The `.cl2` / SDIF v3 file format¶

.cl2 files contain USA-Swimming meet results in Standard Data Interchange Format version 3 (SDIF v3) — the format produced and consumed by Hy-Tek Meet Manager and TeamUnify, and parsed by tunas.

This page is a complete field-level reference for SDIF v3: every record type, every field (column position, mandatory level, data type), and every code table. It then marks, inline and in §7, where real-world .cl2 files deviate from the published standard — based on an empirical sweep of 2,190 files / 6,354,732 records from two LSCs (Pacific and Michigan).

How to read the deviation marks

The authoritative SDIF v3 specification is bundled verbatim with the library at src/tunas/_data/sdif-v3.txt; the tables below are derived from it. A 🔶 cl2: note flags an empirically verified divergence or convention of real Hy-Tek/TeamUnify output — every such note states the measured fact (and its rate) from the 2,190-file corpus. Fields with no note behave as the spec describes. Nothing is marked on suspicion; only on counted evidence.

Introduction — official SDIF v3 (April 28, 1998), abridged

United States Swimming developed a standard interchange format for technical data so swimming data could be transmitted among clubs, Local Swimming Committees (LSCs), and the USS headquarters office — distributing meet results to swimmers and clubs, and letting LSCs compile statistics without retyping printed sheets. An ad-hoc committee, with input from US Masters Swimming and a coach familiar with high-school and college requirements, prepared the design so all aquatic-sports organizations could share one standard; new records, codes, and fields can be added.

The format is modular and fixed-length. Each file combines records in an order that matches the data being transmitted (meet entries have one order, time standards another), and record types that aren't needed are simply omitted. The file structure implies an order of less-frequent data preceding more-frequent data (one meet, multiple teams, multiple athletes per team). Certain fields are declared mandatory to identify the data adequately and to preserve unique identifiers.

1. Physical record format¶

Each record is a fixed 162 bytes: 160 data bytes + CR (byte 161) + LF (byte 162).
Bytes 1–2 are a case-sensitive record-type code (A0, B1, …).
Fields occupy fixed columns; unused ("future use") space must be blank-filled.
Only two records are required — A0 (first) and Z0 (last); all others are optional.

🔶 cl2: Confirmed. Every one of 6,354,732 records was 160 data chars (2 lone 159-char lines aside), terminated by CRLF, with A0 the first and Z0 the last record in 100% of 2,190 files. Files are encoded CP-1252, not 7-bit ASCII — accented names use high bytes (decode as CP-1252 to keep columns aligned). The spec states the extension is .SD3; meet-results files are distributed as .cl2 (and sometimes .sd3) — same format.

Field data types¶

Type	Meaning
`CONST`	Literal constant (the 2-char record code)
`ALPHA`	Text, left-justified; numeric-only ALPHA right-justified
`INT`	ASCII digits, right-justified, blank-filled
`DEC`	ASCII digits, right-justified; optional decimal point
`CODE`	Value from a code table (§6); case-sensitive, exact match
`DATE`	`MMDDYYYY`, zero-filled, no blanks
`TIME`	`mm:ss.ss` (colon at byte 3, period at byte 6), or all-blank, or a TIME code (`NT`/`NS`/`DNF`/`DQ`/`SCR`)
`PHONE`	Free-form phone number
`USPS`	Two-letter US Postal state abbreviation, capitalized
`NAME`	`Last, First MI` packed into the field width
`USSNUM`	14-char USA-Swimming member ID — see construction
`LOGICAL`	Upper-case `T`, upper-case `F`, or blank

Mandatory levels¶

Level	Meaning
M1	Must contain a non-blank, valid entry for the record to be usable
M2	Should be present; a reader must report (not reject) a blank M2 field
(blank)	Optional
`` / `*` / `#`	Conditional — see the footnotes under each record

Field-format conventions¶

From the spec's Format Design section — the rules behind the blank-handling and justification seen in real files:

"No blanks" vs "non-blank". No blanks means not a single blank anywhere in the field; non-blank means blanks may appear, but the field must hold at least one non-blank character.
POSTAL CODE may be left- or right-justified, but should keep leading zeroes where defined (e.g. a Vermont ZIP of 05452).
DATE (MMDDYYYY) must contain no blanks when supplied — zero-fill each part.

