2021 SEC MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, February 23 – Friday, February 26, 2021
- Columbia, MO – University of Missouri
- Prelims/Finals: 10 AM/5 PM Tues, 10 AM/6 PM Weds-Fri (Central Standard Time)
- Defending Champion: Florida (8x) (results)
- Live Video – SEC Network
- Championship Central
- Updated psych sheet
- Live Results
- Day 4 Prelims Results
- Day 4 Finals Heat Sheet
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.
Florida came into the day with a relatively large 80.5-point lead, and Georgia would need a big final day to make things close.
The battle for third between Tennessee, Texas A&M and Missouri was also anyone’s game entering Friday.
TEAM SCORES (THRU DAY 3)
Reminder: The entire diving portion of the meet was contested last week.
- Florida, 961.5
- Georgia, 881
- Tennessee, 655
- Texas A&M, 631
- Missouri, 601
- Kentucky, 577
- Alabama, 548
- Auburn, 502
- LSU, 323.5
- South Carolina, 219
Georgia came out firing, putting four swimmers into the ‘A’ final of the 200 back. This included junior Keegan Walsh dropping a best time to sneak into eighth, with Javier Acevedo, Bradley Dunham and Ian Grum leading the way.
Florida responded after that, getting three men into the 100 free, two in the 200 breast and two in the 200 fly for eight total ‘A’ finals, just one behind Georgia.
Alabama had a big morning, going 4/6/6, while Texas A&M struggled compared to Mizzou and Tennessee, who they’re battling for third.
DAY 4 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS
Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.
| All | 200 Back | 100 Free | 200 Breast | 200 Fly | |
| Georgia | 9/2/1 | 4/1/0 | 1/1/0 | 1/0/0 | 3/0/1 |
| Florida | 8/5/2 | 1/1/1 | 3/1/1 | 2/1/0 | 2/2/0 |
| Alabama | 4/6/6 | 1/3/1 | 2/2/1 | 1/0/2 | 0/1/2 |
| Tennessee | 3/4/3 | 0/0/0 | 0/2/1 | 2/1/1 | 1/1/1 |
| Missouri | 3/3/7 | 1/0/2 | 0/0/3 | 1/2/0 | 1/1/2 |
| Texas A&M | 3/3/4 | 1/0/1 | 1/1/0 | 1/2/2 | 0/0/1 |
| Kentucky | 1/3/2 | 0/1/1 | 0/0/1 | 0/0/0 | 1/2/0 |
| L S U | 1/1/2 | 0/0/0 | 1/0/0 | 0/1/1 | 0/0/1 |
| Auburn | 0/5/3 | 0/2/2 | 0/1/0 | 0/1/1 | 0/1/0 |
| South Carolina | 0/0/2 | 0/0/0 | 0/0/1 | 0/0/1 | 0/0/0 |
Going 8/5/2, the Gators project to outscore Georgia tonight by 23.5 points, not including the 1650 and 400 free relay.
The big performer of the session was Alabama, led by strong 200 back and 100 free performances to score a projected 227 points.
SCORED PRELIMS
- Florida, 292.5
- Georgia, 269
- Alabama, 227
- Missouri, 155
- Texas A&M, 150
- Tennessee, 145.5
- Auburn, 77.5
- Kentucky, 75.5
- LSU, 46.5
- South Carolina, 9.5
PRELIMS SCORING BREAKDOWN
| Florida | Georgia | Alabama | Missouri | Tennessee | Texas A&M | Kentucky | Auburn | L S U |
South Carolina
|
|
| 200 Back | 46.0 | 111.0 | 82.0 | 33.0 | 0 | 36.0 | 18.0 | 36.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 Free | 100.5 | 41.0 | 86.0 | 18.0 | 29.5 | 39.0 | 2.5 | 13.0 | 26.0 | 6.5 |
| 200 Breast | 65.0 | 27.0 | 39.0 | 59.0 | 68.0 | 69.0 | 0.0 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 3.0 |
| 200 Fly | 81.0 | 90.0 | 20.0 | 45.0 | 48.0 | 6.0 | 55.0 | 13.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
Alabama vaults up from seventh to fifth when adding the prelim projections to the official scores, overtaking Mizzou and nipping at the heels of Texas A&M. Florida now sits 104 points clear of Georgia based on these theoretical scores, with strong title hopes in both events not included.
