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The page presents
information about the achieving distinction in high school swim and
dive. For additional information on the championship meets you should
also visit the page
About High School Swim.
For
swimmers, the obvious answer to how to qualify for these big meets is
train hard year round and drop your times :)
Competing in Districts
The championship
meets start with Districts. The top four Robinson swimmers in each event
and the top relay team are selected by the coach to participate in Districts.
Keep in mind that each swimmer can only participate in four events,
only two of which can be individual events. Thus, in reality, swimmer
number five or six in an event may get to swim in districts if those
with faster times swim other events. Only the A Relay team in each relay
event competes in districts.
Relay teams are
selected at the discretion of the coach with the goal of putting together
the most competitive relay teams and taking maximum points at the championship
meets. Good relay starts and the ability to function as a member of
a relay team are important considerations along with times. Strong relay
teams are critical to success at the championship meets. The points
awarded to relay events are double those assigned to individual events.
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 Advancing
from Districts to Regions
There are two ways
to advance from Districts to Regions:
- Be among the
top six swimmers/relays in the Finals Heat (not the Consolation
Finals heat) or
- Swim a
Region
time standard in any of the season's dual meets or in any of the
heats at Districts.
So if you finish
in the Consolation Finals at Districts, go for a
Region
time standard.
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Advancing
from Regions to States
There are also two
ways to advance from Regions to States:
- Be among the
top six swimmers/top three relays*
in the Finals Heat (not the Consolation
Finals heat)
in Regions, or
- Swim a
State time standard in any of the season's dual meets or any of the
heats at Districts or Regions.
*
July 2009 -
change to
Virginia High School League, Inc. Handbook and
Policy Manual 2009-10
[see section 80-3-1 / page 12]
As an aside, a swimmer
does not have to swim the same events at Districts, Regions, and States.
Within the limit of the number of events an individual may swim at a
VHSL meet, swimmers can choose between any of the events they have qualifying
times for in Regions or States. In an attempt to achieve the highest
placement in each of their events, swimmers, in consultation with their
coach, sometimes switch events after Districts or Regions depending
on competitors' times.
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What
Else Can be Achieved?
In addition to making
the biggest meets of the year, competitors can be selected for special
recognition as All District (first or second team), All Region (first
or second team), All Met (first team, second team, or honorable mention),
or All American. Coach Blaine also hands out several awards at the Winter
Sports Banquet.
For All District
and All Region, the gold medalist (1st place) in
each event is selected for first team; the silver medalist (2nd
place) in each event is selected for the second team. Competitors selected
for All District and All Region receive commemorative certificates in
the packets handed out at the end of the season.
RSD All District & All Region swimmers
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 All Met is
an honor awarded by the Washington Post and includes competitors from
the entire Metropolitan Washington area -from both public and private
schools and all three regional jurisdictions. For Virginia public school
students, selection is based on performance at States. Unlike All District
and All Region, All Met first team, second team, and honorable mention
are not selected by event. They are selected by level of achievement
in States or Metros. Making All Met First Team for a Robinson swimmer
would typically require winning first place in States and also medaling
in a second event. You will not see a swimmer from each event on each
team, and in fact, a team may contain competitors who have excelled
in the same events and have no swimmers in other events.
Washington Post All-Met winners (History)
//
RSD All Mets
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 All American
status is determined through NISCA, the National Interscholastic Swimming
Coaches Association. Swimmers who swam either an All American Automatic
or All American Consideration time are entered in the NISCA database.
After the final school district completes its high school swim season,
the top 100 competitors for each event - including relays - are awarded
All American status. Those who swam an All American Automatic time are
guaranteed to be included. The All American Automatic cuts are selected
to be about the 50th fastest time swum in recent years. All swimmers
who have achieved one of the top 100 times in an event receive an All
America Swimming certificate in the mail, typically in late July or
early August. All members of a relay team receiving All American status
receive a certificate. In addition to the certificates received in the
mail, swimmers can buy patches and other commemorative items through
NISCA. For more information, visit the NISCA web site at www.nisca.net.
A link to the list of All Americans for recent years is provided on
the NISCA home page.
All-American Time
Standards
//
RSD
All Americans
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Other
Awards and Recognition
 In addition, swimmers
may receive several other awards in their packets at the Winter Sports
Banquet. All members of the Robinson Swim & Dive Team receive a
team participation award. Team letters or bars for successive lettering
years are also presented at this time along with certificates for scholar
athletes, All District team, All Region team, participating in States,
All-American Automatic or Consideration, and for team records set. In
addition, the coach also gives some special awards each year, which
may include sportsmanship, most improved, and MVP, among others.
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Letter
Jackets
(requirements for earning a letter)
For those interested
in ordering a letter jacket you'll want to check around for price and
look for discount coupons. In addition, there are many options to choose
from - including leather sleeves, collar style, button colors, placement
of school identification, thickness of lining for warmth, etc. You may
want to look at teammates' jackets before heading off to order yours.
Most team members place District Champ patches on the sleeves and Region
and State Champ patches on the back. Most have Robinson spelled out
in script on the back and the swimmer's/diver's first name and graduation
year on the front. There are many alternatives, however, and it's purely
a matter of personal preference.
A local merchant
you may wish to contact:
Burke Sporting Goods,
5765E Burke Centre Parkway Burke, VA 22015, 703-239-9000.
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Your
Swimming Resume
If you are considering
swimming/diving in college, high school swim achievements do count.
Achieving any of the distinctions mentioned on this page is a nice addition
to your swimming resume.
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