USSNUM construction. The member ID packs MMDDYY birth date + first 3 letters of the legal first name + middle initial + first 4 letters of the last name. An asterisk fills any position with no available character (missing MI, or a name too short to fill its slots), and special characters are stripped first:

Swimmer	USSNUM
Catherine A. Durance	`011553CATADURA`
Cy V. Young	`091879CY*VYOUN`
Thomas Chu	`020981THOCHU`
Ty Lee	`011873TY*LEE`
Dave T. O'Neil	`030367DAVTONEI`

2. Record hierarchy¶

A0  File description ....... 1 per file (required, first)
 B1 Meet ................... 1 per file
  B2 Meet host ............. optional
   C1 Team ID .............. 1 per team
    C2 Team entry .......... coach + record counts (optional)
     D0 Individual event ... 1 per individual splash
      D3 Individual info ... new USS#, preferred name (1 after a swimmer's first D0)
       G0 Splits ........... 0+ per D0
     E0 Relay event ........ 1 per relay squad
      F0 Relay name ........ 4+ per E0 (legs + alternates)
       G0 Splits ........... 0+ per F0
Z0  File terminator ........ 1 per file (required, last)

The spec also defines records for other transmission types — D1/D2 (LSC registration), J0/J1/J2 (time-standard lists) — documented in §5.

🔶 cl2: Confirmed. Across 2,190 meet-results files the only record codes that ever appear are A0 B1 C1 D0 D3 E0 F0 G0 Z0. B2, C2, D1, D2, J0, J1, J2 were never emitted (0 occurrences in 6.35 M records). These are optional or belong to other transmission pyramids, so omitting them is spec-legal — but note the D0 record's own rule (below) that it "must be preceded by a C1 and a C2": real files supply C1 only and rely on the C2-absent fallback.

Other transmission pyramids¶

The tree above is the Meet pyramid. The spec defines three more record orders for other transmission types; their records are detailed in §5 but never appear in meet-results .cl2.

Record Times (Top-16 / record times — for Top-16 only, multiple meets are allowed):

A0  File description
 D0 Individual event ... 1 per time achieved
  D3 Individual info
   G0 Splits ........... 0+ per D0
Z0  File terminator

Time Standards:

A0  File description
 J0 Meet qualifying times .. 1 per event (all pool types)
 J1 NAG qualifying times ... 1 per event + course
 J2 USS motivational times . 1 per event + level
Z0  File terminator

LSC Registration:

A0  File description
 C1 Team ID
  D1 Individual administrative .. 1 per swimmer
  D2 Individual contact ......... 1 per swimmer
  D3 Individual info ............ 1 per swimmer
Z0  File terminator

3. Common records¶

A0 — File description (required, first record)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`A0`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
4–11		ALPHA	SDIF version number
12–13	M1	CODE	FILE / transmission type (003)
14–43			future use
44–63		ALPHA	software name
64–73		ALPHA	software version
74–93	M1	ALPHA	contact name
94–105	M1	PHONE	contact phone
106–113	M1	DATE	file creation/update date
114–155			future use
156–157		ALPHA	submitted-by LSC (Top-16)
158–160			future use

🔶 cl2: contact name and phone (both M1) are populated in 100% of files. FILE code is 02 (Meet Results) for normal exports.

Spec note. In the spec these A0 fields (plus software name/version) carry an extra *, marking them as additionally required when the file submits LSC-registration data. For meet results, the plain M1/M2 levels shown above apply.

B1 — Meet (1 per file)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`B1`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
4–11			future use
12–41	M1	ALPHA	meet name
42–63		ALPHA	meet address line 1
64–85		ALPHA	meet address line 2
86–105	M2	ALPHA	meet city
106–107	M2	USPS	meet state
108–117		ALPHA	postal code
118–120		CODE	COUNTRY code (004)
121	M2	CODE	MEET type code (005)
122–129	M1	DATE	meet start
130–137	M2	DATE	meet end
138–141		INT	altitude of pool (feet)
142–149			future use
150		CODE	COURSE code (013) — default course
151–160			future use

🔶 cl2: The M2 meet-type field (col 121) is blank in 100% of 2,190 files — Hy-Tek never records the meet type. The course field (col 150) uses the alpha course alternative: Y (1,731 files) / L (429) / S (30). Meet state (M2) is blank in 8.6%.

B2 — Meet host (optional)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`B2`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
4–11			future use
12–41	M2	ALPHA	meet host name
42–63		ALPHA	host address line 1
64–85		ALPHA	host address line 2
86–105		ALPHA	host city
106–107		USPS	host state
108–117		ALPHA	postal code
118–120		CODE	COUNTRY code (004)
121–132		PHONE	meet host phone
133–160			future use

🔶 cl2: Never emitted (0 of 2,190 files). Meet-host data, when present, lives in the sibling .hy3 file's B2 record, not the .cl2.

C1 — Team ID (1 per team)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`C1`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
4–11			future use
12–17	M1	CODE	TEAM code (006) — 2-char LSC + 4-char team
18–47	M1	ALPHA	full team name
48–63		ALPHA	abbreviated team name
64–85		ALPHA	team address line 1
86–107		ALPHA	team address line 2
108–127		ALPHA	team city
128–129		USPS	team state
130–139		ALPHA	postal code
140–142		CODE	COUNTRY code (004)
143		CODE	REGION code (007)
144–149			future use
150		ALPHA	optional 5th char of team code
151–160			future use

🔶 cl2: non-USPS values appear in the state field — e.g. ON (Ontario, a Canadian province, not a USPS state) — and --- appears in the COUNTRY field; both are outside the spec's typed/table-checked domain (rare: ~tens of records).

