The National Aquatic Centre will be abuzz with excitement this weekend as the Amateur Swimming Association of Jamaica (ASAJ) kicks off its Christmas swimming season with the three-day Dean Martin Memorial AB Long-course Swim Classic today.

The meet is scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm today, with scheduled start times of 8:30 am and 1:00 pm for Saturday’s morning and evening sessions. The lone morning session of Sunday is set to begin at 9:00 am.

Last year’s winners Y-Speedos will be gunning for a second-successive title, but will have much to fear from the powerful Tornadoes Swim Club, Marlins Swim Club, Blue Seals Swim Club, and the invited competitors out of the Cayman Islands.

The meet is scored using the 2017-2020 Motivational Age-Group time standards unlike the traditional scoring of top eight places in other meets.

The Motivational Age-Group time standards are broken down into age groups such as 10 & under, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, and 17-18 categories. Each category has a B, BB, A, AA, AAA, and AAAA level. Swimmers can begin at a B level and work their way up each level.

On the contrary, eight-and -under swimmers do not have standards, as this is an introductory age group which is focused on learning strokes and having fun.

A number of local and overseas swimmers will be seeking to join the national age group team by posting AA times or higher, cognisant that an AAAA time would secure them a spot on the team to the inaugural UANA Cup in Coral Springs, Florida, USA, in January of 2018.

The Swimming Union of the Americas is the continental swimming association for the Americas. It is commonly referred to as ASUA in English or by its Spanish acronym UANA (Unión Americana de Natación).

And with next year’s Carifta Championships being hosted in Jamaica, swimmers will also be seeking to make that next list by climbing the local ranking in their respective age groups. Some will transition to higher age groups and will need to up their game for the new age group.

Nathaniel Thomas and Sabrina Lyn of Tornadoes Swim Club, both 11-12 age-group swimmers that represented Jamaica well that the Carifta Championships and CCCAN earlier this year, along with Brianna Anderson and Kyle Sinclair of Y-Speedos in the 13-14 age group, are among those expected to feature well over the three electrifying days of competition.

The Marlins Swim Club quartet of Kokolo Foster, Saidah Brown, Christanya Shirley and Gianni Frances will seek to regain their strong status from last year where they broke the national age group relay record.