USA IM Xtreme Championships
Last week, February 26-28, eleven Potomac Marlin swimmers participated in the inaugural USA Swimming IMX Championship meet at the Takoma pool in Washington, D.C. Three other IMX meets were run in other parts of the country earlier in the year, two in November and one in December. The three previous IMX meets were not highly attended mostly due to being scheduled too late. Our meet last weekend had 231 swimmers from 34 teams and 7 LSC’s which was over twice as large as the next biggest IMX meet. Marlin swimmers swam 45 best times at the meet out of 61 swims for a 74% best time performance. 18 of those swims were greater than 3.0 sec. time drop!
Though all Marlin swimmers swam very well in the meet, two of our athletes came away with top 16 place finishes and a nice plaque in reward of their efforts. Sarah Liu placed 13th overall in the 13-13 girl’s age group. Sarah swam 4 out of 6 best times with three of her swims greater than 2 seconds time drop. Katie Dingman placed 16th in the 14-14 girl’s age group also with 4 out of 6 swims being personal bests. Katie had a big drop in the 200 breast of 13.46 seconds and another great effort in the 200 fly with a time drop of 7.36 seconds. Great job girls!
Swimming out of Audrey Moore, in addition to Sarah Lui, were Allyson Buennemeyer, Zoe Campbell, Grace Liu and Julia Schwartz. Allyson went 3 for 3 in the girl’s 13-13 age group with nice swims in the 400 IM (-9.72), 500 free (-4.64) and the 200 breast (-6.61). Zoe went 5 for 5 in the 11-11 girl’s age group with her biggest time drop coming in the 500 free (-7.56). Grace swam 4 out of 5 events in personal bests in the 12-12 girl’s age group with a huge improvement in the 500 free of 17.33 seconds! Julia was a perfect 6 for 6 personal bests in the girl’s 13-13 age group with very good swims in the 400 IM (-13.30), 500 free (-5.40) and the 200 breast (-3.59).
Swimming out of Cub Run’s morning program, in addition to Katie Dingman, were John Macdonald, Grace Obando and her older sister Natalie Obando. Jonny Mac went 3 out of 6 best times in the 13-13 boy’s age group with two very nice swims in the 400 IM (-12.00) and the 200 breast (-6.56). Grace Obando was a perfect 5 out of 5 personal best swims in the girl’s 11-11 age group with her biggest improvement coming in the 200 IM (-7.59). Natalie Obano, swimming in the 13-13 girl’s age group was 3 out of 6 best times with two very good swims in the 400 IM (-6.45) and the 200 breast (-7.17)
Two other swimmers from two additional Marlin facilities also competed in the meet. Allison Goldblatt who swims out of the JCC, competed in the girl’s 11-11 age group and went 4 out of 5 personal bests. Allison’s two biggest time drops came in the 200 IM (-5.41) and the 500 free (-8.06). The only other male swimmer was Martin Javelosa who swims out of the Lee District facility in the boy’s 12-12 age group. Martin was also 4 out of 5 best times with his biggest time drop coming in the 100 fly (-3.34). Martin’s other three swims were all over two sec. time drops. Great swimming everyone!!
COACH Bill Marlin
The IMX Challenge, with its two components, IM Ready and IM Xtreme, is a motivational program where swimmers are scored on their performances in a combination of five or six events. The purpose of the program is to promote versatility in age group swimming while advocating greater participation and development across a range of events that are integral to long term success in swimming. By encouraging swimmers to swim a variety of events, we hope to avoid any tendency to specialize in narrow selection of events at a young age.
Swimmers participate in a designated combination of five or six events and, based on the power points scored for each of those swims, earn a combined score that is called the IM Ready or IMX score.