C2 — Team entry (optional: coach + counts)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`C2`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
4–11			future use
12–17	M2	CODE	TEAM code (006)
18–47	M2	ALPHA	coach name
48–59		PHONE	coach phone
60–65		INT	# individual entries (= D0 count)
66–71		INT	# different athletes
72–76		INT	# relay entries (= E0 count)
77–82		INT	# relay swimmer entries (= F0 count)
83–88		INT	# split records (= G0 count)
89–104		ALPHA	short team name (display)
105–149			future use
150		ALPHA	optional 5th char of team code
151–160			future use

🔶 cl2: Never emitted (0 of 2,190 files). Consequently the per-team entry counts and coach name are unavailable from .cl2, and D0 records are preceded by C1 only.

4. Swim records¶

D0 — Individual event (1 per individual splash)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`D0`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
4–11			future use
12–39	M1	NAME	swimmer name
40–51	M2	ALPHA	USS# (12-char)
52		CODE	ATTACH code (016)
53–55		CODE	CITIZEN code (009)
56–63	M2	DATE	swimmer birth date
64–65		ALPHA	swimmer age or class (e.g. `Jr`/`Sr`)
66	M1	CODE	SEX code (010)
67	M1#	CODE	EVENT SEX code (011)
68–71	M1#	INT	event distance
72	M1#	CODE	STROKE code (012)
73–76		ALPHA	event number
77–80	M1#	CODE	EVENT AGE code (025)
81–88	M2	DATE	date of swim
89–96		TIME	seed time
97	*	CODE	COURSE of seed time (013)
98–105		TIME	prelim time
106	*	CODE	COURSE of prelim time (013)
107–114		TIME	swim-off time
115	*	CODE	COURSE of swim-off time (013)
116–123		TIME	finals time
124	*	CODE	COURSE of finals time (013)
125–126		INT	prelim heat
127–128		INT	prelim lane
129–130		INT	finals heat
131–132		INT	finals lane
133–135	**	INT	prelim place ranking
136–138	**	INT	finals place ranking
139–142	**	DEC	points scored (finals)
143–144		CODE	EVENT TIME CLASS code (014)
145		ALPHA	flight status (time-standard subdivision)
146–160			future use

* mandatory iff the immediately preceding time field is non-blank. ** mandatory (M1) only for championship meets (MEET code 6/7). # event sex/distance/stroke/age and seed are not mandatory for relay-only swimmers.

Spec note. The spec reserves "an additional record type … for open water swimming" and requires multiple D0 records when there are multiple swim-offs.

🔶 cl2: - EVENT TIME CLASS (col 143–144) is blank in 100% of 3,352,073 D0 records; flight status (col 145) is blank in all but 1. - Birth date (M2) is blank in 16.6% of records — the privacy "WODOB" (without-DOB) export practice — and USS# (M2) is blank in 1.8%. - Citizenship is blank in 83% (optional field, usually omitted; USA when present). - A non-spec STROKE code H (diving) appears 2,840× — the STROKE table (012) defines only 1–7. The seed-course code uses the alpha alternative (Y/L/S). - ATTACH is A (attached) or U (unattached); seen 3,325,716 / 26,357.

D3 — Individual info (new USS# + preferred name)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`D3`
3–16	M2	USSNUM	USS# (new 14-char)
17–31		ALPHA	preferred first name
32–33	*	CODE	ethnicity (026)
34	*	LOGICAL	Junior High School
35	*	LOGICAL	Senior High School
36	*	LOGICAL	YMCA/YWCA
37	*	LOGICAL	College
38	*	LOGICAL	Summer Swim League
39	*	LOGICAL	Masters
40	*	LOGICAL	Disabled Sports Org.
41	*	LOGICAL	Water Polo
42	*	LOGICAL	None
43–160			future use

* required only for LSC registration submissions. One D3 follows a swimmer's first D0 (or F0). It is the source of the modern 14-char SWIMS ID and the preferred name.

E0 — Relay event (1 per relay squad)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`E0`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
4–11			future use
12	M1	ALPHA	relay designator (`A`,`B`,… concatenated with team abbr)
13–18	M1	CODE	TEAM code (006)
19–20		INT	# F0 relay-name records to follow
21	M1	CODE	EVENT SEX code (011)
22–25	M1	INT	relay distance
26	M1	CODE	STROKE code (012)
27–30		ALPHA	event number
31–34	M1	CODE	EVENT AGE code (025)
35–37		INT	total age of all athletes
38–45	M2	DATE	date of swim
46–53		TIME	seed time
54	*	CODE	COURSE of seed (013)
55–62		TIME	prelim time
63	*	CODE	COURSE of prelim (013)
64–71		TIME	swim-off time
72	*	CODE	COURSE of swim-off (013)
73–80		TIME	finals time
81	*	CODE	COURSE of finals (013)
82–83		INT	prelim heat
84–85		INT	prelim lane
86–87		INT	finals heat
88–89		INT	finals lane
90–92	**	INT	prelim place ranking
93–95	**	INT	finals place ranking
96–99	**	DEC	points scored (finals)
100–101		CODE	EVENT TIME CLASS code (014)
102–160			future use

*/** as for D0.

