Time Cycles Grading
September 18th
How We Grade Time Cycles in Swim
Our Time Cycles are designed to measure growth and consistency, not just speed. In each cycle, swimmers record official times in specific events and earn a grade based on how their new time compares to their seed time (their most recent known time).
Which events count this cycle?
- 50 Freestyle (FS)
- 50 Backstroke (BK)
The cycle grade shown in PowerSchool is the average of the FS and BK grades.
Where do seed times come from?
- Meet entry seed (if provided on the meet sheet)
- Program tryouts time (used for Freestyle when a meet seed was not available)
- Last season’s best 50 Free / 50 Back (when available) to fill any remaining gaps
If we truly don’t have a prior time for an event, it is marked NT (“no time”) and we apply a fair baseline grade (see below).
Grading rubric (per event)
| Comparison of Official Time vs. Seed | Grade |
|---|---|
| Official is faster than seed | 100 |
| Official is up to +1.00s slower than seed | 70 |
| Official is more than +1.00s slower than seed | 50 |
| No prior time for this event (shows as “NT”) | 90 (baseline) |
| No swim, DQ, or NS for the event | 50 |
What you’ll see in PowerSchool
- Two event grades: FS Grade and BK Grade.
- One Time Cycle grade for the cycle: the average of FS and BK.
- If you notice “NT” for a seed time, it simply means we didn’t have a prior time for that specific event yet; the swimmer received the baseline grade (90) for that event.
Why this system?
- Growth-focused: swimmers who improve earn full credit (100).
- Consistency matters: staying within a second of the seed shows reliable performance.
- Fair to first-timers: NT swimmers aren’t penalized; they get a reasonable baseline while they establish a seed.
If you have questions about a specific time or believe a seed time is missing, please reach out and we’ll review that swimmer’s record. Thank you for supporting our athletes!
— Coach
