Championship Series
The Competition:
At the end of the regular season, teams in the state compete within their class in a series of three meets—Districts, Regionals and States. The required minimum number of interscholastic meets to be eligible for post-season competition is 5. Creekside High School is a Class 4A, Region 1, District 1 school. There are four classes in swimming based on size of the school. The class breakdowns based on Fall 2024-25 populations are as follows:
1A: 73-929 (119 teams)
2A: 930-1,166 (20 teams)
3A: 1,1672-2,227 (121 teams)
4A: 2,228-4,627 (117 teams)
There are 115 schools in our Class and 25 schools in our Region. In our district, there are 7 schools:
- Atlantic Coast
- Creekside
- First Coast
- Mandarin
- Oakleaf
- Sandalwood
- Tocoi Creek
The Meets:
The Championship Series begins with DISTRICTS. At the District meet, Creekside competes against 7 other high schools from north Florida. To be eligible for participation in the Florida High School State Championship Series, an individual student-athlete must participate in a minimum of 5 meets. Swimmer entries have the same limitations as the regular season (no more than four, only two of which may be individual events). Teams are limited to four entries per individual event and one entry per relay event. There are no exhibition events or entries allowed during post season meets. Our District meet is usually held at TBA. There is a $6 admission fee for spectators. Districts is a timed final meet. Only the top swimmers/relays/divers in each event will qualify to swim/dive at Regionals per the following guidelines:
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(1) Swimming Events. Twenty-four (24) contestants shall advance from district meets to the correlating regional meets in each individual event in swimming competition as follows: the top two (2) finishers in each swimming event from each district meet as well as the next overall best times at large for a field of 24 from the remaining best times among top sixteen (16) finishers in the district meets comprising the region. In the event of a tie for the last at-large qualifying place to the regional meet, all of the competitors tied shall be allowed to advance to the regional meet.
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(2) Relay Events. Sixteen (16) teams shall advance from district meets to the correlating regional meets in each relay event in swimming competition as follows: the top finisher in each relay event from each district meet as well as the next overall best times at large for a field of 16 from the remaining best times among top eight finishers in the district meets comprising the region.
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(3) Diving Competition. Twenty-four (24) contestants may advance from district meets to the correlating regional meets in diving competition as follows: the first two (2) places in diving competition from each district meet, provided the diver has a minimum qualifying score of 280.0 points in district competition. Any remaining available spaces shall be filled on an at-large basis from all competing divers who placed in the top sixteen (16) in their respective district meets comprising the region and met the minimum qualifying score of 280.0 points for a field of 24. In the event of a tie for the last at-large qualifying place to the regional meet, all of the competitors tied shall be allowed to advance to the regional meet.
Next up is REGIONALS. There are three districts within our region, and there are four regions in our class. Regionals rotates between the eastern and western sides of North Florida. The spectator entry fee is $7. Swimmer's seed time at Regionals is the time achieved at Districts regardless of whether it was a best time. Regionals is a timed final meet where only the top swimmers/relays/divers in each event will qualify to move on and swim/dive at States per the following guideline:
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Swimming Events. Twenty-four (24) contestants shall advance from regional meets to the Florida High School State Championship Series in each individual event in swimming competition as follows: the top two (2) finishers in each swimming event from each regional meet as well as the next overall best times at large for a field of 24 from the remaining best times among top sixteen (16) finishers in the four regional meets. In the event of a tie for the last at-large qualifying place to the Florida High School State Championship Series, all of the competitors tied shall be allowed to advance to the Florida High School State Championship Series.
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Relay Events. Sixteen (24) teams shall advance from regional meets to the Florida High School State Championship Series in each relay event in swimming competition as follows: the top finisher in each relay event from each regional meet as well as the next overall best times at large for a field of 16 from the remaining best times among top eight finishers in the regional meets.
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Diving Competition. Twenty-four (24) contestants may advance from regional meets to the Florida High School State Championship Series in diving competition as follows: the first two (2) places in diving competition from each regional meet, provided the diver has a minimum qualifying score of 280.0 points in regional competition. Any remaining available spaces shall be filled on an at-large basis from all competing divers who placed in the top sixteen (16) in their respective regional meets and met the minimum qualifying score of 280.0 points for a field of 24. In the event of a tie for the last at-large qualifying place to the Florida High School State Championship Series, all of the competitors tied shall be allowed to advance to the Florida High School State Championship Series.
Finally, we have STATES. States has been held at the F.A.S.T in Ocala, FL since 2023. The current spectator admission fee is $9 per session. The State Championship is a Prelim/Final meet. The top 8 finishers in each event in morning prelims return for Championship Finals that evening. Swimmers finishing in 9th through 16th place will return for Consolation Finals. Top 16 relays return for finals in either the A (Championship) or B (Consolation) Finals.