🔶 cl2: the non-spec STROKE code H also appears here (245×). Relay strokes are otherwise 6 (free relay) / 7 (medley relay) as specified.

F0 — Relay name (one per relay leg/alternate)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`F0`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
4–15			future use
16–21	M1	CODE	TEAM code (006)
22	M1#	ALPHA	relay designator
23–50	M1	NAME	swimmer name
51–62	M2	ALPHA	USS# (12-char)
63–65		CODE	CITIZEN code (009)
66–73	M2	DATE	swimmer birth date
74–75		ALPHA	swimmer age or class
76	M1	CODE	SEX code (010)
77	M1	CODE	ORDER (024) — prelim leg
78	M1	CODE	ORDER (024) — swim-off leg
79	M1	CODE	ORDER (024) — finals leg
80–87		TIME	leg time
88	*	CODE	COURSE of leg time (013)
89–92		DEC	automatic take-off time (`s.ss`)
93–106	M2	USSNUM	USS# (new 14-char)
107–121		ALPHA	preferred first name
122–160			future use

# not mandatory for pre-finalized meet-entry teams. * mandatory iff preceding time non-blank.

G0 — Splits (0+ per D0 or F0)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`G0`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
4–15			future use
16–43		NAME	swimmer name
44–55		ALPHA	USS#
56	M1	INT	sequence # (orders multiple G0 for one swim)
57–58	M1	INT	total # splits for this event
59–62	M1	INT	split distance
63	M1	CODE	SPLIT code (015) — cumulative vs interval
64–71		TIME	split time 1
72–79		TIME	split time 2
80–87		TIME	split time 3
88–95		TIME	split time 4
96–103		TIME	split time 5
104–111		TIME	split time 6
112–119		TIME	split time 7
120–127		TIME	split time 8
128–135		TIME	split time 9
136–143		TIME	split time 10
144		CODE	PRELIMS/FINALS code (019)
145–160			future use

Up to ten split times per record; long races continue on further G0 records ordered by the col-56 sequence number. When the swimmer name (cols 16–43) is unavailable, the spec says to enter the literal NO SWIMMER NAME (or another meaningful string).

For relays, the G0 records hold whole-relay cumulative times spread across the relay's per-leg records, each restarting at split 1. The reader treats these as the relay's own splits: they attach to the relay row (Relay.splits, matching the .hy3 reader), and each split's cumulative distance is its leg's start distance plus its in-leg offset (50/100/150/200/… for a 4×50). The leg start is tracked by a running leg index — seeded from each F0 leg's number and advanced once per G0 record — rather than by a running count of recorded splits, so a blank interior split or an unnamed final leg no longer shifts the later marks short. Some files emit a relay's G0s directly after the E0 with no F0 legs (often with NO SWIMMER NAME); these still attach to the relay row.

Z0 — File terminator (required, last record)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`Z0`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
4–11			future use
12–13	M1	CODE	FILE / transmission type (003)
14–43		ALPHA	notes
44–46		INT	# B records
47–49		INT	# different meets
50–53		INT	# C records
54–57		INT	# different teams
58–63		INT	# D records
64–69		INT	# different swimmers
70–74		INT	# E records
75–80		INT	# F records
81–86		INT	# G records
87–91		INT	batch number
92–94		INT	# new members
95–97		INT	# renew members
98–100		INT	# member changes
101–103		INT	# member deletes
104–160			future use

🔶 cl2: the # D records count (col 58–63) equals the actual D0 record count in 100% of 2,190 files — the terminator's D-count is reliable.

5. Records not used by meet results¶

The spec defines these for the LSC-registration and time-standards transmission pyramids. They are documented here for completeness; none appear in meet-results .cl2 (🔶 cl2: 0 of 2,190 files).

D1 — Individual administrative (registration; PII)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`D1`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
12–17	*	CODE	TEAM code (006)
18		ALPHA	5th char of team code
19–46	M1	NAME	swimmer name
48–59	M2	ALPHA	USS#
60		CODE	ATTACH (016)
61–63	*	CODE	CITIZEN (009)
64–71	M2	DATE	birth date
72–73		ALPHA	age/class
74	M1	CODE	SEX (010)
75–104		ALPHA	admin info field 1
105–124	*	ALPHA	old member number (on init/DOB change)
125–136	*	PHONE	phone 1
137–148		PHONE	phone 2
149–156	*	DATE	USS registration date
157	*	CODE	MEMBER transaction (021)
158–160			future use

