Meet Designations and Qualifications
Meet Types
Our LSC, Southern California Swimming (SCS), has changed the designation of local meets to avoid confusion with National standards. Southern California swimming standards used to be known as "A", "B", and "C". They have been renamed "Blue", "Red", and "White" respectively. "Blue" is the old "A" time, "Red" is the old "B" time, and "White" is the old "C" time. (Time standards for SCS can be found on their website.
Meets are now known as BRW (Blue, Red, White), RW (Red, White), or B (Blue) meets. Any swimmer can enter a BRW meet. Only those that meet certain standards may enter RW or B meets.
Time Standards
In order to understand whether you qualify for a meet on a particular event you need to understand the terminology. For each event a time is listed. The time is listed as either "Minimum" or "Maximum".
Minimum - means that the time shown is the slowest time, or minimum time, that qualifies for an event. You must swim that event faster or equal to the listed time. A swimming time that is slower than the listed time does not qualify for the event. Typically Blue (B) meets are listed with minimum times on events.
Maximum - means that the time shown is the fastest time, or maximum time, that qualifies for an event. You must swim that event slower than or equal to the listed time. A swimming time that is faster than the listed time does not qualify for the event. Typically Red/White (RW) meets are listed with maximum times on events.
Course Types
Two types of meets are swum: short course (SC) and long course (LC). A short course meet has lanes that are 25 yards in length. Events are listed by distance in yards.
A long course meet has lanes that are 50 meters in length. Events are listed by distance in meters. A meter is longer than a yard so a 50 meter event is longer than the 50 yard event and hence the terminology of calling the meet a "long course" meet.
In conclusion:
A "RW SC" Meet is a Red/White Short Course Meet. A "B LC" Meet is a Blue Long Course Meet.