Bagcats Explained
In order to support a new approach to age group competition for the younger competitors, a point scoring system was introduced by British swimming. This is called the British Age Group Categories or BAGCATS.
Core to the thinking is that swimmers should compete to win an overall category award rather than specialising in a particular event. These categories are made up of event groups and at least one swim must be completed from each of four or five event groups that make up the category. An overall score is then calculated by adding up the highest scoring swim in each event group.
The groups for 11 year olds at Country competitions is shown below. Click on the link to British swimming for a full list.
County Age Groups - 25m Pool
Boys Girls
11 years Sprint Best 50m Sprint Best 50m
100s Best 100m
Form Best 200m form stroke Form Best 200m form stroke
Distance Best 200/400 free Distance Best 200/400/800 free
IM Best 100/200 IM IM Best 100/200 IM
BAGCAT tables – link to British Swimming
How are the points calculated?
Comparative performance tables are produced for senior swimmers with the maximum score of 1000 points corresponding to the average of the world all-time top eight performances. Age correction factors are applied to provide a points calculator for each event for the age group and recognize that some events are relatively more difficult for the younger swimmers. The Age group correction factors are based totally on observations of British swimming performance levels. For each age group the reference times used are the average of the ten all time top British performances in each event. This approach is intended to provide :
• A mechanism for comparing performances across the range of events
• A method that reflects the different achievement levels as a consequence of age-related physical development
• A method related to world standards
• A method that recognises the achievement levels at the younger ages in British swimming