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What Does It Take To Qualify For The 2016 NCAA DI Championships?

In the Division I NCAA qualifying system, there are “A” standards, which earn an automatic invite to the NCAA Championship meet, and there are “B” standards, which both allow the next X number of swimmers to be invited to the meet, and additionally allows invited swimmers to swim bonus events in which they weren’t invited.

Though nobody is a sure-fire invite until they get an A-cut or until the invite list comes out, every college coach in the country has some idea of the times that might safely earn an invite, even without officially being automatic. For example, a 4:38-high in the women’s 500 free isn’t automatically invited, but it’s pretty close to a ‘sure thing’.

Below, we’ve laid out the slowest time that was invited in each race (which doesn’t include optional entries from swimmers invited in other races), this year’s automatic qualifying standard, and the number of seniors invited to last year’s meet. That number of seniors should give an idea in each event how many invitees have moved on. Of course, that doesn’t include swimmers who went pro early, or swimmers who are missing this season for injury, transfer, or an Olympic redshirt, but all-in-all, those things are mostly balanced out by swimmers returning from redshirts or transfers who sat out last season.

Additionally, we took a look at the top times from this season and compared them to the cut off line from the 2015 NCAA Championships. These projections are slightly skewed because not all of the division mid-season invites are over, but it does allow us to take a look at where the top teams in the country stand.

On the men’s side, the Louisville Cardinals appear to be the most secure team at the moment with 12 different swims under last year’s cutoff times. The Florida Gators actually have the highest number of swims under the cutoff line, but because Caeleb Dressel’s times this season would have made it in five events last year, we had to subtract two swims from their total.

Men – (Highest Number of Potential Swims As of 11/28/2015)

  1. Louisville – 12
  2. Florida – 13 (-2 because Dressel is under the cutoff in 5 events)
  3. NC State – 9
  4. Alabama – 8
  5. Missouri – 6
  6. Tennessee – 4

On the women’s side, The Texas A&M Aggies looks to be the most secure team at this point in the season with 20 potential individual swims at the NCAA Championships. The Stanford Cardinal and the Tennessee Volunteers are sitting in second and third overall in our count with 14 and 13 potential swims, respectively. The Louisville Cardinals recorded 14 swims under last year’s cutoff time, but was hurt a little bit because by Kelsi Worrell‘s versatility. She was under the cutoff in six events, which takes away three of Louisville’s swims because three is the maximum number of individual events someone can swim at the NCAA Championships.

Women – (Highest Number of Potential Swims As of 11/28/2015)

  1. Texas A&M – 22 (-2 because Galat and Gastaledello are each under the cutoff in 4 events)
  2. Stanford – 17 (-3 because Hu is under the cutoff in 5 events and Eastin is under the cutoff in 4 events)
  3. Tennessee – 13
  4. Louisville – 14 (-3 because Worrell is under the cutoff in 6 events)
  5. Florida – 11 (-1 because Hinds us under the cutoff in 4 events)
  6. Missouri – 10
  7. NC State – 10 (-1 because Zevnik is under the cutoff in 4 events)

If you would like to do your own investigations, here are the psych sheets from last year with invite lines drawn in:

The time standards got much quicker this year, with 94.4% of the “A” standards faster than there were in 2015. All of the individual “B” standards remained the same, but all of the provisional relay standards are now faster.