TEAM SCORES + SCORED PRELIMS
- Florida, 1,254
- Georgia, 1,150
- Tennessee, 800.5
- Texas A&M, 781
- Alabama, 775
- Missouri, 756
- Kentucky, 652.5
- Auburn, 579.5
- LSU, 370
- South Carolina, 228.5
Decades of swimming, and only in the past couple of years do I hear Up/Mid/Down. Oddly, we used to say: A Final / B Final / C Final. Seems easier than having to explain it EVERY SINGLE TIME there is an article about Prelims! (Plus, “Down” seems sort of negative. Just making it back at night should be a positive.)
Hey Coach (I not gonna mention any names) why do you not want to return to Auburn and help them out of the cellar of the SEC? Methinks the current Head Coach is in over his head? AU finishing 8th out of tenth is pretty sad after the glory years under the great, amazing, talented, charismatic and genius Coach who ought ta return!
The False Start for Tennessee in the 200 Breaststroke today hurts. Champlin would have been in the A-final
He went 1:58.72 pre-DQ, wouldn’t have even been an alternate
UF did exactly what they needed to do this morning. They were near perfect at getting guys into scoring positions.They largely outperformed their seeds, and got some underclassmen to step up in a big way. Florida had 16 swims this morning and 15 of them will score. Getting 2 up 1 down in the 200 breast was CLUTCH. It will be closer than last year’s meet, but Florida hasn’t let their foot off the gas and looks to be in fantastic shape to make it nine in a row.
Also, what kind of beast is Dillon Hillis? How often do you see the SEC Champion in the 100 breast swimming the 200 fly let alone making finals? That’s some… Read more »
This is not questioning Nesty’s decision and I obviously have the benefit of hindsight. I wonder if he would put Smith in the 200 free last night if he could do it over again. It would’ve pushed a UGA swimmer out of the 200 A final as well as give the Gators winners in the 4IM AND 200 free (yes, it’s not a given, but Smith would’ve been heavily favored and no one else in the field came close to 1:30, much less 1:29). I’m probably overthinking it, but would’ve been at least a few points swinging to UF and away from UGA. Probably not enough to make a difference in the team race, though
Battle for 3rd is going to be intense! Alabama should be top 3 in the 400 free relay but they will also give some back in the mile.
Alabama will be badly hurt with zero entries in 1650….it could leave them in 7th place where they start the day.
How does Alabama not have any distance swimmers lol
Not gonna be much of a battle. Those coonskinned barfooted Boyz from Tennessee came into the meet hooping and hollerin. They are a lock to finish 3rd! Since they dun so good, I gonna call em MANLY VOLS until NCAAs. If they can muster and finish in the top 10 there…well then I think they dun good. The MANLY VOLS certainly outperformed the girl VOLS…they got 5th at SEC! Glad the MANLY VOLS stepped up and showed some spunk and grit. Now all we need is some Americans ta get qualified for the real UT to go charge NCAAS!!!
Florida looks like the favorite but it will be close.
Places 3-6 is also ups for grabs, same for 7/8
UGA giving Florida run for their money but you’d never know that from Beisel and Rowdy’s commentary. BIG morning for the Dawgs!
Assuming FL swimmers get last in every final and GA swimmers get first, GA will outscore FL by 74 pts. Fl is currently ahead by 80.5. I’d say FL is locked in to win.
(no 1650, no relay, no DQs)
On the heat sheet UGA has a lot more people in the mile then UF (both schools have 3 in the fastest heat though), plus you could have a false start on the UF relay and then UGA is ahead.
Still think UF has the edge but nothing is guaranteed.
Yea and if Coach Bauerle were to cage match “The Rock” he might win?
Sure, nothing is guaranteed. But the probability of Georgia winning is very very low