The MySwimApp Power Score

How it's calculated

1. Take every official swim the swimmer has in the last 12 months in the events swum at Zones for their age group (for example, 13-14s: 50 to 1500 free, 100 and 200 of each stroke, 200 and 400 IM).
2. Score each swim in USA Swimming Power Points for the swimmer's age at the swim. Long course and short course both count; the 400, 800 and 1500 free pair with the 500, 1000 and 1650.
3. Keep the best score in each event, whichever course it came from.
4. Add up the six highest. That total is the Power Score.
5. Rank everyone in the same LSC, gender and age group by it, highest first. Ages are as of the Zones meet.

Boards update weekly. Where USA Swimming hasn't published a swim's Power Points, we estimate them from its curve for that event, gender and age, and the estimate is within a few points.

Questions

What is the MySwimApp Power Score?

The sum of a swimmer's best 6 USA Swimming Power Points across the events swum at Age Group Zones, using the better of long course and short course in each event, from swims in the last 12 months.

Why Power Points?

USA Swimming's Power Points put every event on one scale (a 50 free and a 400 IM can be compared) and adjust for age within an age group. Most LSCs that pick their Zones team by a score already use Power Points or something built the same way.

Why the best 6 events?

Six is the most common number in the published rules: Pacific Northwest adds a swimmer's 6 best event ranks for Zones and 6 best Power Points for All-Stars, West Virginia adds 6, Mississippi 7 and Southeastern 3. Six rewards a swimmer who is strong across the program, not just in one event.

Is this how my LSC picks its team?

Only if your LSC uses this rule. Each LSC's page says how it actually picks. Where an LSC takes anyone with a cut, the Power Score is a readiness ranking, not a prediction of the team.