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2019 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships: Day 2 Up/Down/Mids

Braden Keith
by Braden Keith 2

February 20th, 2019 College, SEC

2019 SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

For those unfamiliar with swimming terminology, the concept of “Ups” and “Downs” is a good way to track which teams performed best at prelims. In prelims, swimmers qualify for one of three finals heats: the top 8 finishers make the A final, places 9 through 16 the B final and places 17 through 24 the C final. In finals, swimmers are locked into their respective final, meaning a swimmer in the B heat (spots 9-16) can only place as high as 9th or as low as 16th, even if they put up the fastest or slowest time of any heat in the final.

With that in mind, we’ll be tracking “Ups,” “Mids” and “Downs” after each prelims session. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final, “Mid” to swimmers in the B final and “Down” to swimmers in the C final.

One of the early emerging stories in this 2019 SEC Championships has been the strength we’ve seen from the Missouri men. Their big event was the 200 IM, where they have three men into the A final, while they also have two into the 50 free A final and three into the 500 free B final. Mizzou is a team that typically rests less for the SEC Champs and focuses on NCAAs, as we’ve seen under Greg Rhodenbaugh, but he’s been out on administrative leave most of the season while a Title IX investigation has been underway, and interim Andy Grevers has the men swimming lights out so far.

Meanwhile, it’s clear that the Texas A&M men have been struggling a bit. The talent is there, and freshman Shaine Casas and sophomore transfer Mark Theall look solid, but they haven’t been hitting or much faster than their seed times thus far in the meet. This is a young team, so adjusting to the pressure, and coaches learning the athletes’ tapers, will contribute to a learning curve here.

The Georgia men’s sprint group has shown how thin it is, and while their distance and IM groups are chugging along as expected, they had nobody under 20 seconds in the 50 free and won’t have any sprinters in the final tonight.

Arkansas’s women only put three people into individual finals tonight, but it’s quality over quantity for them. Anna Hopkin is the #2 seed in the 50 free tonight, Peyton Palsha #5 in the 500 free, and diver Brooke Schultz has the 1-meter title within reach (though Arkansas entered no swimmers in the 200 IM). Texas A&M, Florida, and Tennessee are locked into what should be an exciting battle for the team trophy, with A&M’s win streak in jeopardy and Tennessee eyeing what would be their first-ever SEC title. A&M has big finalist numbers in the 500 free and 200 IM, but very little in the 50 free. The sprints were their known weakness coming into the meet, and the 200 IM has been a program specialty for basically a decade. They need to rack up the points there to give themselves some cushion going into the 50.
Finals of the 200 free relay will also be swum on Wednesday – there’s no prelims for that race. Relay points at conference meets don’t usually cause huge scoring swings, though in a meet that’s as competitive as this one, every point does count.

Up/Mid/Downs

Note: Diving doesn’t actually have B and C finals, those spots are decided based on prelims. But, we’ve grouped them into downs and mids anyway, just for consistency.

Men:

500 FR 200 IM 50 FR
Team Up Mid Down Team Up Mid Down Team Up Mid Down
Mizzou 0 3 1 Mizzou 3 0 1 Mizzou 2 0 1
Georgia 2 2 2 Georgia 1 1 1 Georgia 0 0 0
South Carolina 2 0 1 South Carolina 0 1 0 South Carolina 0 0 0
Tennessee 0 1 1 Tennessee 0 1 0 Tennessee 1 0 2
Auburn 1 0 1 Auburn 0 1 0 Auburn 1 1 0
Texas A&M 1 0 1 Texas A&M 0 2 1 Texas A&M 2 0 1
Florida 2 2 0 Florida 2 0 1 Florida 0 1 1
Kentucky 0 0 1 Kentucky 1 1 3 Kentucky 0 2 1
LSU 0 0 0 LSU 0 0 1 LSU 0 1 0
Alabama 0 0 0 Alabama 1 1 0 Alabama 2 3 2

 

Totals
Team Up Mid Down
Mizzou 5 3 3
Georgia 3 3 3
South Carolina 2 1 1
Tennessee 1 2 3
Auburn 2 2 1
Texas A&M 3 2 3
Florida 4 3 2
Kentucky 1 3 5
LSU 0 1 1
Alabama 3 4 2

Women:

500 FR 200 IM 50 FR 1-meter diving
Team Up Mid Down Team Up Mid Down Team Up Mid Down Team Up Mid Down
Florida 2 1 2 Florida 1 2 0 Florida 0 1 1 Florida 0 2 0
Kentucky 1 1 2 Kentucky 0 1 1 Kentucky 0 0 0 Kentucky 2 0 1
Texas A&M 2 1 1 Texas A&M 3 1 2 Texas A&M 0 0 2 Texas A&M 2 1 0
Georgia 1 1 2 Georgia 0 3 2 Georgia 0 2 1 Georgia 0 1 0
Arkansas 1 0 0 Arkansas 0 0 0 Arkansas 1 0 0 Arkansas 1 1 1
Tennessee 1 1 0 Tennessee 2 0 1 Tennessee 2 2 1 Tennessee 0 0 3
Auburn 0 2 0 Auburn 1 0 0 Auburn 2 0 1 Auburn 1 0 0
Alabama 0 1 1 Alabama 0 0 0 Alabama 0 1 1 Alabama 0 0 1
Missouri 0 0 0 Missouri 0 1 0 Missouri 3 0 1 Missouri 0 2 0
South Carolina 0 0 0 South Carolina 1 0 1 South Carolina 0 1 0 South Carolina 0 1 2
LSU 0 0 0 LSU 0 0 1 LSU 0 1 0 LSU 2 0 0
Vanderbilt 0 0 0 Vanderbilt 0 0 0 Vanderbilt 0 0 0 Vanderbilt 0 0 0

 

Totals
Team Up Mid Down
Florida 3 6 3
Kentucky 3 2 4
Texas A&M 7 3 5
Georgia 1 7 5
Arkansas 3 1 1
Tennessee 5 3 5
Auburn 4 2 1
Alabama 0 2 3
Missouri 3 3 1
South Carolina 1 2 3
LSU 2 1 1
Vanderbilt 0 0 0

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SaintJoseph
5 years ago

This “C” final crap has got to go

SinkorSwim
Reply to  SaintJoseph
5 years ago

“Crap” bro you need to go for a swim and chill.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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