The Texas men’s swimming & diving team has won four our of the past five DI national championships. However, since they often taper less for their mid-season invites than some of the other top programs, they haven’t always looked dominant heading into the spring semester. But their performance this season at the Minnesota Invite left few questions about who the top dog is so far.
Using the Swimulator, we can compare the results from the past four year’s mid-season taper meets to see how Texas’ Men’s swimming teams’ performance this season ranks against their past results. Shown below is a simulated meet with Texas’ lineup from this season completing against their lineups from the past three seasons. The events and times are taken from the results of each year’s mid-season invite and scored invite style. The results below show that Texas has significantly sped-up during their mid-season taper meets.
| Season | Simulated Score |
|---|---|
| Texas 2020 | 963.5 |
| Texas 2019 | 684 |
| Texas 2018 | 597 |
| Texas 2017 | 399.5 |
A similar swimulation using Texas’ swims from DI nationals the past three seasons shows they had their best nationals results in 2017. So at least in past seasons their mid-season speed up is likely not just a result of their roster getting faster overall.
| Season | Simulated Score |
|---|---|
| Texas 2017 | 764.5 |
| Texas 2018 | 692 |
| Texas 2019 | 377.5 |
We can also confirm how much Texas has tapered mid-season using the Swimulator’s taper data. Shown below is a chart of Texas’ % time drops from their top times during the middle of the season the past two years.
| Season | Taper % |
|---|---|
| Texas 2019 | %0.87 |
| Texas 2018 | %1.59 |
Of course a combination of internal improvement and a great freshman class – they certainly looks good so far! – is certainly contributing to Texas’ excellent performance. At the same time they also appear to have been concentrating on performing well at their mid-season invite.
That guy really has helped their line up!
SMH Texas keeps finding short pools to swim in. Those cheaters never get caught.
You know this how?
Woosh
I think most people think they swam fast at Minnesota but this analysis leaves a lot to be desired
Can someone tell me Maxime’s WAR?
Thank you, this is awesome! Moneyball has officially come to swimming.
Dean comes to Austin and the men’s team has their best mid-season invite in recent memory
U may not know it but Dean actually swam for everyone at Texas’s mid season meet. He used the shadow clone jutsu to swim the events with more than one longhorn in the heat and for relays.
Dean puts his shirt on to iron it
I feel that, Dean gives off heavy Naruto vibes. Definitely a nine tails in there.
Every time Dean enters the water his competitors hear this song https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mjjkHg5FOhk
I think I see a change of strategy. I’m not sure, but they might be focusing slightly more on mid-season instead of waiting until championship season to do the huge taper. Hook’ em!
Or maybe it’s an Olympic year and they’re just better.
Eddie is not afraid to change things up after the last two years of disappoint and probably soon to be 3 years of disappointment
Wut