What is the average 100m butterfly time by age?

Among Australian competitive swimmers, the median 100m butterfly long course time is 1:31.58 (boys) / 1:31.62 (girls) at age 10, 1:17.29 / 1:19.13 at age 12, and 1:07.34 / 1:12.12 at age 14. Full table by age below, from ages 8 to 16.

What is a good 100m butterfly time for a 12-year-old?

The median 100m butterfly long course time for 12-year-olds is 1:17.29 for boys and 1:19.13 for girls. About 1:11.80 (boys) and 1:14.27 (girls) reach the top 25% of the age group, and roughly 1:07.75 and 1:10.32 the top 10%.

Are these average times for all children or just competitive swimmers?

Competitive swimmers only. Every time comes from a swimmer racing at a sanctioned Australian competition, so the median is the middle of the competitive field — already well ahead of the average child of the same age. A swimmer near these medians is doing well.

Why do the tables use long course (50m pool) times?

Long course is the standard for championship pathways in Australia. Short course (25m pool) times are usually a little faster because of the extra turns, so if your swimmer's PB is short course, expect it to be slightly quicker than the equivalent long course benchmark.

My swimmer is slower than the median for their age. Should I worry?

No. Half of all competitive swimmers are below the median by definition, entry age varies by years, and year-on-year improvement matters far more than any single benchmark. A swimmer who starts behind and improves steadily routinely passes swimmers who were faster earlier. Trajectory beats snapshot.

Australian data · 2022–2026

Average 100m butterfly time by age

Median, top-25% and top-10% 100m butterfly long course times for competitive swimmers aged 8–16: by age and gender, from more than 600,000 Australian race results.

The median 100m butterfly time for a 12-year-old is about 1:17.29 for boys and 1:19.13 for girls — the middle of the Australian competitive field. About 1:11.80 (boys) and 1:14.27 (girls) reach the top 25% of the age group, and roughly 1:07.75 and 1:10.32 the top 10%. The full table by age (8–16) is below.

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100m butterfly benchmarks by age (long course)

Best long course times per swimmer at each age
Age	Boys median	Boys top 25%	Boys top 10%	Girls median	Girls top 25%	Girls top 10%
8	—	—	—	—	—	—
9	1:38.04	1:29.27	1:23.87	1:39.25	1:32.35	1:25.20
10	1:31.58	1:24.18	1:19.22	1:31.62	1:24.84	1:20.49
11	1:23.59	1:17.31	1:13.00	1:26.19	1:19.14	1:15.34
12	1:17.29	1:11.80	1:07.75	1:19.13	1:14.27	1:10.32
13	1:11.07	1:06.62	1:03.28	1:14.29	1:10.41	1:07.29
14	1:07.34	1:03.12	1:00.29	1:12.12	1:08.24	1:05.65
15	1:03.92	1:00.85	58.44	1:09.99	1:06.13	1:04.20
16	1:02.29	59.61	57.09	1:09.09	1:05.61	1:03.67

Based on more than 6,000 best times from more than 2,000 swimmers (one best time per swimmer at each age), drawn from more than 24,000 long course 100m butterfly swims at Australian competitions between January 2022 and September 2026.

Source and method: SwimProgress — best long course time per swimmer, per age (age at race date), for 100m butterfly, aggregated across more than 600,000 publicly available Australian competition results (2022–2026); each cell is based on at least 45 swimmers, most well over 100. Age is the swimmer's age on race day, based on their recorded or estimated birth date. Anonymised and aggregated. Reuse freely with attribution (CC BY 4.0).

How to read this

Median means half of competitive swimmers that age are faster and half are slower. Top 25% and top 10% mark the sharper end of the field — roughly the swimmers in contention at state-level meets in the older age groups.

Improvement slows as swimmers get older, which is why small time drops matter more with age. See the full picture in how much swimmers improve by age.

These are long course (50m pool) times, the standard for championship pathways in Australia. For every stroke and both distances, see average swim times by age. To check whether your swimmer is close to a championship standard, try the qualifying times calculator.

Average times for related events

Check how your swimmer's 100m butterfly compares with state and national qualifying times →

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