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Changes for 2010
BAGCATS stands for British Age Group CATegorieS and applies to boys aged 9 to 14 and girls aged 9 to 13. Over the year, there are three standard competitions, in which the system is used, County BAGCATS Cumbria Age Groups, held across three weekends in March at Copeland, Kendal & Carlisle, in a short course (25m) pool. There are entry times for this competition that may be achieved at any meet (gala). Age range for this competition is Boys 9-14 and Girls 9-13. Regional BAGCATS North West Region Age Groups held across two weekends in June at Manchester Aquatics Centre, a long course (50m) pool. There are entry times for this competition that must be achieved at any Level 1, 2 or 3 open meet Age range for this competition is Boys 10-14 and Girls 10-13. National BAGCATS National Age Groups held across four days in July at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, a long course (50m) pool. There are entry times for this competition that must be achieved at any Level 1 or 2 open meet Age range for this competition is Boys 11-14 and Girls 11-13. As you would expect, the entry times for each competition gets progressively tougher through the County, Regional and National competitions. The ASA run a system for licencing open meets. Depending on the quality of the pool, timing equipment and officials, a meet may be granted a Level 1, 2, 3 or 4. The swimmers age in each competition is as at the last day of each competition. It may therefore be that a swimmer is in the 12 year old category for County BAGCATS and 13 year old for Regionals and Nationals. Until recently all competitions were based on age as at 31st Dec which clearly benefited swimmers with birthdays early in the year. The newer system of age on day removes this advantage and allows at all swimmers to be nearer the older end of their age group for at least one of the three competitions. BAGCATS is a points system for establishing who the best swimmers really are within their age group at a particular competition. It also promotes swimmers competing in a variety of strokes in accordance with Long Term Athlete Development. Success is Long Term is an asa document that fully explains Long Term Athlete Development related to the Journey through Swimming. In the days before BAGCATS, these younger swimmers would compete at County, Regional and National level against each other in individual events. So, at National level there would be a boy’s 13 year 100m Freestyle champion, a boy’s 13 year 400m Individual Medley champion etc. But who is the champion of champions ? The medley swimmer surely because he is good at all stokes; but what if the 100m freestyler swam the fastest ever in the country for a 13 year old – wouldn’t he be better? So – along came BAGCATS. For every race that a BAGCAT swimmer competes in at each County, Regional and National Championships, they will be awarded BAGCAT points depending on their age group, how fast they swam, the stroke and distance. How these points are arrived at is a science in itself, based on world records and all sorts of clever stuff and it’s probably easier to not to even attempt to understand! However, what it is important to know is that generally the tougher and longer distance events will give more points than the shorter easier ones. In some competitions ‘Top Boy’ or ‘Top Girl’ trophies are awarded based on the total BAGCAT points scored by swimmers in a selection of events. The original intent of this was to encourage younger swimmers to compete in a wide range of events and not specialise too early. To make things more complicated events are grouped together and only the swimmers highest point score in each group of events will count. Typically these will be grouped as best sprint (50m), best 100m, best Individual Medley, best distance (200m+) and best non-Freestyle performance (confusingly known as a ‘Form stroke’). The stroke groups change as swimmers get older.
See below for the event groupings for particulars ages and competition levels.
Form Stroke - Used within BAGCAT system to describe non-Freestyle strokes (Butterfly, Breaststroke or Backstroke). British Age Group Category County Awards (BAGCATS) 25m pool Boys Girls 9 years Sprint Form Distance IM Best 50m Best 200m form stroke 200m Free Best 100/200m IM Sprint Form Distance IM Best 50m Best 200m form stroke 200m Free Best 100/200m IM 10 years Sprint Form Distance IM Best 50m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400m Free Best 100/200m IM Sprint Form Distance IM Best 50m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400m Free Best 100/200/400m IM 11 years Sprint Form Distance IM Best 50m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400m Free Best 100/200m IM Sprint 100’s Form Distance IM Best 50m Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 100/200/400m IM 12 years Sprint 100’s Form Distance IM Best 50m Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 100/200/400m IM Sprint 100’s Form Distance IM Best 50m Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 100/200/400m IM 13 years Sprint 100’s Form Distance IM Best 50m Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 100/200/400m IM Sprint 100’s Form Distance IM Best 50m Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 100/200/400m IM 14 years Sprint 100’s Form Distance IM Best 50m Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 100/200/400m IM Girls 14 years and over plus boys 15 years and over will start to specialise in individual events which will have individual awards. British Age Group Category Regional & National Awards (BAGCATS) 25m pool Boys Girls Regional 10 years 100’s Form Distance IM Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400m Free Best 200/400m IM 100’s Form Distance IM Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400m Free Best 200/400m IM Regional & National 11 years 100’s Form Distance IM Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400m Free Best 200/400m IM 100’s Form Distance IM Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 200/400m IM 12 years 100’s Form Distance IM Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 200/400m IM 100’s Form Distance IM Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 200/400m IM 13 years 100’s Form Distance IM Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 200/400m IM 100’s Form Distance IM Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 200/400m IM 14 years 100’s Form Distance IM Best 100m Best 200m form stroke Best 200/400/800/1500m Free Best 200/400m IM Girls 14 years and over plus boys 15 years and over will start to specialise in individual events and will swim in the Youth Championships. |
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