I always thought it went with the Spring sport schedule, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I know we are year around swimmers, but when is the busiest "swim season"?
Former Member
For Masters:
Jan-May: SCY
May-Aug: LCM
Sept-Dec: SCM
may vary a bit based on location. Generally SCY is the busiest.
I always thought it went with the Spring sport schedule, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I know we are year around swimmers, but when is the busiest "swim season"?
In terms of total numbers for all forms of competitive swimming I have to believe it is Sept-March SCY. I don't know anyone who swims LCM and skips SCY. You have a ton of HS and College swimmers who take summers off.
The 3 seasons are defined in the Rule Book, and also this document in the Guide to Operations:
www.usms.org/.../gto_rectab_general.pdf
SCY: June 1 - May 31
LCM: Oct 1 - Sept 30
SCM: Jan 1 - Dec 31
As far as the "busiest" times, it probably varies by region. My impression of the mid-Atlantic region is that the most number of meets are Jan - May. There seem to be few summer LCM meets in the mid-Atlantic region, but pretty many OW races. There are a smattering of fall meets, some of them SCM, but attendance is generally a little lower.
The highest concentration of meets is between October and May. There are plenty of meets during the summer, too, but at least in masters open water swims seem to be more prevalent in the summer. But if you're willing to travel some you could easily swim in a meet every month of the year.
Funny- I'm speaking about meets. ;P
I guess it depends on your definition of busy.
Feb-Apr has the most populated meets in any 3 month range: college championships, NCAA's, HS states, 3 Grand Prix meets, Speedo Sectionals, and Eastern Zones. As nice as it would be to include May for Master's Short Course Nats, May is a very uneventful month for the rest of the swimming world ;)
July-Aug covers bigger meets, but far fewer overall competitors. World Champs, Nationals, Jr Nats, Sectionals, WUGs, World Juniors, Southern and Central Zones, Masters Long Course Nats.
