FINA Announces Qualifying Standards for London 2012

Posted on November 25, 2010, in International News, News, with 12 Comments
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FINA has posted the 2012 Olympic Times standards, along with a comparison of the qualifying marks versus the last 4 Olympic Games.

In general, the women’s standards have dropped much more than the men’s, which parallels the world of swimming where advancement in the female side of the sport seems to be slightly outpacing the men’s.

For convenience, I have highlighted this year’s standard in blue.

Olympic qualifying guide:

The “Olympic Qualifying Times” is equivalent to the NCAA “A” Time Standard. Swimmers who achieve this time at an official FINA qualifying event (which begin January 1, 2012) automatically qualify for the Olympics, with the caveat that each National Federation may only send two competitors per event, assuming both have the automatic OQT.

If a Nation does not have two swimmers in an event with the OQT, they may enter one swimmer with either an automatic Olympic Qualifying Time, or a provisional FINA/Olympic Invitational Time, which is similar to an NCAA “B” cut. Once all automatically qualified swimmers have been entered into the meet, FINA will begin to invite provisional qualifiers until they have reached the assigned quota of 900 total swimmers (including relay-only swimmers). These swimmers will be invited in order of the number of FINA Points that their qualifying time is worth.

If you have any questions about the qualifying, please post them below, and we can discuss!

Women’s standards

Women		Olympic Qualifying Times	Difference	FINA/Olympic Invitation Times	Difference
50 Freestyle	2000	25.97		27.27
	2004	25.64	0.33	26.92	0.35
	2008	25.43	0.21	26.32	0.60
	2012	25.27	0.16	25.76	0.56
100 Freestyle	2000	56.03		58.83
	2004	55.58	0.45	58.36	0.47
	2008	55.24	0.34	57.17	1.19
	2012	54.57	0.67	56.54	0.63
200 Freestyle	2000	2:01.02		2:07.07
	2004	2:00.07	0.95	2:06.07	1.00
	2008	1:59.29	0.78	2:03.47	2.60
	2012	1:58.33	0.96	2:02.68	0.79
400 Freestyle	2000	4:13.81		4:26.50
	2004	4:11.60	2.21	4:24.18	2.32
	2008	4:11.26	0.34	4:20.05	4.13
	2012	4:09.35	1.91	4:19.68	0.37
800 Freestyle	2000	8:40.31		9:06.33
	2004	8:36.94	3.37	9:02.79	3.54
	2008	8:35.98	0.96	8:54.04	8.75
	2012	8:33.84	2.14	8:54.04	0.00
100 Backstroke	2000	1:03.25		1:06.41
	2004	1:02.42	0.83	1:05.54	0.87
	2008	1:01.70	0.72	1:03.86	1.68
	2012	1:00.82	0.88	1:03.11	0.75
200 Backstroke	2000	2:14.52		2:21.25
	2004	2:13.58	0.94	2:20.26	0.99
	2008	2:12.73	0.85	2:17.38	2.88
	2012	2:10.84	1.89	2:15.52	1.86
100 Breaststroke	2000	1:10.21		1:13.72
	2004	1:09.85	0.36	1:13.34	0.38
	2008	1:09.01	0.84	1:11.43	1.91
	2012	1:08.49	0.52	1:09.98	1.45
200 Breaststroke	2000	2:29.91		2:37.41
	2004	2:28.21	1.70	2:35.62	1.79
	2008	2:28.21	0.00	2:33.40	2.22
	2012	2:26.89	1.32	2:32.15	1.25
100 Butterfly	2000	1:00.71		1:03.71
	2004	59.67	1.04	1:02.65	1.06
	2008	59.35	0.32	1:01.43	1.22
	2012	58.70	0.65	1:00.87	0.56
200 Butterfly	2000	2:13.05		2:19.70
	2004	2:11.20	1.85	2:17.76	1.94
	2008	2:10.84	0.36	2:15.42	2.34
	2012	2:08.95	1.89	2:14.00	1.42
200 I.M.	2000	2:16.75		2:23.59
	2004	2:15.27	1.48	2:22.03	1.56
	2008	2:15.27	0.00	2:19.97	2.06
	2012	2:13.36	1.91	2:16.98	2.99
400 I.M	2000	4:47.55		5:01.93
	2004	4:46.42	1.13	5:00.74	1.19
	2008	4:45.08	1.34	4:55.06	5.68
	2012	4:41.75	3.33	4:52.59	2.47

