Western Zones Age Group Championships Update

Dave Coleman
  1. The Application for Athletes for the 2026 Team Hawaii Western Zone Age Group Championships (WZAG) is planned to be posted by May 15, 2026. The WZAG Championships is open to qualifying athletes 14 years and younger as of August 5, 2026. 
  2. The original site for this year's WZ AG Championships was Mt. Hood Community College Aquatic Center, which was unexpectedly closed and will not be available this summer. A new site is expected to be announced by WZ officials by May 23, 2026. 
  3. The 2026 Team Hawai'i Age Group Championship Committee is reviewing the Application for Athletes and plans to publish it by May 15, 2026. Applications will be due June 15, 2026. All athletes who meet or exceed at least one WZAG qualifying time will make the Team. 
  4. Swimmers may also apply if they have "CHMP" or faster 50s and 100s for consideration on Team Hawai'i relays. If selected, they may be able to splash up to 6 individual events within the overall team entry limits for entries and splashes set by the Western Zone.
  5. The Committee considered a request to extend the qualifying period until after June 21 to allow swimmers to use Senior Champs as a last chance qualifier meet. They determined that the negative impacts for Team Hawai'i's preparation outweighed the possible benefits. The Committee's reasoning included: 1) previous Team Hawaii planning tells us that June 15th provides the necessary time needed to make reservations to secure air, hotel, ground transportation, team uniforms, gear and planning for meals, particular airline reservations; 2) 11& under athletes cannot participate in the Senior champs meet; and 3) from May 23 forward, there is at least one opportunity on each island for athletes to qualify and two invitational meets that allow any athlete to compete and possibly qualify before June 15.
  6. Qualifying standards: The Western Zone Age Group Championship Time Standards will be the 2025-28 USA Swimming National Age Group Motivational Time Standards - “AAA” combined Age Group Standards: 10&U, 11-12, AND 13- 14 for both genders. These are posted on the USA Swimming. (https://www.usaswimming.org/times/time-standards)  Qualifying times must be established after August 1, 2025 - this means you must have made your qualifying time at a meet that occurred after August 1, 2025 (last year). 
  7. The members of the 2026 Team Hawai'i Age Group Championship Committee are: Malcolm Cooper (AG Vice-Chair), Deborah Christian (Treasurer), Gwenn Tomiyoshi (Registrar), Reid Yamamoto (Coach, HSC Maui), Cristina Gervais (Secretary, Coach HAQ), and Jon Hayashida (Admin Vice-Chair, Coach HAQ). All have previously planned and/or attended the WZAG.