FINA posts 2012 Olympics qualifying times

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND--Earlier this month, on November 11, FINA posted the qualifying times for the 2012 Olympics onto its website. The time standards consist of an "Olympic Qualifying Time" (comparable to the Worlds "A" standard) and an "FINA/Olympic Invitation Time" (comparable to the Worlds "B" standard). This is the first information on qualifying for the 2012 Olympics that has been posted, beyond the information listed in FINA By-Law 9.3.6; the event order, a list of meets where times can be swum, and a list of suits for the Games, presumably will follow. (Note: By-Law 9.3.6 establishes the qualifying system for the swimming portion of the World Championships and Olympics, including the selection order for those swimmers who meet the Invitation time, but not the Qualifying time.)

The time standards for the 2012 Olympics are:

  WOMEN         Qual    Invite
--------------------------------
 50 free       25.27     25.76
 100 free       54.57     56.54
 200 free     1:58.33   2:02.68
 400 free     4:09.35   4:19.68
 800 free     8:33.84   8:54.04

 100 back     1:00.82   1:03.11
 200 back     2:10.84   2:15.52

 100 breast   1:08.49   1:09.98
 200 breast   2:26.89   2:32.15

 100 fly        58.70   1:00.87
 200 fly      2:08.95   2:14.00

 200 IM       2:13.36   2:16.98
 400 IM       4:41.75   4:52.59


  MEN           Qual    Invite
--------------------------------
 50 free       22.11     22.73
 100 free       48.82     50.93
 200 free     1:47.82   1:50.76
 400 free     3:48.92   3:58.01
1500 free    15:11.83  15:45.12

 100 back       54.40     56.40
 200 back     1:58.48   2:01.53

 100 breast   1:00.79   1:03.61
 200 breast   2:11.74   2:18.24

 100 fly        52.36     54.09
 200 fly      1:56.86   2:01.08

 200 IM       2:00.17   2:03.89
 400 IM       4:16.46   4:24.78


The qualifying times can be found on the FINA website at the link below. The listing also includes comparisons to the qualifying times for the last 4 Olympics (2000-2008).
http://www.fina.org/H2O/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1691&Itemid=764

In 4 events the 2012 Invitation standards are faster than the Qualifying standards from the 2000 Olympics:
 -women's 50 free,
 -women's 100 back,
 -women's 100 breast, and
 -men's 50 free


FINA By-Law 9.3.6 can be found on the FINA website here:
http://www.fina.org/H2O/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=274