When the Aberdeen Swim Club hosts the South Dakota State B Long Course Meet this weekend, swimmers from all across the state will have their sights set on advancing to the State A Meet next week.

That’s because the State B at the Aquatic Center provides an opportunity to advance to the bigger meet in Rapid City.

“The only events that swimmers are allowed to swim at State Bs, are events they don’t have a qualifying time in yet,” said Megan Rosendahl, president of the board for the Aberdeen Swim Club. “There’s all these qualifying time standards swimmers have to achieve, and if they haven’t achieved one of those standards yet, they can swim at the State Bs.”

Some individuals may have already qualified for the State A in some events, but not in others, and will try to do so this weekend.

“If they have a couple of state times and a couple where they haven’t reached it yet, they only swim the ones they haven’t reach yet,” Rosendahl said.

That’s why this weekend is so important for each of the competitors.

“This is essentially their last chance effort to achieve one of those State A qualifying times,” Rosendahl said.

While times will be the main focus of the three-day event, there is also something else that could advance swimmers to the State A meet.

“They also offer a golden ticket,” Rosendahl said, “which means if you finish first or second in each of the respective age groups, you can also punch your ticket to state, regardless of time.”

That golden ticket rewards competitors who may not have a qualifying time, but still put forth the effort to finish at or near the top of their particular event.

“It’s a really great opportunity for some of the younger swimmers, some of the newer swimmers, where they can compete, they can finish maybe a little bit higher up than they have in the past during the season, and regardless of what their time is, if they finish first or second, they get to go to the state meet.”

Rosendahl expects there to be around 200 swimmers here this weekend.

One of the biggest differences between this meet and the annual High Point Meet that ASC hosts each summer is that swimmers sometimes age up between the two meets and now will be in different categories.

“We actually have a handful of kids that simply haven’t qualified because they just moved to a brand new age division within the last couple of weeks,” Rosendahl said, “and you just don’t get a lot of opportunities to swim in the summer.”

Otherwise the two meets at the Aquatic Center are similiar in nature, in that it takes a lot of volunteer help to put on the best meet possible.

“It’s kind of another all-hands on deck meet. It’s such an honor to have it in Aberdeen,” Rosendahl said. “It’s a lot more work, but it’s just so great for the town when you’ve got 200 kids plus their families all coming.”

About half of the ASC swim club members have already qualified for the State A Meet. However, those individuals will still be in attendance this weekend doing a variety of tasks, including cheering on their younger teammates.

“That’s the great thing about our team,” Rosendahl said. “That’s the great thing about swimming in general. … When those 13-14, 18-year-olds come and cheer on those 6 and 7-year-olds, that’s something that’s a cool memory that they’ll never forget.”

Action gets underway at Noon today, and at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The forecast definitely calls for swimming weather, with highs projected to be near triple digits.

“I think those kids will be happy to jump in the pool when it’s 95 degrees outside,” Rosendahl said.

Aberdeen hosted the South Dakota State B Short Course meet this past winter, and is looking forward to now having the State B Long Course meet.

“Aberdeen Swim Club is really excited to host this state meet again,” Rosendahl said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to host a few state meets in the past and they’re all just such great opportunities for these swimmers in South Dakota. We hope that they have a great weekend.”