MEN 2012-2013 INVITED TIME 2013-2014 INVITED TIME 2014-2015 INVITED TIME 2015-2016 NCAA AUTO STANDARDS NUMBER INVITED (2015) NUMBER OF SENIORS INVITED* (2015) NUMBER OF SWIMMERS UNDER LAST YEAR’S INVITED TIME**
500 Free 4:18.70 4:18.31 4:17.15 4:13.60 30 3 6
200 IM 1:45.08 1:44.71 1:44.58 1:42.51 30 12 1
50 Free 19.67 19.47 19.52 19.18 30 8 4
400 IM 3:46.72 3:45.64 3:45.34 3:41.15 29 7 2
100 Fly 46.74 46.58 46.38 45.85 30 10 4
200 Free 1:35.34 1:34.71 1:34.54 1:33.34 31 8 6
100 Breast 53.37 53.23 52.97 52.08 29 14 8
100 Back 46.95 46.57 46.46 45.44 30 7 6
1650 Free 15:03.07 15:03.42 14:59.20 14:46.04 30 4 6
200 Back 1:43.03 1:42.41 1:42.04 1:40.33 30 11 9
100 Free 43.14 42.98 42.94 42.37 29 9 4
200 Breast 1:55.97 1:55.64 1:55.04 1:53.07 29 15 5
200 Fly 1:44.74 1:43.81 1:43.74 1:42.43 30 12 2
Women 2012-2013 INVITED TIME 2013-2014 INVITED TIME 2014-2015 INVITED TIME 2015-2016 NCAA Auto Standards NUMBER INVITED (2015) Number of Seniors Invited* (2015) NUMBER OF SWIMMERS UNDER LAST YEAR’S INVITED TIME**
500 Free 4:42.90 4:42.79 4:43.01 4:36.30 38 10 13
200 IM 1:58.51 1:58.13 1:58.13 1:55.35 39 8 11
50 Free 22.45 22.4 22.4 21.86 40 16 12
400 IM 4:11.92 4:12.63 4:12.31 4:05.37 39 11 18
100 Fly 52.99 52.92 52.79 51.56 40 14 11
200 Free 1:46.10 1:46.03 1:45.95 1:43.82 40 11 12
100 Breast 1:00.72 1:00.78 1:00.74 59.04 39 9 11
100 Back 53.21 53.2 52.97 51.51 39 5 17
1650 Free 16:19.32 16:20.32 16:17.36 15:53.50 37 6 13
200 Back 1:54.79 1:55.19 1:54.66 1:51.95 39 5 16
100 Free 49 48.82 48.89 47.79 41 14 16
200 Breast 2:11.44 2:11.22 2:11.23 2:07.42 39 12 12
200 Fly 1:57.49 1:56.79 1:56.97 1:54.22 40 12 7

*Does not include those not competing this season due to injuries or Olympic redshirts. 
**As of 11/28/2015.