D2 — Individual contact (registration; mailing PII)¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`D2`
3	M2	CODE	ORG code (001)
12–17	*	CODE	TEAM code (006)
18		ALPHA	5th char of team code
19–46	M1	NAME	swimmer name
47–76		ALPHA	alternate mailing name
77–106	*	ALPHA	mailing street
107–126	*	ALPHA	mailing city
127–128	*	USPS	mailing state
129–140		ALPHA	mailing country
141–150	*	ALPHA	postal code
151–153		CODE	COUNTRY (004)
154		CODE	REGION (007)
155	*	CODE	ANSWER (023) — member of another FINA federation?
156	*	CODE	SEASON (022)
157–160			future use

J0 — Meet qualifying times¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`J0`
3–10	M1	DATE	effective date
11	M1	CODE	MEET (005)
17	M1	CODE	EVENT SEX (011)
18–21	M1	INT	distance
22	M1	CODE	STROKE (012)
23–30		TIME	SCY time
31–38		TIME	SCM time
39–46		TIME	LCM time
47–50	M1	CODE	EVENT AGE (025)
51		CODE	ZONE (017)
52–53		CODE	REGION (007)
54–55		CODE	LSC (002)
56–160			future use

J1 — National Age Group qualifying times¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`J1`
3–10	M1	DATE	effective date
11	M1	CODE	EVENT SEX (011)
12–15	M1	INT	distance
16	M1	CODE	STROKE (012)
17–20	M1	CODE	EVENT AGE (025)
21	M1	CODE	COURSE (013)
22–29		TIME	BB
30–37		TIME	B
38–45		TIME	A
46–53		TIME	AA
54–61		TIME	AAA
62–69		TIME	AAAA
70–160			future use

J2 — USS motivational times¶

Cols	M	Type	Field
1–2	M1	CONST	`J2`
3	M1	CODE	EVENT SEX (011)
4–7	M1	INT	distance
8	M1	CODE	STROKE (012)
9–12	M1	CODE	COLOR (018)
13–20		TIME	SCY level 1
21–28		TIME	SCY level 2
29–36		TIME	SCY level 3
37–44		TIME	LCM level 1
45–52		TIME	LCM level 2
53–60		TIME	LCM level 3
61–68	M1	DATE	effective date
69–160			future use

6. Code tables¶

ORG (001) — Organization: 1 USS · 2 Masters · 3 NCAA · 4 NCAA Div I · 5 NCAA Div II · 6 NCAA Div III · 7 YMCA · 8 FINA · 9 High School.

LSC (002) — Local Swimming Committee (2-letter): AD Adirondack · AK Alaska · AM Allegheny Mountain · AR Arkansas · AZ Arizona · BD Border · CA Southern California · CC Central California · CO Colorado · CT Connecticut · FG Florida Gold Coast · FL Florida · GA Georgia · GU Gulf · HI Hawaii · IA Iowa · IE Inland Empire · IL Illinois · IN Indiana · KY Kentucky · LA Louisiana · LE Lake Erie · MA Middle Atlantic · MD Maryland · ME Maine · MI Michigan · MN Minnesota · MR Metropolitan · MS Mississippi · MT Montana · MV Missouri Valley · MW Midwestern · NC North Carolina · ND North Dakota · NE New England · NI Niagara · NJ New Jersey · NM New Mexico · NT North Texas · OH Ohio · OK Oklahoma · OR Oregon · OZ Ozark · PC Pacific · PN Pacific Northwest · PV Potomac Valley · SC South Carolina · SD South Dakota · SE Southeastern · SI San Diego Imperial · SN Sierra Nevada · SR Snake River · ST South Texas · UT Utah · VA Virginia · WI Wisconsin · WT West Texas · WV West Virginia · WY Wyoming.

FILE (003) — File/transmission type: 01 Meet Registrations · 02 Meet Results · 03 OVC · 04 National Age Group Record · 05 LSC Age Group Record · 06 LSC Motivational List · 07 National Records & Rankings · 08 Team Selection · 09 LSC Best Times · 10 USS Registration · 16 Top 16 · 20 Vendor-defined.

COUNTRY (004) — standard FINA three-letter codes (effective 1993). The full table is below; a few entries reflect early-1990s geopolitics (e.g. TCH Czechoslovakia, ZAI Zaire, YUG Yugoslavia, GER/GEO reuse) and are reproduced verbatim from the spec.

