Generally, under the rules of USA Swimming, once a time is achieved by a swimmer in a 'USA Swimming sanctioned' meet, that time can be used for entry into any USA Swimming meet. The time must be entered into the SWIMS database by an authorized official of the LSC in which the time was achieved.
If a "best time" is achieved by a swimmer in a "Non-USA Sanctioned" meet which has received a classification of "APPROVED" from the LSC in which the meet is held, such as a YMCA Regional Meet perhaps in New Jersey Swimming, or the YMCA National SC Championships under North Carolina Swimming, then the time would be acceptable when swum under the technical rules of USA Swimming, and reported to the SWIMS database. Each USA Swimming LSC has rules to follow in order for a meet to be granted "APPROVED" status. Since YMCA meets are conducted under the technical rules of USA Swimming most LSC's will grant "APPROVED" status. An LSC may require certain other rules for administrative fees and purposes on a local basis.
Any other meets which are not swum under USA Swimming Rules (such as High School Championships and NCAA), must be "OBSERVED" by USA Swimming officials and the swims requested for observation must comply with the USA Swimming technical rules for that stroke before they can be placed in the SWIMS database.
The long and short of it is this; once a time has been accepted into the SWIMS database as a bona fide time, it is considered a 'time of record', and the swimmer may use it for entry into any USA Swimming meet. Times in the SWIMS database are also considered acceptable for YMCA swim meets.

Joel Black
YMCA Nat'l Officials Chair