What is the Masters Decathlon?

The Masters Decathlon is an exclusive competition for Masters swimmers across the home nations. By swimming at Masters events, swimmers are automatically entered into the decathlon, and ranked by points scored.

This is a year-long, nation-wide virtual competition that tracks masters swimmers (ages 25+) running for the full calendar year. The format works through a combination of versatility requirements and age-adjusting math.

To complete the Decathlon, you must record times in 10 distinct individual events.

To prevent a swimmer from just racking up points in their favorite stroke, the 18 possible pool events are strictly divided into 6 categories.

To get a complete decathlon score, your final tally is calculated from: Your highest-scoring swim in all 6 categories. Your second-highest scoring swim from 4 of those categories.

The defining characteristic of the Masters Decathlon is its unified leaderboard, which eliminates traditional age-group divisions in the final standings. This unique structure allows athletes across a vast age spectrum. For example, such as a 28-year-old and a 72-year-old to compete directly against one another for the overall title.

Step 1: Age-Adjusted Calibration
An athlete’s raw swim time is adjusted relative to the established world-class performance standard for their specific age cohort.

Step 2: World Aquatics Integration
The resulting age-adjusted time is processed through the standard World Aquatics (formerly FINA) points table to calculate a final score.