FAA Spring Meet Schedule Updates & More (Please Read)

FAA Revised Swim Meet Schedule 

Spring 2025

February

8-9 Friendship Meet         Pompano Beach

13-16 USAS Sectionals         Plantation

21-23 BB Champs N         Pompano Beach

March

7-9 Age Group Champs Coral Springs

21-24 FGC Senior Champs Academic Village

25-29 ISCA Sr Champs         St Pete

April

2 - 5 ISCA 14 &U         St Pete

11-13 Spring Champs         Tampa

Hi All,

Well, the spring meet marathon kicked off this past weekend at the Pompano Beach Friendship Meet. FAA was well represented. We had some amazing swims but, more importantly, we made some big strides as a program. I was impressed with how we warmed up and prepared for each session as a team. We were looking for growth in terms of race strategies and we saw it on display. The athletes did a great job of implementing what we asked in their performances. We had many best times, new BB and JO meet cuts and National Age Group Top 16 swims...great job! Next up? USA Swimming Sectionals in Plantation later this week.

Since we are growing as a club , we made some changes in our meet selection to reflect that reality. I want to ensure that we all understand why we are doing what we are doing. Always keep in mind that our goal is what is best for our swimmers. This is a longer post, so grab your beverage of choice and get ready...here we go.

We made some shifts in our meet selections in an effort to give all of our swimmers a more complete season and experience. I would like to take a few minutes and explain what we are doing and why we are doing it. Know that there is a reason for these changes and those reasons always involve the swimmers best interest. With that as a backdrop, here it goes.

I have always had a problem with traditional meet schedules. The main problem I had with them was the fact that the team went to different meets on different weekends over the course of a month or more. During the short course season for example, the newer and younger swimmers would have their championship in February, the age groupers early and mid March and the seniors late March and early April. That’s not ideal for many reasons. Here’s some reasons why. 

Think about it. The newer swimmers end their season in February at the BB championships. Long course training starts sometime in April. It always feels like the younger ones are in a holding pattern until the older swimmers are finished. The championship meet in February is also a BB qualifying meet. What about the swimmers who have not yet achieved one of those times? What is their “championship” meet? They need a meet to focus on as well.

Qualifying and attending the BB Championships is a great achievement for our newer swimmers, but I would rather it not be the end of the short course season. I would also like them to see swimmers competing at a higher level or find an older teammate to emulate as a potential role model. This is not possible if they rarely get to see them at a prelims finals meet.

Then there is the FGC 14 & U Age Group Championships or otherwise known as the “Junior Olympics”. This is a great meet for those 14 & under swimmers who qualify for it. It is a prelim finals meet, offers a chance for relays, individual and team scoring and has a ton of spirit. It’s a wonderful experience. It does come with a catch.

This meet can become the main focus of swimmers, coaches and families. While it is an exciting meet it should still be kept in perspective. It is a local 14 & under competition. Yes. It can be a fast and competitive event, but we hope to expand our swimmer’s vision and see larger possibilities, if their ambition, talent and commitment are in line. Too often, swimmers can become infatuated with this meet. Then they age up.

This can be a let down; especially if the swimmer and parents are not properly prepared for the transition. They have spent the majority of their careers chasing “JO” cuts and trying to make it back to finals. When that is over, they need to have a plan in place to help them have a goal and be motivated to train hard each day. 

This was the main reason we started the NCSA 18 & Under Junior National meet many years ago. It filled the gap between age group championships and open national competitions. It offered swimmers a goal as well as opportunities for second swims if they met the cut as there were multiple heats at night. Later, an age group version was added for the 14 & unders. These meets became exclusive and very, very fast. Soon after, the ISCA meets were developed and we had even more high level opportunities for all age groups.

The landscape has changed since then. We now have Sectionals, Futures and other meets for our higher level swimmers...but we still did not have a good way to end the season for all of the swimmers on the team.

Enter the TYR Spring Championship.

There is a meet that is held in early April that offers a prelims/finals format, does not have time standards and has 8 & under events. Add in teams from across the country, swims that are fast but give real opportunities for our swimmers to finals, add in some mixed gender relays and you have a great opportunity to finish the season as a true team. 

This meet is held in Tampa. When it first came on the meet schedule a few years back, I saw its potential to fill a big void. It immediately became my former program’s Spring team championship. We had all of our swimmers attend; even those who swam at the NCSA or ISCA meets participated in their “off” events. It was a huge success.

Of course, it was not a travel meet as my team was located in the Tampa Bay area. For us, it will be. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Hopefully, we can get a good showing this year and build our attendance in the years to come. It would make for a nice season ending tradition as it addresses many of the concerns raised earlier. I hope you can come.

We will continue to adjust our offerings as we grow. As mentioned earlier, we want to offer all of our swimmers the environment they need to grow and excel in the sport and beyond. Thanks for taking the time to read this and get a better understanding of who we are and what we are trying to do as an organization...if you made it this far, pat yourself on the back...GOOD JOB!!!

See you at the pool - Rich