The goal in one sentence
Build one 13-swim lineup by choosing swimmers from the school shown each turn, then earn as many of the possible 23 Golds as you can.
What You Are Building
Your lineup has one spot for each NCAA individual swimming event. After you fill an event, that spot is closed for the rest of the game.
50 Free
100 Free
200 Free
500 Free
1650 Free
100 Back
200 Back
100 Breast
200 Breast
100 Fly
200 Fly
200 IM
400 IM
Important: You can use each swimmer only once, even if that swimmer has results in several events. Choosing them means deciding where they help your lineup most.
Exactly What Happens Each Turn
1. A school appears
The game selects a valid NCAA school that still has swimmers who can help fill at least one open event.
2. Review the swimmers
You see the eligible swimmers from that school. A swimmer will not be available if you have already used them or if none of their events remain open.
3. Choose one swimmer
Click the swimmer you want. Their currently available events appear beneath their name.
4. Choose one event
Click the open event where you want to place that swimmer. You cannot move the swim to another event after keeping it.
5. Reveal the performance
The game shows the historical time, season, session when applicable, and normalized rating used for that lineup spot.
6. Continue the draft
Accept the result, select Next Turn, and repeat the process with a new school until all 13 event spots are filled.
Choose Your Mode
Easy Mode
You choose only the swimmer and event. The game automatically uses that swimmer's best valid historical performance in the selected event. Choose this mode if you want to focus on lineup strategy without guessing years or sessions.
Hard Mode
After choosing a swimmer and event, you choose the season. When both sessions are available, you also choose prelim or final. If only one valid session exists, the game can resolve it automatically. The same swimmer can have very different results across seasons and sessions.
Hard Mode shortcut: Time Machine automatically chooses the selected swimmer and event's best year and best valid session.
How Scoring Works
EVERY SWIM GETS A RATING
Each performance is rated based on how good it was in NCAA swimming at the time it was swum. This allows swims from different events and different years to be compared fairly.
HIGHER RATING = BETTER PERFORMANCE
Ratings are based on historical NCAA Championship results for that event. Exceptional performances can score above 100.
BUILD THE BEST LINEUP
Once all 13 events are filled, your ratings are averaged and converted into a score from 0–23 Golds. An average rating of 88.0+ earns all 23 Golds.
Powerups — What They Do and When to Use Them
↻ Reroll
Use this before choosing a swimmer to replace the current school. The replacement will be different from the school being removed. Recent schools are temporarily avoided when other valid choices exist, but schools are not permanently banned.
▤ Coach's Board
Ranks the current school's available swimmers from strongest hidden option to weakest. It reveals the order, not their numerical ratings or best events. If you use Second Chance and Try Again, this ranking remains for the same school.
⌖ Event Scout
Activate Scout, then choose a swimmer. It reveals that swimmer's best currently open event, best time, and season. It does not select the swimmer, fill an event, or reveal a rating. Successful reports stack for the rest of that turn.
⟳ Second Chance
Activate it before choosing a swimmer. After the result is revealed, choose Keep Pick or Try Again. Try Again discards that result and returns you to the same school. After seeing the performance, you cannot cancel Second Chance or recover its charge.
◷ Time Machine
Hard Mode only. After choosing a swimmer and event, use it to select that swimmer's best available season and session for the event automatically. It removes the year-and-session guess for that pick.
When a charge is spent: Coach's Board, Reroll, and Time Machine are spent after they succeed. Event Scout is spent only after a successful report. To cancel Second Chance before seeing a performance, click its button again. Once the result appears, Second Chance is spent.
Simple Strategy for a First Game
- Do not automatically put every star swimmer in their most famous event—protect difficult lineup spots that may be harder to fill later.
- Check which events are still open before choosing. A strong swimmer is only useful where your lineup still has space.
- Use Coach's Board when you do not recognize the swimmers. Use Event Scout when you need to know where one swimmer helps most.
- Save Second Chance for a decision where a bad year, session, or event choice could seriously hurt the lineup.
- One weak pick will not end the game. Your final result is based on the average of all 13 ratings.
