SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers which new SEC head coach would have the highest finish at the conference meet next year:
RESULTS
Question: Which new head coach will have the highest team finish at 2022 SECs?
- Margo Geer, Alabama – 61.0%
- Ryan Wochomurka, Auburn – 23.5%
- Jeff Poppell, South Carolina – 15.5%
Alabama did have the highest finish of any of these programs by a pretty fair margin. The Alabama women were 4th and the men 5th at 2021 SECs. Alabama also has the luxury of at least some continuity – Geer was on staff this season as a volunteer assistant. On the other hand, Alabama has a handful of notable swimmers transferring out next year, including NCAA qualifiers Liam Bell and Julia Wolf.
Auburn’s women were 9th and the men 8th. That staff will have plenty of turnover from Gary Taylor‘s old crew, with several key former Auburn assistants already hired on at South Carolina. Wochomurka makes the jump from Houston, which sat near the bottom of the AAC when he took that job, but rattled off a string of conference titles once he and his staff got the program moving in the right direction.
South Carolina’s women were 11th and the men 10th last year. They have the toughest climb of these three teams – but they also have a very experienced coaching staff. Poppell was the head women’s coach at Florida, where his Gators were second at the conference meet last year. He also hired on a number of former Auburn assistants with experience in the SEC.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks voters whether swimmers should be limited in how many events they can swim (and score in) at college dual meets:
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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner
Unlimited dual meet entries would make mid-major and “lower” teams over-dependent on a few studs. And some programs will travel light to save money and deny swimmers the opportunity to swim. Power 5 top programs may not care about dual meet results, but lots of programs do. While D1 NCAAs is one of the best spectator meets in the world, most of college swimming is for the love of the sport. Winning dual meets is fun. Winning dual meets helps coaches keep their jobs. Winning dual meets keeps programs from being cut. Ok, this is rambling. Blah, blah, unlimited entries is silly.
I’d just rather not do more than 1/4 of the swimming at a dual meet. It would just suck.
A better question might be which team will have the highest finish in 3 years. Alabama will almost certainly place higher than both South Carolina and Auburn next year when you look at the rosters and incoming freshmen
How about in 4 years? I think Bama may be back hovering just above Vandy as kids graduate off that were recruited by both of the 2 former coaches.
There problem is they are in Tuscaloosa rather than Huntsville. Huntsville is the economic powerhouse of Alabama do to NASA and lots of defense contracts. Also, Jeff Bezos has an engineering plant in Huntsville for Blue Origin. South Carolina has the greater Charleston area for jobs in the car industry with BMW and so forth.
Roll Tide Roll to That 🥶!