COUNTRY Code 004 — full FINA table (effective 1993)

AFG Afghanistan · AHO Antilles Netherlands (Dutch West Indies) · ALB Albania · ALG Algeria · AND Andorra · ANG Angola · ANT Antigua · ARG Argentina · ARM Armenia · ARU Aruba · ASA American Samoa · AUS Australia · AUT Austria · AZE Azerbaijan · BAH Bahamas · BAN Bangladesh · BAR Barbados · BEL Belgium · BEN Benin · BER Bermuda · BHU Bhutan · BIZ Belize · BLS Belarus · BOL Bolivia · BOT Botswana · BRA Brazil · BRN Bahrain · BRU Brunei · BUL Bulgaria · BUR Burkina Faso · CAF Central African Republic · CAN Canada · CAY Cayman Islands · CGO People's Rep. of Congo · CHA Chad · CHI Chile · CHN People's Rep. of China · CIV Ivory Coast · CMR Cameroon · COK Cook Islands · COL Columbia · CRC Costa Rica · CRO Croatia · CUB Cuba · CYP Cyprus · DEN Denmark · DJI Djibouti · DOM Dominican Republic · ECU Ecuador · EGY Arab Republic of Egypt · ESA El Salvador · ESP Spain · EST Estonia · ETH Ethiopia · FIJ Fiji · FIN Finland · FRA France · GAB Gabon · GAM Gambia · GBR Great Britain · GER Germany · GEO Georgia · GEQ Equatorial Guinea · GHA Ghana · GRE Greece · GRN Grenada · GUA Guatemala · GUI Guinea · GUM Guam · GUY Guyana · HAI Haiti · HKG Hong Kong · HON Honduras · HUN Hungary · INA Indonesia · IND India · IRL Ireland · IRI Islamic Rep. of Iran · IRQ Iraq · ISL Iceland · ISR Israel · ISV Virgin Islands · ITA Italy · IVB British Virgin Islands · JAM Jamaica · JOR Jordan · JPN Japan · KEN Kenya · KGZ Kyrghyzstan · KOR Korea (South) · KSA Saudi Arabia · KUW Kuwait · KZK Kazakhstan · LAO Laos · LAT Latvia · LBA Libya · LBR Liberia · LES Lesotho · LIB Lebanon · LIE Liechtenstein · LIT Lithuania · LUX Luxembourg · MAD Madagascar · MAS Malaysia · MAR Morocco · MAW Malawi · MDV Maldives · MEX Mexico · MGL Mongolia · MLD Moldova · MLI Mali · MLT Malta · MON Monaco · MOZ Mozambique · MRI Mauritius · MTN Mauritania · MYA Union of Myanmar · NAM Namibia · NCA Nicaragua · NED The Netherlands · NEP Nepal · NIG Niger · NGR Nigeria · NOR Norway · NZL New Zealand · OMA Oman · PAK Pakistan · PAN Panama · PAR Paraguay · PER Peru · PHI Philippines · PNG Papau-New Guinea · POL Poland · POR Portugal · PRK Democratic People's Rep. of Korea · PUR Puerto Rico · QAT Qatar · ROM Romania · RSA South Africa · RUS Russia · RWA Rwanda · SAM Western Samoa · SEN Senegal · SEY Seychelles · SIN Singapore · SLE Sierra Leone · SLO Slovenia · SMR San Marino · SOL Solomon Islands · SOM Somalia · SRI Sri Lanka · SUD Sudan · SUI Switzerland · SUR Surinam · SWE Sweden · SWZ Swaziland · SYR Syria · TAN Tanzania · TCH Czechoslovakia · TGA Tonga · THA Thailand · TJK Tadjikistan · TOG Togo · TPE Chinese Taipei · TRI Trinidad & Tobago · TUN Tunisia · TUR Turkey · UAE United Arab Emirates · UGA Uganda · UKR Ukraine · URU Uruguay · USA United States of America · VAN Vanuatu · VEN Venezuela · VIE Vietnam · VIN St. Vincent and the Grenadines · YEM Yemen · YUG Yugoslavia · ZAI Zaire · ZAM Zambia · ZIM Zimbabwe.

MEET (005) — Meet type: 1 Invitational · 2 Regional · 3 LSC Championship · 4 Zone · 5 Zone Championship · 6 National Championship · 7 Juniors · 8 Seniors · 9 Dual · 0 Time Trials · A International · B Open · C League.

TEAM (006) — 2-char LSC + 4-char team code (e.g. COFAST); Unattached is always UN (e.g. FG UN).

REGION (007) — 1–9 Regions 1–9; A Region 10 · B 11 · C 12 · D 13 · E 14.

USS# (008) — USA-Swimming member number. Refers to USS membership files; the code list itself is not published. See USSNUM construction for the 14-char layout.

CITIZEN (009) — 2AL dual USA + other · FGN foreign · or any COUNTRY (004) code.

SEX (010) — M Male · F Female.

EVENT SEX (011) — M Male · F Female · X Mixed.

STROKE (012) — 1 Freestyle · 2 Backstroke · 3 Breaststroke · 4 Butterfly · 5 Individual Medley · 6 Freestyle Relay · 7 Medley Relay.

🔶 cl2: a non-spec H also occurs (diving) — see §7.

COURSE (013) — 1/S Short Course Meters · 2/Y Short Course Yards · 3/L Long Course Meters · X Disqualified. (🔶 cl2: real files use the alpha forms S/Y/L.)