Men’s standards

Men		Olympic Qualifying Times	Difference	FINA/Olympic Invitation Times	Difference
50 Freestyle	2000	22.75		23.89
	2004	22.51	0.24	23.64	0.25
	2008	22.35	0.16	23.13	0.51
	2012	22.11	0.24	22.73	0.40
100 Freestyle	2000	50.09		52.59
	2004	49.66	0.43	52.14	0.45
	2008	49.23	0.43	50.95	1.19
	2012	48.82	0.41	50.93	0.02
200 Freestyle	2000	1:49.83		1:55.32
	2004	1:49.60	0.23	1:55.08	0.24
	2008	1:48.72	0.88	1:52.53	2.55
	2012	1:47.82	0.90	1:50.76	1.77
400 Freestyle	2000	3:54.10		4:04.81
	2004	3:52.01	2.09	4:03.61	1.20
	2008	3:49.96	2.05	3:58.01	5.60
	2012	3:48.92	1.04	3:58.01	0.00
1500 Freestyle	2000	15:26.05		16:12.35
	2004	15:14.43	11.62	16:05.15	7.20
	2008	15:13.16	1.27	15:45.12	20.03
	2012	15:11.83	1.33	15:45.12	0.00
100 Backstroke	2000	55.91		58.71
	2004	55.63	0.28	58.41	0.30
	2008	55.14	0.49	57.07	1.34
	2012	54.40	0.74	56.40	0.67
200 Backstroke	2000	2:01.21		2:07.27
	2004	2:00.20	1.01	2:06.21	1.06
	2008	1:59.72	0.48	2:03.91	2.30
	2012	1:58.48	1.24	2:01.53	2.38
100 Breaststroke	2000	1:02.51		1:05.64
	2004	1:01.92	0.59	1:05.02	0.62
	2008	1:01.57	0.35	1:03.72	1.30
	2012	1:00.79	0.78	1:03.61	0.11
200 Breaststroke	2000	2:15.36		2:22.13
	2004	2:14.20	1.16	2:20.91	1.22
	2008	2:13.69	0.51	2:18.37	2.54
	2012	2:11.74	1.95	2:18.24	0.13
100 Butterfly	2000	53.90		56.60
	2004	53.49	0.41	56.16	0.44
	2008	52.86	0.63	54.71	1.45
	2012	52.36	0.50	54.09	0.62
200 Butterfly	2000	1:59.72		2:05.71
	2004	1:58.63	1.09	2:04.56	1.15
	2008	1:57.67	0.96	2:01.79	2.77
	2012	1:56.86	0.81	2:01.08	0.71
200 I.M.	2000	2:03.14		2:09.30
	2004	2:02.54	0.60	2:08.67	0.63
	2008	2:01.40	1.14	2:05.65	3.02
	2012	2:00.17	1.23	2:03.89	1.76
400 I.M	2000	4:22.82		4:35.86
	2004	4:20.17	2.65	4:33.18	2.68
	2008	4:18.40	1.77	4:27.44	5.74
	2012	4:16.46	1.94	4:24.78	2.66

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12 Comments

David Rieder

11.25.2010 · Reply

If U.S. Olympic Trials are anything like Nationals this year, we are in trouble. In the men's 100 free, Lochte got second in 48.83, 0.01 off the cut; Lezak would end up going 48.47 at Pan Pacs. Ditto 200 fly; only Phelps broke 1:57 at Nationals, thought Clary would go on to swim the necessary times at Pan Pacs. The worst is the 200 breast; other than Shanteau, no American broke 2:12 this year. Elliott Keefer is 28th in the world at 2:12.09; Scott Spann is 29th at 2:12.15. Worst of all, both of these were PRELIM times. By 2012, I do expect Keefer and Spann around the 2:10 mark, likely under, and I think there can be many under the 2:11.74 qualifying time. Still, it is not a good situation.
- Braden Keith
  
  11.26.2010 · Reply
  
  No kidding. It might take a lot more of a taper than some of the swimmers want to make the Olympics. The good news is that if the USA is having that much trouble getting in, then the rest of the world likely will as well.
Eslam Refaie

11.30.2010 · Reply

Hello , fina mistaken this of course , they encountered this records because they took the percentage of 1000 swimmers in all races by counting the suits , but the real is not like that , there is no sense to drop the 50 free by 0.4 of a second this is complete madness . they have mistaken , they should have counted the percentage after the suit where banned , they dont have to encounter rome 2009 or even beijing 2008 , the B-Cut should be worth than 2008 not better .
- Braden Keith
  
