What You Should Know About IMR and IMX

You've probably heard your swimmer, one of the coaches, or other parents talk about IMX (and if you hadn't before, you just did!), but you may not know exactly what it is or how it works. Not only is IMX a fun challenge for swimmers through USA Swimming, it is also an important aspect of NEON's requirements for group progressions. Keep reading to find out more about the IMX program.

 I.M.X. is a program run by USA Swimming (the governing body of swimming in the United States). According to USA Swimming, "...the IMX series is designed to help various age groups compete in multiple events, rather than specialize in one stroke too early," (USA Swimming). Swimmers are ranked nationally and locally based on their IMX score through USA Swimming. You can learn more about how swimmers are ranked here. 

While USA Swimming uses IMX as a way to rank swimmers, our goal at NEON is to use it to create all-around swimmers who are fully capable of swimming all four strokes and various events. We teach and train all four strokes in each of our groups and this makes our swimmers more versatile while also giving them a better understanding of the sport as a whole. 

I.M.R = IM Ready

The first step in the IMX Challenge is to be IM Ready (IMR). Swimmers compete in a series of five events at shorter distances.

10 & Under: 100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SC) or 200 IM (LC)

11-12: 200 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM (SC) or 200 IM (LC)


I.M.X. = IM Xtreme

The next step is the IM Xtreme (IMX). This is a series of five or six events at longer distances.

10 & Under: 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM

11-12: 400 Free (LC) or 500 Free (SC), 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 IM

13 & Up: 400 Free (LC) or 500 Free (SC), 200 Back, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 200 IM, 400 IM

Now that you have a better understanding of what the IMX requirements are, don't forget to read our post  about the goals for each NEON group and the requirements swimmers need to meet in order to advance to the next group! There are requirements that involve IMR and IMX.

See you at the pool!