EVENT TIME CLASS (014) — two concatenated chars (left = lower limit, right = upper limit); U no lower limit · O no upper limit · 1 Novice · 2 B · P BB · 3 A · 4 AA · 5 AAA · 6 AAAA · J Junior · S Senior. Examples: 22 = B meets, 23 = B–A meets, 4O = AA+ meets. (🔶 cl2: blank in 100% of D0 records.)

SPLIT (015) — C Cumulative · I Interval.

ATTACH (016) — A Attached · U Unattached.

ZONE (017) — E Eastern · S Southern · C Central · W Western.

COLOR (018) — GOLD · SILV · BRNZ · BLUE · RED · WHIT.

PRELIMS/FINALS (019) — P Prelims · F Finals · S Swim-offs.

TIME (020) — explanation codes used in place of a numeric time: NT No Time · NS No Swim/No Show · DNF Did Not Finish · DQ Disqualified · SCR Scratch.

MEMBER (021) — R Renew · N New · C Change · D Delete.

SEASON (022) — 1 Season 1 · 2 Season 2 · N Year-round.

ANSWER (023) — T/F logical (other-FINA-federation membership).

ORDER (024) — relay leg: 0 not on team for this swim · 1–4 legs 1–4 · A alternate.

EVENT AGE (025) — 4 chars: lower age (2 digits or UN) + upper age (2 digits or OV); single-digit ages zero-filled (no blanks).

ETHNICITY (026) — 1–2 chars: Q African American · R Asian/Pacific Islander · S Caucasian · T Hispanic · U Native American · V Other · W Decline (if first char is V/W/X, second must be blank).

7. How real `.cl2` files deviate from the spec¶

Every item here is a measured fact from the 2,190-file / 6,354,732-record corpus (Pacific + Michigan LSCs); nothing is conjecture.

#	Deviation / convention	Evidence
1	Only 9 of the spec's record types are emitted — `A0 B1 C1 D0 D3 E0 F0 G0 Z0`. `B2`, `C2`, `D1`, `D2`, `J0`, `J1`, `J2` never appear. (Omission is spec-legal — only `A0`/`Z0` are required — but `C2`'s absence means the `D0` "must be preceded by C1 and C2" rule is met via the C2-absent fallback.)	0 occurrences of those 7 codes in 6.35 M records
2	B1 meet-type (col 121, M2) is always blank — the meet type is never recorded.	2,190 / 2,190 files blank
3	D0/E0 EVENT TIME CLASS is always blank; D0 flight-status (col 145) effectively always blank.	3,352,073 / 3,352,073 D0 blank; 1 non-blank flight
4	A non-spec STROKE code `H` is used for diving — the STROKE table (012) defines only `1`–`7`.	D0 `H` ×2,840; E0 `H` ×245
5	Out-of-domain geography codes — `ON` (Ontario) in a USPS state field; `---` in a COUNTRY field.	tens of records, both LSCs
6	Birth date (M2) is frequently blank — the privacy "WODOB" export practice.	555,019 / 3,352,073 D0 = 16.6%
7	USS# (M2) occasionally blank; citizenship usually blank (optional field).	USS# 1.8%; citizen 83%
8	Alpha course alternative used (`Y`/`L`/`S`) rather than the numeric `1`/`2`/`3`.	B1 + all time-course fields
9	CP-1252 encoding (not 7-bit ASCII) and `.cl2`/`.sd3` extension (spec says `.SD3`).	accented names throughout
10	Content can be partial — some `.cl2` carry only a fraction of the swims in the sibling `.hy3` (e.g. a cl2 with 30 of 954 swims).	observed in pacswim batch

Things that do not deviate (verified, to forestall guesses): records are exactly 160 data chars + CRLF; A0 is first and Z0 last; the Z0 "# D records" count matches the actual D0 count in 100% of files; A0 contact name/phone (M1) are always present; ATTACH, SEX, EVENT SEX, PRELIMS/FINALS, ORDER, SPLIT codes and the heat/lane/place/time/seed fields all follow the spec. (Note: 100-yard / 4×25 relays and other unusual distances are spec-valid SDIF, even though tunas currently skips events it can't map — that is a parser limitation, not a file deviation.)

8. Coding examples¶

Only two records are required — A0 and Z0; everything between is optional and ordered less-frequent-to-more-frequent. The spec works through a two-team dual meet in which the host merges visiting-team data with its own.

