Qualifying for the MT State Championship Meet

Swimmers age 9 and older must achieve at least one “BB” time within the qualifying time period in order to qualify for the MT State Championship.  Once one “BB” is achieved, the swimmer can also enter any “B” times achieved during the same period. This is true regardless of whether the times were achieved during Long Course or Short Course. To see the time standards by age, gender, and course you can refer to the 2024-2028 National Age Group Motivational Times published by USA Swimming (USAS).

Additionally,

• Distance Freestyle Events: Swimmers wishing to swim 400/500 Free, 800/1000 Free or 1500/1650 Free events at MT State Championship must qualify with a "BB" time.  Note: the 400 IM may be a bonus event with a "B" time.

• A qualifying time in the 1650 free (SCY) automatically qualifies the swimmer for the 1500 free (LCM), and vice versa.  The same relationship applies to the 1000 free (SCY) and 800 free (LCM).  In addition, in SCY, qualifying in the 1650 free automatically qualifies the swimmer for the 1000 free, and vice versa.  And the same relationship applies to the 1500 free and 800 free in LCM.

• USAS does not list motivational times for the 50 back, 50 breast or 50 fly for swimmers 13&over.  Swimmers ages 13-21 can qualify in these events by swimming the times detailed here.  Alternately, a “BB” qualifying time in the 100 back, 100 breast, or 100 fly automatically qualifies for the 50 event of the same stroke; however, a qualifying time in the 50 event does not automatically qualify for the 100 event of the same stroke. 

• All bonus events must be entered with a provable time achieved during the qualifying time period. No time (NT) entries will not be accepted for entry purposes at the Montana Swimming Short Course Championships and Montana Swimming Long Course Championships.

Swimmers age 8 and under have their own qualifying times separate from the USAS Motivational Times, which are listed here. Swimmers must achieve the qualifying time in at least one event to qualify for the MT State Championship.  Once qualified in one event, swimmers may enter up to five (5) bonus events.