IM Ready (IMR)
The first phase in the IMX Challenge is called IM Ready (or IMR) and is comprised of a series of five events at shorter distances. The following single age groups and event combinations are tabulated and scored for both male and female:
9 & Under; 10-year olds:
100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SC) or 200 IM (LC)
11-year olds; 12-year olds:
200 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SC) or 200 IM (LC)
13, 14, 15, 16, 17, & 18-year olds:
200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM
IM Xtreme (IMX)
The second phase in the IMX Challenge is called IM Xtreme (or IMX) and is comprised of a series of five or six events at longer distances. The following single age groups and event combinations are tabulated and scored for both male and female:
9 & Under; 10-year olds:
200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM
11-year olds; 12-year olds:
400 Free (LC) or 500 Free (SC), 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM
13, 14, 15, 16, 17, & 18-year olds:
400 Free (LC) or 500 Free (SC), 200 Back, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 200 IM, 400 IM
Hy-Tek Single-Year Age Group Power Points
Rankings in the program are based on power points. Working in collaboration with USA Swimming, Hy-Tek developed a power point system for each age that allows for comparison of performances across strokes, distances and events, as well as between age groups. See the Power Points page on the USA-S website for more information and to use the Power Point Calculator
Scores
Using Hy-Tek’s Single-Year Age Group Power Points, every USA Swimming registered athlete can earn a score based on the cumulative point total of the combination of events for the swimmer’s age level. The overall score, as well as the swimmer’s current best score for each event, appears on the athlete’s My USA Swimming page for each season. As times in these events improve, the swimmer’s score is automatically updated. Swimmers can see their IMX national rank, zone rank, LSC rank and club rank. IMR scores are ranked by club only.
In order to receive scores, a swimmer must legally swim each event for his/her age level in a sanctioned meet at least once during the current season.
A swimmer’s times will count for the entire season-so if a swimmer ages up during a season his/her score on the My USA Swimming page will show a score for the lower age group and the new age group.
My USA Swimming
We strongly encourage every swimmer to create a web account in order to access a personal My USA Swimming page! If a swimmer has already swum the event combo for his/her age level, the score and ranking appear on the swimmer’s My USA Swimming page. The only place to access an overall score, as well as the swimmer’s current best score for each event, is on the swimmer’s personal My USA Swimming page. Other features of this page include a display of personal best times and corresponding power points, a list of meets participated in, a graphic display of times information, season and lifetime best comparisons, and other “member only” features. Click on Create a Web Account on the front page of the website.
How to Participate
Participation in the IMR and IMX is easy. USA Swimming automatically computes scores and results for all athlete members. Swimmers only need to compete in the combination of required events for their age groups to be included in the program.
Time Period
The IM Xtreme Challenge is tabulated annually for both short course yard and long course meter performances.
IMX Recognition
Swimmers can see their IMX national rank, zone rank, LSC rank, and club rank as well as their IMR club rank on the My USA Swimming page. By clicking on the button next to the season, swimmers can also see additional details about their scores.
The Find Your IMX Ranking page on the USA Swimming website maintains an up-to-date ranking of IMX scores, providing rankings for the top 7000 swimmers by both age and gender.
Certificates for IMR and IMX
Swimmers have the option of printing certificates that displays their scores for either IMR or IMX. They can also optionally print their national, zone, LSC and/or club rankings.
Final Results Chart
Name |
Facility |
Event |
Improvement |
Place |
Allyson Buennemeyer |
Audrey Moore |
400 IM |
-9.72 |
21 |
Zoe Campbell |
Audrey Moore |
200 IM |
-1.74 |
16 |
Katie Dingman |
Cub Run |
400 IM |
-.62 -13.46 -7.36 |
17 |
Allison Goldblatt |
JCC |
200 IM |
-5.41 -2.53 |
24 |
Martin Javelosa |
Lee District |
200 IM |
-2.69 -2.85 |
24 |
Grace Liu |
Audrey Moore |
200 IM |
-2.89 -.36 |
28 |
Sarah Liu |
Audrey Moore |
400 IM |
-2.67 |
16 |
John Macdonald |
Cub Run |
400 IM |
-12.00 -6.56 |
33 |
Grace Obando |
Cub Run |
200 IM |
-7.59 |
23 |
Natale Obando |
Cub Run |
400 IM |
-6.45 -7.17
|
29 |
Julia Schwartz |
Audrey Moore |
400 IM |
-13.30 |
24 |