Meet entry. The visiting team contributes A0, B1, B2 (the latter two as a courtesy), C1, C2, 74 D0/D3 records for 48 swimmers, 5 E0 relay entries, 29 F0, and a Z0. The host merges its own C1, C2, 63 D0/D3 for 51 swimmers, 6 E0, and 35 F0, sharing the visiting team's A0/B1/B2/Z0:

Visiting team                    Host team
A0  1 record                     (shares same record)
B1  1 dual meet                  (shares same record)
B2  1 names host team            (shares same record)
 C1 1 visiting team               C1 1 host team
 C2 1 visiting team               C2 1 host team
  D0/D3 74 athl-event              D0/D3 63 athl-event
  E0     5 relay entries           E0     6 relay entries
  F0    29 relay swimmers          F0    35 relay swimmers
Z0  1 record                     (shares same record)

Meet results from the same dual meet add G0 split records:

A0  1 record (sanction number + text)
 B1 1 / B2 1   meet + host data
 C1 1 / C2 1   visiting team
  D0 64 visiting        G0 31 individual splits
  E0  5 visiting        F0 20 relay names   G0 4 lead-off splits
 C1 1 / C2 1   host team
  D0 61 host            G0 22 individual splits
  E0  4 host            F0 16 relay names
Z0  1 terminator

Conventions drawn from these examples:

A swimmer who has not completed the 120-day waiting period is coded UNATTACHED on the individual record but may still be associated with the team.
Individual event records may appear in any order within a team; relay-name (F0) records must immediately follow their relay-event (E0) record.
For multi-team meets, all records for one team are grouped together, then the next team. Unattached swimmers not tied to a team form an "unattached team" with their own C1.

9. Revision history¶

SDIF v3 is dated April 28, 1998 (United States Swimming, "Standard Data Interchange Format Ver. 3.0, official"). The spec's own revision lists are reproduced below. A few entries describe edits the published tables don't fully reflect — e.g. revision 18 retires ANSWER Code 023, yet the D2 table still lists it; the layouts above reproduce the tables as printed.

Revision list — Version 3 changes

Revise the definition of mandatory fields (p.2).
Remove all vendor-defined fields → future use.
Remove all "checksum" fields → future use.
Add A0 field (156/2) "submitted by LSC" for Top-16 tabulation.
Make D0 "EVENT SEX Code 011" (67/1) mandatory.
Top-16 pyramid only: allow multiple meets.
Revise phone-number formatting restrictions (p.3).
Revise Time field format #3 (p.3).
Remove the H0 record.
Revise the Name field format (p.3).
Remove the "Transaction" field from all records → future use.
Change B1 "meet city" & "meet state" to M2 (p.10).
Remove the mandatory flag on C1 "Region Code" (p.13).
Rename "USS or other ID" to "USS#" everywhere and make it M2.
Remove "unique Event ID#" everywhere → future use.
Convert D1 "admin info" fields → future use.
Convert D1 "middle initial" → future use.
Remove "ANSWER Code 023" everywhere → future use.
Make M1: B1 "meet name"/"meet start"; C1 "TEAM code"/"full team name".
Make M2: D0 & E0 "date of swim"; D1 & F0 "swimmer birth date"; "ORG Code" in all records.
Convert D0 "flight status" → future use.
Prelims & finals place and points are M1 for championship meets.

Revision list — D3 / new-USS# additions

Add a new record (D3) with the new USS# and the swimmer's preferred first name.
Revise the pyramids to include the D3 record.
Add an SDIF-version-number field to A0 at 4/8.
Add the new-USS# definition to the format-design section.
Add condition (#) to D0 to allow relay-only swimmers.
Add the file-extension definition (.SD3) under format design (p.2).
Add registration-submission fields to the D3 record.
Add the ETHNICITY Code 026 definition.
Add and define a LOGICAL field type.
Revise the ALPHA type to allow right-justification of numeric data.
Add back Event Numbers.
Change the participation selections in the D3 record.
Implement the new USS# and preferred first name in F0 (instead of following F0 with a D3).

What `tunas` does with each record¶

Code	`tunas` behaviour
`A0`	Captured as `SourceFile` (provenance).
`B1`	Starts a `Meet`.
`B2`	Builds `Meet.host` (when present — not in these files).
`C1`	Creates a `Club`, or marks the swimmer context unattached.
`C2`	Adds coach/phone/entry counts (when present — not in these files).
`D0`	Creates an `IndividualSwim` per session; resolves/creates the `Swimmer`.
`D1`/`D2`	Populate `Swimmer.contact`/`registration` (PII; absent in results files).
`D3`	Sets `id_long`, `preferred_first_name`, demographics.
`E0`	Creates a `Relay` per session.
`F0`	Appends a `RelaySwim` (counting leg or alternate).
`G0`	Appends `Split`s — to the individual swim, or to the relay row for relays.
`J0`–`J2`	Surface as `ParseWarning` (qualifying-time records).
`Z0`	Resets parser context; keeps any note on `SourceFile.notes`.

Any 2-char code not in this table is recorded as a ParseWarning rather than parsed.

Bundled spec & further reading¶

The authoritative SDIF v3 specification ships verbatim with the library at src/tunas/_data/sdif-v3.txt (~65 KB).
The Hy-Tek .hy3 file format: the reverse-engineered sibling results format, cross-validated against this one.
USA Swimming developer / SWIMS resources: https://www.usaswimming.org.

The .cl2 / SDIF v3 file format¶