun intra-squad competitions between age groups at your club program. For example, create a competition between your 11-12 girls vs. 15-16 boys. 200 free results can be ranked by points as opposed to times. With power points, you can award a Performance of the Meet (highest point score) or Most Improved Swim (greatest number of points improvement) or similar type acknowledgements after each swim meet.

What Are Power Points? Being able to compare power points from year to year is helpful. Take Hamza for example. At the end of his 9 year old year, he had 1019 power points. And now, not quite half way through his 10 year old year he is at 1115. Yes, he has gotten faster as any growing boy should, but we know as coaches that he gotten comparatively faster and is on his way to making the needed power points to move to the next group.

Gold Group Overall Top 25 Rank Points Event Time Name 1 675 50 Fly 29.17 Emily Birrell 2 673 100 Breast 1:07.59 Jason Sukigara 3 643 200 Breast 2:28.92 Jason Sukigara 4 621 50 Free 28.53 Ryan Pilkington 621 50 Breast 34.86 Felicia Truong 6 620 50 Free 27.35 Julia Andersson 7 605 200 Breast 2:44.00 Emily Birrell 605 50 Back 32.91 Keane Suen 9 603 100 Fly 1:06.70 Emily Birrell 603 200 Breast 2:44.14 Felicia Truong 11 590 50 Free 25.66 Fisher Munro 12 588 50 Free 29.02 Tym Merchel 13 587 50 Free 24.73 Seth Birrell 587 100 Breast 1:16.22 Felicia Truong 15 585 100 Fly 1:10.64 Ryan Pilkington 16 579 100 Back 1:11.49 Keane Suen 17 574 50 Free 26.61 Kristy Chiang 18 573 200 Back 2:35.59 Tym Merchel 19 566 50 Fly 30.81 Julia Andersson 566 1650 Free 21:50.55 Keane Suen 21 558 100 Free 55.86 Fisher Munro 558 100 Free 1:03.15 Ryan Pilkington 23 549 200 Back 2:37.36 Keane Suen 24 547 200 IM 2:34.96 Keane Suen 547 50 Breast 37.93 Tym Merchel

Are Power Points Fair? Detractors: Not fair because older kids are held to different standards (times) than younger kids. Counter-Argument: Older kids have had more time to develop mentally, physically and technically. They should be expected to be faster.

11-12 Girls B BB A AA AAA AAAA 34.29 31.89 29.49 28.29 27.09 25.99 1:13.59 1:08.29 1:03.09 1:00.49 57.79 55.19 13-14 Girls B BB A AA AAA AAAA 33.39 30.99 28.69 27.49 26.29 25.09 1:12.49 1:07.39 1:02.19 59.59 56.99 54.39 11-12 Boys B BB A AA AAA AAAA 33.39 30.99 28.59 27.39 26.19 25.09 1:13.09 1:07.89 1:02.69 59.99 57.39 54.79 13-14 Boys B BB A AA AAA AAAA 30.69 28.49 26.29 25.19 24.09 22.99 1:06.99 1:02.19 57.39 55.09 52.69 50.29

USA Swimming BB Times PNS Gold Times 1:21.59 10 & Under Girls 1:20.69 1:08.29 11-12 Girls 1:11.79 1:07.39 13-14 Girls 1:07.19 1:05.79 15-16 Girls 1:05.89

Are Power Points Fair? They change from age to age to reflect athlete s improvements as they grow, mature and develop the skills and fitness to swim faster. This is no different than time standards. Are they unfair?

Are Power Points Fair? Asking for a point total allows for flexibility: Jason Sukigara Time Points Last Swam 500 Free 6:10.36 239 1/15/2011 200 Back 2:18.29 505 3/26/2011 200 Breast 2:28.92 643 3/18/2011 200 Fly 2:44.79 162 1/16/2011 200 IM 2:17.10 538 3/18/2011 400 IM 5:03.26 470 2/26/2011 Total= 2557

Do Power Points Work for Everyone? No: Scaled so that some swimmers can drop large chunks of time but not gain any points. Example: 12 Year old boys- anything slower than 1:21.52 is worth only 1 point.

Do Power Points Work for Everyone? Some swimmers need a different set of standards to provide them with goals and motivation. Proposal: Swimmers earn points for practice attendance, meet attendance and best times at meets. Point totals are published on website and in weekly updates.

Does that mean requirements are changing? No or at least not right now. We are working on development of the program for next year. There will be changes. Objective is to find a place for everyone, but keeping in mind ideas of: Homogenous groups (age, speed, ability) Meritocracy- kids have to earn their way by reaching for published objectives

Next Year Using meet results from this year, place kids into most appropriate groups Challenge is to figure out where kids are and set the bar giving them something to strive for where they can see measurable progress towards that. Move-up Requirements will use different criteria depending on the group.