2021 NCAA MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- When: Wednesday, March 24 – Saturday, March 27, 2021
- Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center / Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
- Prelims 10 AM/ Finals 6 PM (Local Time)
- Short course yards (SCY) format
- Defending champion: Cal (1x) – 2019 results
- Streaming:
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
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.
Day 3 Prelims Recap
The Texas Longhorns carried over their evening momentum from last night after earning a 1-2 finish on the 1-meter diving board and winning the 400 medley relay. Entering this morning’s prelims, the Longhorns set up a dominant night with 14 returning swims, 10 up and 4 down. Cal (6/2), Georgia (4/2), and Florida (4/1) were all not even close to matching Texas’ depth in the pool.
With the evening Texas set up, the Longhorns will score in all five individual events, including more than 55 projected points in two events (400 IM/200 FR). Meanwhile, Cal won’t score more than 40 points in a single event. In total, the Longhorns are expected to pick up 170 points in the pool before 3-meter diving and the 200 medley relay. Cal has the second-most with 104 points, which can result in a 39-point deficit to Texas after leading the first two days.
In the 400 IM, Texas earned top seed Carson Foster (3:37.79), #4 Jake Foster, #5 Braden Vines, and #8 David Johnston into the championship final, a projected 60-point pick-up. In contrast, Cal senior Sean Grieshop picked up the #2 seed while teammate Hugo Gonzalez placed 10th overall, missing the A-final (22-32 points). Florida’s Bobby Finke will also contend in the A-final with his #3 prelims seed.
Into the 100 fly, top seed Ryan Hoffer is Cal’s only scoring swimmer in the event while #5 Alvin Jiang and #11 Sam Pomajevich are the two scoring flyers for Texas. The Georgia Bulldogs reeled in #3 Camden Murphy and #8 Luca Urlando in the A-final, a projected 27-point snag.
Texas’ other big event was the 200 free, qualifying Drew Kibler as the top seed followed by #4 Peter Larson and #8 Jake Sannem. Larson was not a member of the winning 800 free relay, which consisted of Kibler, Austin Katz, C. Foster, and Sannem. His 1:32.53 split from this morning would have improved the Longhorns’ relay to 6:06.81 if he replaced Katz’s 1:33.02 split. In for Cal as the 3rd seed is senior Trenton Julian while junior Kieran Smith picked up another top-3 seed for Florida.
In the 100 breast, Minnesota junior Max McHugh will be aiming for his first NCAA title after placing third as a freshman in 2019. In the championship final, McHugh will be joined by #3 Dillon Hillis of Florida, #4 Reece Whitley of Cal, #5 Zane Backes of Indiana, and #7 Caspar Corbeau of Texas.
After winning Texas A&M’s first individual NCAA title in program history, junior Shaine Casas will aim for a second title in the 100 back. Cal freshman Destin Lasco continues his breakout meet with his #2 prelims seed in this event along with teammate #8 Bryce Mefford. Placing 16th this morning was Cal senior Daniel Carr, who placed 7th in the 2019 final after hitting 44.86 in a re-swim following a starting wedge malfunction. If Carr can at least drop from 45.53 (this AM) to a 45.21 (his 2019 finals time), that would give the Bears’ an extra 7 points in the event. Texas will have #7 Jiang again in the water while Indiana sophomore Brendan Burns picked up the 5th seed.
CURRENT SCORES (THROUGH DAY TWO)
- Cal 230
- Texas 203
- Florida 161
- Georgia 116
- Texas A&M 88
- NC State 87
- Indiana 84
- Louisville 64
- Michigan 63
- Virginia 56
- Arizona 51
- Stanford/Mizzou 42
- (tie)
- Virginia Tech 39
- Alabama 38
- Ohio State/Purdue 28
- (tie)
- LSU 23
- Miami 19
- Florida State 18.5
- Georgia Tech 14
- Pittsburgh 12
- Kentucky/Notre Dame 9
- (tie)
- Penn State 8
- Tennessee 6
- Wisconsin 5
- UNC 4
- Utah 2.5
DAY 3 UPS/DOWNS
Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.
