In January 2010, the FINA Bureau approved the swimming qualification system for the 2011 World Aquatics Championships. This represented the first time that a qualification system (including time standards) was used for the swimming portion of the world championships. Times had to be swum at a FINA approved competition/meet between March 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. The qualification meets included continental championships in 2010 and 2011 (e.g. European Championships, Asian Games, Pan American Games); and international competitions approved by FINA in advance. All meets for the qualification were swum in 50 meters course. The qualifying system for individual events was similar to what is employed for the
Olympics. Historically, there has been a limit of 2 swimmers per country per individual event, and one relay team per country per relay event. This limitation remains; however, if a country wished to have more than one male and one female swimmer in up to 2 events each, then an athlete(s) had to meet one of two standards: • a
B standard which qualifies up to one swimmer per event, or • an
A standard which qualifies up to two swimmers per event, where both swimmers must meet this faster standard. ==Events==