All of the criteria below must be met in order for an athlete to be fully prepared for the next stage in their development.  Fast swimming alone is not a compelling enough reason to push a swimmer to the next level.

Physical

• can complete sets for level five (below)

• swims continuously for an hour (60) minutes

• supplements in water work with season appropriate dryland activities

Cognitive

• knows that effective training helps performance

• knows SP1-3 times and holds them during sets

• can explain anaerobic vs. aerobic energy system of energy delivery

• demonstrates an understanding of nutrition by choosing the right food balance and maintaining hydration

Competitive Performance

• must achieve at least one time standard from AGE GROUP TIME STANDARDS, CHAMPIONSHIP BASED STANDARDS, LEVEL 1 (appendix a -below)

Biomechanical Progression

• Swim 400yd IM with legal technique with proper transitions

• calculates and predicts correct stroke counts / rates for events throughout season

Character Development & Life Skills

accepts responsibility for performance
-learn coping strategies to deal with peer pressure
-knows and implements his / her personal race strategy

Commitment & Team Loyalty

• takes an active role in the development of the program and it’s successes

• takes a leadership role in making sure that the lane does the each set correctly

Psychological Skills

• can identify time of over or under arousal and make correction

• can visualize race from start to finish…using stopwatch to maintain time integrity

• develops and used pre-race routine

• develops race focal points for concentration

• realizes that positive self talk increases confidence and enjoyment of competition and practice

• developed short term, intermediate, and long range goals within the sport

• knows the effect of posture / actions on emotion

• uses the "act as if" strategy as a fall back position