Not including: 3-meter diving, 200 medley relay
All | 400 IM | 100 Fly | 200 Free | 100 Breast | 100 Back | |
Texas | 10/4 | 4/0 | 1/1 | 3/1 | 1/0 | 1/2 |
California | 6/2 | 1/1 | 1/0 | 1/0 | 1/0 | 2/1 |
Georgia | 4/2 | 1/1 | 2/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/0 |
Florida | 4/1 | 1/0 | 1/0 | 1/0 | 1/0 | 0/1 |
Louisville | 3/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 1/0 |
Indiana | 2/4 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 1/2 |
Ohio State | 1/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/2 | 0/1 |
UVA | 1/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 |
Missouri | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
USC | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
NC State | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/0 |
Texas A&M | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/0 |
Arizona | 1/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
VT | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
LSU | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
Minnesota | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 |
PITT | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 |
Michigan | 0/4 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 |
Stanford | 0/3 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
GT | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
Tennessee | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 |
Wisconsin | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
ND | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
Penn State | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
Northwestern | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 |
Purdue | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 |
UNC | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 |
Alabama | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 |
DAY 3 SCORED PRELIMS BREAKDOWN BY EVENT
Texas | California | Florida | Georgia | Indiana | Louisville | Ohio State | UVA | Texas A&M | Minnesota | NC State | Missouri | VT | USC | LSU | Arizona | Tennessee | PITT | GT | Stanford | ND | Northwestern | Michigan | Penn State | Alabama | UNC | Wisconsin | Purdue | |
400 IM | 60 | 24 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
100 Fly | 20 | 20 | 13 | 27 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 17 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
200 Free | 55 | 16 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 5.5 | 0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
100 Breast | 12 | 15 | 16 | 0 | 14 | 13 | 10.5 | 22 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.5 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.5 |
100 Back | 23 | 29 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SCORED Day 3 PRELIMS
1. Texas: 170.0 |
2. Cal: 104.0 |
3. Florida: 69.0 |
4. Georgia: 58.0 |
5. Indiana: 49.0 |
6. Louisville: 43.0 |
7. Ohio State: 31.5 |
8. Virginia: 28.0 |
9. Texas A&M: 27.0 |
10. Minnesota: 20.0 |
11. NC State: 20.0 |
12. Mizzou: 17.5 |
13. Virginia Tech: 17.0 |
14. USC: 15.0 |
15. LSU: 13.5 |
16. Arizona: 13.0 |
17. Tennessee: 11.5 |
18. Pittsburgh: 11.0 |
19. Georgia Tech: 9.5 |
20. Stanford: 9.0 |
21. Notre Dame: 9.0 |
22. Northwestern: 9.0 |
23. Michigan: 5.0 |
24. Penn State: 5.0 |
25. Alabama: 4.0 |
26. UNC: 3.0 |
27. Wisconsin: 2.0 |
28. Purdue: 1.5 |
SCORED PRELIMS + CURRENT SCORES
Not including: 3-meter diving, 200 medley relay
1. Texas: 373.0 |
2. California: 334.0 |
3. Florida: 230.0 |
4. Georgia: 174.0 |
5. Indiana: 133.0 |
6. Texas A&M: 115.0 |
7. Louisville: 107.0 |
8. NC State: 107.0 |
9. UVA: 84.0 |
10. Michigan: 68.0 |
11. Arizona: 64.0 |
12. Ohio State: 59.5 |
13. Missouri: 59.5 |
14. VT: 56.0 |
15. Stanford: 51.0 |
16. Alabama: 42.0 |
17. LSU: 36.5 |
18. Purdue: 29.5 |
19. GT: 23.5 |
20. PITT: 23.0 |
21. Minnesota: 20.0 |
22. Miami: 19.0 |
23. Florida St: 18.5 |
24. ND: 18.0 |
25. Tennessee: 17.5 |
26. USC: 15.0 |
27. Penn State: 13.0 |
28. Northwestern: 9.0 |
29. Kentucky: 9.0 |
30. Wisconsin: 7.0 |
31. UNC: 7.0 |
32. Utah: 2.5 |
Game over man. https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP._7CKqynXwRqK6Fq6jDuLJwAAAA?pid=ImgDet&rs=1
Texas 1 up / 1 down in the 3m diving prelims.
Windle 3rd in prelims. Can he win all 3 events?
Add 20
I want to see a diver shaved and in a race suit.
We had a diver on our team who was able to go 20 low from a flat start. Divers are good athletes.
there is always an exception that people want to declare is the norm
may be a stupid question, but can someone explain what “x up, x down” means? I have a rough idea but don’t wanna assume something that’s wrong
A final = up
B final = down
Up is the number of swims into the A final. Down is the number of swims into the B final.
SwimSwam posts this at the top of every article that mentions ups/downs. There are no “mids” at this meet, since there’s no C final.
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… Read more »
UP is Texas swimmers swimming in A final – DOWN is Cal swimmers in B final.
If you are at many sectional meets, its: Up (A), Down (B), Bonus (C), Banana (D).
Huge momentum shift. I wouldn’t have guessed 4 a finalists in 400im. Great swim Frosh Johnston & Gonzalez to B final. Everyone including myself was expecting Gonzalez /Foster battle to the death
none of the 4 Texas 4IM are SRs
Rowdy??
Shhh, you are giving Rowdy an idea how to make us all puke tonight.
One thing I really enjoy hearing is how the NCAAs are all about the “Sprints”.
TX put this meet away with 4 in A final of the 4IM. CAL will make it closer with their 2Bk and 100 free tomorrow, but this was too much to overcome! Plus TX has divers! 1/1 on the 3M today.
I remember MICH putting 5 in the finals of the 500 & 1650! And they won that year.
…but it’s “all about the short races”
Cal with Their 1 free? Not so sure about that…Yes Hoffer and Seelinger are likely to score big. But Texas has Krueger, Kibler, Staka, and Sannem. Not all for sure scorers but Texas has the numbers to come out on top of that event if they continue their momentum with their army of Longhorns.
Backbreaker
Can’t forget about the mile on Saturday either. I expect Greishop and Yeadon to score big for Cal. Should make the math pretty close….
Texas has three guys in the mile who could score in Johnston, Zettle and JT Larson. Cal may gain some, but it may not be much in the mile.
I’m all for CAL winning, they just don’t have enough firepower to make up what has transpired today. A couple of things are happening, Carr did not hit his taper. I feel for Cal to win they had to rely on their top end talent has well has other teams displacing Texas swimmers. None of that happened today. I mean are there other divers and swimmers in the nation not from texas or cal or did they just throw in the towel.
poor guy should get a re swim
Isn’t the sentiment of Texas being able to declare victory is a bit premature? Cal was only seeded 2/6 today, so they improved quite a bit on paper as well, added same number of A finalists. Given how strong they are tomorrow I think they are still favored to win
Cal improved by seed quite a bit this morning (+37.0) Just that Texas did it by a lot more (+68.5).
The sentiment of saying Texas will win because of prelims today is the same as people declaring Cal would win because of yesterday. The meet isn’t over until it’s over.
finally, a sensible person/comment!
It wasn’t over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!