Two Championship Meets: Which is best for your 14 and under Swimmer?

February and March are HUGE months in the college swimming world as the season concludes with conference championships, but college swimming closely mirrors age-group swimming as we close our short-course yards season.

Did you know that there are two different championship meets for swimmers 14 and under?

Here’s a quick summary of what’s available right here in San Diego, which will help you navigate the best championship for your swimmer.

1.  SI Junior Olympics (Feb 24-27 in Poway, CA)

This championship meet is for swimmers 14 and under with JO qualifying times only.  It is designed to reflect the top 24 swimmers in each category for each event, limiting the number of swimmers from each age group who qualify.  JO qualifying times are adjusted every year to reflect the changes in the times by the Local Swimming Committees (LSC).

2. JOMAX North (March 11-12 in San Diego, CA)

This championship meet is for swimmers who did not qualify for JOs.  It is the final meet for swimmers to achieve best short-course yards (SCY) times before moving into the long-course meter (LCM) season. MANY swimmers who previously did not achieve a JO time achieve it here.

You probably have some outstanding questions!  Let us help.

1.  My swimmer only has one JO time.  Can she swim at both meets?

Yes with these exceptions.

• If a swimmer is qualified for the JO’s in a particular stroke & distance, he/she may not swim it in this meet – even if the swimmer chose not to swim it in the JOs. The same rule applies for a relay leg.
• Swimmers with 6 or more SI JO cuts may not swim in this meet.
• Entry Limits: Swimmers may enter any number of events, but may only swim a maximum of 3 individual events per day, and a maximum of 6 individual events for the entire meet.

2.  I don’t remember a second championship meet last summer.

Our team calendar determines when we offer JOMAX to our swimmers.  NCA is a large team, and we often wrap up our season by hosting our own “Championship Meet”.  (We did this last summer at the end of the long-course meters season.) This year it made sense to include JOMAX on the calendar.

Our goal is to provide championship meets to swimmers at all levels.  We celebrate our JOs team just as loudly and proudly as our JOMAX team, and we encourage all swimmers to participate at the meet that best fits their accomplishments.

If you still have questions or want to make sure you are signing your swimmer up for the correct championship meet, then please reach out to your head coach.  They love direct communication!