2018 NAIA National Championships – Men’s Meet
- Dates: Wednesday, February 28 – Saturday, March 3; prelims 9 am, finals 5 pm
- Location: Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: Olivet Nazarene University (results)
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results: Available here
- Live Video: Available here
- Championship Central
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, “Down” to swimmers in the B final.
Day 4
Keiser University, who came in with the top seeds in nearly every event, has led all weekend and sits alone at the top, poised to win their first NAIA national title. The Seahawks loaded up with 7 up and 6 down, including 4 A finalists in the 100 free. (Which says a lot about their prospects in the 400 free relay at the end of tonight’s session.) SCAD saved its best for the last day; the Bees put 6 swimmers into A finals and 5 into B finals and outperformed their seedings by 20 points. This is notable because they trail Olivet Nazarene by 35 points and now have a legitimate shot at finishing second in the team standings. ONU didn’t give anything away in Saturday’s prelims, though; the Tigers were 5 up and 2 down, and earned 14 more points than the psych sheet would have predicted.
Loyola New Orleans outperformed expectations again, as they’ve done every day of Nationals. They were up 20 points, while West Virginia University-Tech improved by 15 over the psych sheet.
Men’s Ups/Downs
| Team | A Finalists | B Finalists |
| Keiser University | 7 | 6 |
| SCAD Savannah | 6 | 5 |
| Olivet Nazarene University | 5 | 2 |
| Lindenwood University-Belleville | 4 | 2 |
| Thomas University | 2 | 4 |
| University of the Cumberlands | 2 | 3 |
| West Virginia University – Tech | 2 | 1 |
| Loyola University New Orleans | 1 | 4 |
| Union College | 1 | 1 |
| Asbury University | 1 | 0 |
| Life University | 1 | 0 |
| The College of Idaho | 1 | 0 |
| Lindsey Wilson College | 0 | 4 |
Men’s 200 Yard Backstroke
| Team | A Finalists | B Finalists |
| Lindenwood University-Belleville | 2 | 0 |
| SCAD Savannah | 2 | 0 |
| Loyola University New Orleans | 1 | 1 |
| University of the Cumberlands | 1 | 1 |
| Asbury University | 1 | 0 |
| Olivet Nazarene University | 1 | 0 |
| Keiser University | 0 | 3 |
| Lindsey Wilson College | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas University | 0 | 1 |
Men’s 100 Yard Freestyle
| Team | A Finalists | B Finalists |
| Keiser University | 4 | 0 |
| Thomas University | 2 | 1 |
| SCAD Savannah | 1 | 3 |
| Olivet Nazarene University | 1 | 2 |
| Lindenwood University-Belleville | 0 | 1 |
| Loyola University New Orleans | 0 | 1 |
Men’s 200 Yard Breaststroke
| Team | A Finalists | B Finalists |
| Keiser University | 3 | 0 |
| West Virginia University – Tech | 2 | 0 |
| Life University | 1 | 0 |
| Olivet Nazarene University | 1 | 0 |
| Union College | 1 | 0 |
| Lindsey Wilson College | 0 | 2 |
| Loyola University New Orleans | 0 | 2 |
| University of the Cumberlands | 0 | 2 |
| SCAD Savannah | 0 | 1 |
| Thomas University | 0 | 1 |
Men’s 200 Yard Butterfly
| Team | A Finalists | B Finalists |
| SCAD Savannah | 3 | 1 |
| Lindenwood University-Belleville | 2 | 1 |
| Olivet Nazarene University | 2 | 0 |
| The College of Idaho | 1 | 0 |
| Keiser University | 0 | 3 |
| Thomas University | 0 | 1 |
| Union College | 0 | 1 |
| West Virginia University – Tech | 0 | 1 |
Men’s 1-Meter Diving
| Team | A Finalists | B Finalists |
| University of the Cumberlands | 1 | 0 |
Projected Standings
| Team | Day 1 Actual | Day 2 Actual | Day 3 Prelims | Day 4 Psych | Final Projected Standings |
| Keiser University | 34 | 177 | 236.5 | 195 | 642.5 |
| Olivet Nazarene University | 40 | 167.5 | 141 | 128 | 476.5 |
| SCAD Savannah | 32 | 121 | 160.5 | 159 | 472.5 |
| Lindenwood University-Belleville | 30 | 101 | 89 | 120 | 340 |
| Thomas University | 28 | 98.5 | 83 | 90 | 299.5 |
| University of the Cumberlands | 24 | 75 | 100 | 93 | 272 |
| West Virginia University – Tech | 26 | 68 | 58.5 | 81 | 233.5 |
| Loyola University New Orleans | 10 | 70 | 47 | 64 | 191 |
| The College of Idaho | 22 | 62 | 53.5 | 48 | 185.5 |
| Union College | 12 | 45 | 45 | 33 | 135 |
| Lindsey Wilson College | 18 | 41 | 32 | 38 | 129 |
| Asbury University | 14 | 19 | 18 | 22 | 73 |
| St Ambrose University | 8 | 25 | 17 | 10 | 60 |
| Morningside College | 6 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 42 |
| Life University | 0 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 17 |
| Midland University | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Campbellsville University | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| Milligan College | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
| Bethel University | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
“The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small athletics programs that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics.
In 2000, the NAIA reaffirmed its purpose to enhance the character building aspects of sport. Through Champions of Character, the NAIA seeks to create an environment in which every student-athlete, coach, official and spectator is committed to the true spirit of competition through five core values.”