2022 Men’s NCAA Day 2 Ups/Downs: Texas Comes Out Firing

2022 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 23-26, 2022
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia (Eastern Daylight Time)
• Prelims 10AM /Finals 6PM
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Live Results
• Championship Central
• Event Page
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Official Psych Sheets
• Virtual Championship Program
• SwimSwam Pick Em’s Contest
• Qualified relay teams

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 two finals heats: the top 8 finishers make the A final and places 9 through 16, the B 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” and “Downs” after each prelims session. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final, and “Down” to swimmers in the B final.

On the opening night of the Men’s NCAA Championships, the University of Texas men staked their claim to the early team lead after winning the 800 free relay in the fastest time ever and finishing a close second to Florida in a record-setting 200 medley relay.

Coming out of Wednesday night, the Longhorns sat 10 points up on the Gators, with rival Cal back in third, 13 points back.

SCORES THRU DAY 1

1. Texas, 74
2. Florida, 64
3. Cal, 61
4. NC State, 57
5. Stanford / Arizona State, 54
6. –
7. Louisville, 46
8. Georgia, 34
9. Alabama, 30
10. Virginia Tech, 28
11. Harvard / Virginia / Indiana, 22
12. –
13. –
14. Ohio State, 18
15. Michigan, 14
16. Arizona, 12
17. Auburn, 6
18. Utah, 2

Texas continued to show outstanding form during Thursday morning’s preliminaries, leading the field by putting six swimmers through to ‘A’ final and nine total into scoring position.

The Longhorns advanced two swimmers into all three championship finals on the day, with four out of those swimmers seeded fourth or better heading into tonight.

Cal put four up, including advancing three swimmers into the ‘A’ final of the 200 IM, led by sophomore Destin Lasco who put up one of the fastest swims of all-time in 1:38.71.

The Bears are projected to score 50 points in the 200 IM, the most of any team in one single race, but the Longhorns incredibly project to score more than 30 points in all three events tonight, giving them a 32.5-point edge in scored prelims.

Early indications show that both Texas and Cal have hit their tapers well, making for what should be an exciting two and a half more days of racing.

Georgia also had a strong prelim session after a runner-up finish in the 800 free relay, advancing Matt Sates and Jake Magahey 1-2 in the 500 free final and adding Luca Urlando in the championship heat of the 200 IM.

Texas was the only team to put two swimmers into the ‘A’ final of the 50 free, a lightning-fast event this morning that saw a sub-19 swim (Indiana’s Bruno Blaskovic‘s 18.98) miss the top eight.

The Longhorns have Drew Kibler seeded in a tie for second behind Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger, while Texas’ fifth-year senior Cameron Auchinachie sits fourth. Auchinachie was notably a blistering 18.08 anchoring the 200 medley relay last night, while Seeliger led off Cal with the fastest 50 back time ever in 20.08.

DAY 2 UPS/DOWNS

*Updated with diving.

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

PROJECTED SCORING BREAKDOWN

DAY 2 SCORED PRELIMS

1. Texas, 102.5
2. Cal, 70.0
3. Georgia, 54.0
4. Florida, 53.0
5. Indiana, 44.0
6. NC State, 35.0
7. Virginia Tech, 28.0
8. LSU, 25.5
9. Stanford, 25.0
10. Arizona State, 24.0
11. Arizona, 22.0
12. Texas A&M, 17.0
13. Tennessee / Virginia, 16.5
14. –
15. Oho State, 16.0
16. Columbia, 14.0
17. Purdue / UNC, 12.0
18. –
19. Auburn, 9.0
20. Michigan, 6.0
21. Minnesota, 5.0
22. Georgia Tech / Princeton, 3.5
23. –
24. Alabama, 3.0
25. SMU, 2.0

DAY 2 SCORED PRELIMS + ACTUAL SCORES

1. Texas, 176.5
2. Cal, 131.0
3. Florida, 117.0
4. NC State, 92.0
5. Georgia, 88.0
6. Stanford, 79.0
7. Arizona State, 78.0
8. Indiana, 66.0
9. Virginia Tech, 56.0
10. Louisville, 46.0
11. Virginia, 38.5
12. Arizona / Ohio State, 34.0
13. –
14. Alabama, 33.0
15. LSU, 25.5
16. Harvard, 23.0
17. Michigan, 20.0
18. Texas A&M, 17.0
19. Tennessee, 16.5
20. Auburn, 15.0
21. Columbia, 14.0
22. Purdue / UNC, 12.0
23. –
24. Minnesota, 5.0
25. Georgia Tech / Princeton, 3.5
26. –
27. Utah / SMU, 2.0