  11.30.2010 · Reply
  
  But prior to making the 2008 cuts (Which were made the beginning of 2007 roughly) FINA didn't have any idea about what impact the suits would have on the times. Suits or not, the swimming world has gotten faster since 2007, don't you think? Almost every "prior to 2008" world record was broken in 2010, and as the swimming world continues to expand, the overall times will continue to get faster. Especially "B" cuts, since these are usually only relevant to the outlier nations, which will generally show the greatest improvement from 2008-2012. I do agree that they may have overestimated their cuts though, especially on the automatic qualifying side. It will be interesting to see once we get through Worlds in the summer, how many have qualified compared to, say, 2007 Worlds.
Rida A. Mitha

12.14.2010 · Reply

Hello, When and where are the FINA Qualifying events for Women's swimming for the 2012 Olympics be held? Is the 14th FINA World Championship which is to be held in Shanghai in July 2011 serve the purpose as a FINA Qualifying Event for the Women's swimming for the 2012 Olympics? Thanks.
- Braden Keith
  
  12.14.2010 · Reply
  
  Great question. I don't know that an "official" list of meets where qualifying time standards can be achieved has been released yet, but I will let you know when one is put out. In the past, times from Continental (aka Pan Pacs, Asian Games, European Championships), National Olympic Trials, and certain approved FINA International Competitions count towards qualifying. Before Beijing, there was a 16-month time period (ending a month before the Olympics) where times were counted from. I would expect a similar timetable this year, which means that the 2011 World Championship times should count towards meeting Beijing qualifying standards. Note that for many of the swimming powers, like the US, Australia, the UK, there are many more than 1 swimmer who achieves these standards, so these countries (generally) choose entirely based off of their Olympic Trials meet. For the US, the Olympic Trials are June 25-July 2, 2012 in Omaha, Nebraska. Let me know if this didn't answer your question!
Amanda Raynor

12.29.2010 · Reply

If a National Federation has one automatically qualifying female swimmer, can that Federation also enter one male swimmer with an invitation time - or will they have to wait to be invited?
- Braden Keith
  
  12.29.2010 · Reply
  
  This has been a point of confusion, as it appears that the rule has changed since the 2008 Olympics. Here is the current rule for London: BL 9.3.6.5 National Federations/NOCs with no swimmers who have achieved either Standard Entry Time may enter one (1) man and one (1) woman. National Federations/NOCs with no swimmers who have achieved the "Olympic Qualifying Time," but with one (1) or more swimmers who have achieved the "FINA/Olympic Invitation Time" and who are not invited by FINA to participate, may enter the swimmer whose performance has the highest rank according to the FINA Points Table, valid from 1 January 2012, from the results achieved in FINA-approved competitions without consideration to gender, stroke or distance. This appears to imply that if only one swimmer qualifies by way of official invitation based on time standards, that that nation only gets one entry. HOWEVER, when looking at the Official Qualifying procedures from Beijing, it included this rule: National Federations/NOCs may enter swimmers regardless of time standard as follows: - having no swimmer qualified: one man and one woman - having one swimmer qualified: one swimmer of the other sex provided that: - the swimmer(s) participated in the 12th FINA World Championships – Melbourne 2007 - FINA will decide which swimmers will be invited to take part at the Olympic Games based on their performance. NFs/NOCs without qualified entries must submit their applications for entries to FINA for approval by 15 June 2008. So, the conclusion based on these rules is that no, the man would have to qualify on his own accord. However, I will keep researching this and see if I can come up with anything different.
Amanda Raynor

01.01.2011 · Reply

Thanks for this; as you say, it is clear as mud at this stage! I await further clarification when you get it.
Ulle Zamorang

01.16.2011 · Reply

Hi! How is the qualification system working for the countries which hasn't got A and B time swimmers? I know that one swimmer, can be called. But if there are many candidates, which is the requirement? I mean, that if somebody wouldn't swim in Shanghai, even can swim in London if the his/her national federation give priority to him/her? (Because maybe in Beijing, there were a requirement, that those swimmers can swim in Beijing with "green card" that were took part in Melbourne World Championship) When should be a swimmer register to the Fina database at least if want to take part in London Olympic Games? Thanks very much your question in advance! Ulle
Ulle Zamorang

06.25.2011 · Reply

Please someone could answer my above question?
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07.25.2011 · Reply

[...] like many smaller swimming nations, awards Olympic berths automatically upon achievement of a valid Olympic Qualifying Standard… AKPC_IDS += "8271,";Popularity: unranked [...]