Parent Role

Cadetes swimming age group has no national championship

The Cadetes swimming age group has no national championship, TAC or qualifying times. At seven, times are recorded at local meets. The coach uses this season to build skills and habits.

September 18, 2026 · 3 min read

Idea in Brief

  • There is nothing national to qualify for. Cadetes has no national championship, TAC or mínimos.
  • The calendar is local. Territorial associações and clubs run Cadetes festivals with their own bands.
  • Keep this season light. The coach builds skills and habits; you make the child want to return.

A club message says Festival de Natal de Cadetes, and your seven-year-old wants to know when they swim. You’re still trying to work out whether this is a championship. Cadetes is the escalão (age category) before the national programme begins. In the Federação Portuguesa de Natação (FPN) rules for the national championships, Cadetes has no row, no championship, no TAC (qualifying entry standard) and no mínimos (qualifying times). For many clubs, that leaves room for a low-pressure year.

The FPN set the start of the 2026/27 época desportiva (sports season) for natação pura at 15 September 2026. The FPN’s Política Desportiva for this season sets Cadetes C at 9 and younger, Cadetes B at 10 and 11, and Cadetes A at 12. The escalão is set by the year on the birth certificate and stays fixed for the season. A birthday during it changes nothing. The bands move up one year when a new season opens.

Instead, territorial associações and clubs run the Cadetes meets. Their calendars often mix ages and use short provas (events). Last season’s Portuguese calendar carried Festival de Natal de Cadetes and the mixed-age Torneio de Abertura de Infantis e Cadetes; the Portugal meets calendar is where this season’s appear. The FPN still sets the shape: a TORTEGRI series in three progressive rounds for Cadetes B and A. Each associação may rename the bands to suit it, as long as a race is between swimmers of the same birth year. So the name on the poster changes from region to region while the structure behind it does not.

Coaches often use this space to work on strokes, starts, turns and the habit of training. Times are still recorded. With no national cut to chase, though, the number doesn’t need to run the season. The coach chooses the events and decides what to take from each swim. That keeps the technical work on deck and leaves home free from comparisons.

Your part is practical: get them there, bring food and keep the day warm. The first-meet guide can settle the basic questions, while the meet-day food guide helps with the bag. On the drive home, skip the review. “I liked watching you swim” is enough. If they want to talk, listen without turning the chat into a scorecard. Keep enough warmth around the day that they want to come back.

After a swimmer’s final Cadetes season, Infantis B is the first escalão with FPN national meets and printed qualifying times; the coach picks and enters their events. In 2026/27, those are the Torneio Zonal de Infantis, 26 to 28 February 2027, and Campeonato Nacional de Infantis, 23 to 25 July 2027.

Share it with your swimmer

Keep the explanation as light as the meet:

  • Under 12 (you’re driving). “There isn’t a championship to reach. Let’s enjoy today’s meet.” because a clear answer keeps the day small.
  • 12–15 (sharing the wheel). “Cadetes times are recorded, but they don’t unlock a national meet.” because they can understand how the system changes.
  • 16+ (they’re driving). “For Cadetes, the coach handles the swimming and we keep the day light.” because they can help set that tone.

Stay aligned with your coach

The coach chooses the provas and handles every entry; you handle logistics, food and a warm home. Ask “Which local meets are part of their season, and what should we know before each one?” Then leave the swimming decisions with the coach.

Keep exploring

← Back to the library