2015-2016 Men’s Swims Under The 2014-2015 Cutoff Line

Potential Swims Event Name Team Time
1 100 Breast Michael Barnosky Air Force 52.77
1 50 Free Kristian Gkolomeev Alabama 19.28
2 100 Breast Anton McKee Alabama 52.43
3 100 Back Luke Kaliszak Alabama 45.42
4 100 Back Connor Oslin Alabama 46
5 200 Back Christopher Reid Alabama 1:41.82
6 200 Back Connor Oslin Alabama 1:41.85
7 100 Free Kristian Gkolomeev Alabama 42.85
8 200 Breast Anton McKee Alabama 1:53.00
1 100 Back Ryan Murphy California 46.21
2 200 Back Ryan Murphy California 1:41.35
1 100 Breast Peter Kropp Duke 52.13
1 500 Free Jan Switkowski Florida 4:15.43
2 500 Free Mitch D’Arrigo Florida 4:16.59
3 50 Free Caeleb Dressel Florida 18.77
4 400 IM Mark Szaranek Florida 3:44.31
5 100 Fly Caeleb Dressel Florida 45.01
6 200 Free Pawel Werner Florida 1:34.19
7 200 Free Caeleb Dressel Florida 1:34.21
8 100 Breast Caeleb Dressel Florida 51.99
9 100 Back Jack Blyzinskyj Florida 45.43
10 1650 Free Arthur Frayler Florida 14:52.12
11 200 Back Jack Blyzinskyj Florida 1:41.96
12 100 Free Caeleb Dressel Florida 42.02
13 200 Fly Jan Switkowski Florida 1:42.08
1 500 Free Trevor Carroll Louisville 4:17.09
2 200 IM Nolan Tesone Louisville 1:44.07
3 400 IM Nolan Tesone Louisville 3:41.70
4 100 Fly Pedro Coutinho Louisville 46.36
5 200 Free Trevor Carroll Louisville 1:33.67
6 200 Free Matthias Lindenbauer Louisville 1:34.01
7 100 Breast Carlos Claverie Louisville 52.84
8 100 Back Grigory Tarasevich Louisville 45.86
9 200 Back Grigory Tarasevich Louisville 1:40.89
10 200 Back Aaron Greene Louisville 1:41.50
11 200 Back Nolan Tesone Louisville 1:41.66
12 200 Breast Carlos Claverie Louisville 1:53.58
1 50 Free Michael Chadwick Missouri 19.17
2 100 Fly Andrew Sansoucie Missouri 46.1
3 200 Free Michael Chadwick Missouri 1:34.38
4 100 Breast Fabian Schwingenschlogl Missouri 51.36
5 100 Free Michael Chadwick Missouri 41.89
6 200 Breast Fabian Schwingenschlogl Missouri 1:53.64
1 500 Free Anton Ipsen NC State 4:16.27
2 50 Free Simonas Bilis NC State 19.47
3 200 Free Ryan Held NC State 1:34.48
4 100 Breast Derek Hren NC State 52.94
5 100 Back Andreas Schiellerup NC State 46.26
6 1650 Free Anton Ipsen NC State 14:52.00
7 200 Back Hennessey Stuart NC State 1:40.22
8 100 Free Ryan Held NC State 42.87
9 200 Fly Christian McCurdy NC State 1:42.61
1 200 Breast Marat Amaltdinov Purdue 1:54.61
1 100 Breast Nils Wich-Glasen South Carolina 52.53
2 1650 Free Akaram Mahmoud South Carolina 14:48.52
3 200 Breast Nils Wich-Glasen South Carolina 1:54.74
1 500 Free Evan Pinion Tennessee 4:14.97
2 1650 Free Evan Pinion Tennessee 14:44.23
3 1650 Free David Heron Tennessee 14:55.77
4 200 Back Sean Lehan Tennessee 1:40.30
1 100 Fly Joseph Schooling Texas 46.08
1 500 Free Bence Kiraly Utah 4:16.79
2 1650 Free Bence Kiraly Utah 14:50.19

2015-2016 Women’s Swims Under The 2014-2015 Cutoff Line

Potential Swims Event Name School Time
1 1650 Free Genevieve Miller Air Force 16:16.13
1 400 IM Mia Nonnenberg Alabama 4:07.53
2 100 Breast Bridget Blood Alabama 1:00.43
3 200 Back Emma Saunders Alabama 1:53.88
4 100 Free Emma Saunders Alabama 48.89
1 500 Free Anna Mayfield Arkansas 4:41.57
2 200 Free Maddie Monroe Arkansas 1:45.84
3 200 Back Anna Mayfield Arkansas 1:54.09
4 100 Free Maddie Monroe Arkansas 48.73
1 200 Back Sam Wicks Boise State 1:54.24
1 200 IM Kathleen Baker California 1:57.63
2 50 Free Farida Osman California 22.1
3 100 Fly Noemie Thomas California 51.65
4 100 Fly Farida Osman California 52.64
5 100 Back Rachel Bootsma California 52.66
6 100 Back Amy Bilquist California 52.97
7 200 Breast Marina Garcia Urzainqui California 2:10.76
1 50 Free Maddie Rusch Duke 22.14
2 200 Fly Isabella Paez Duke 1:56.14
1 50 Free Katie Latham FGCU 22.29
2 100 Back Elise Haan FGCU 52.32
1 500 Free Jessica Thielmann Florida 4:39.82
2 50 Free Natalite Hinds Florida 22.11
3 400 IM Jessica Thielmann Florida 4:08.88
4 400 IM Hannah Burns Florida 4:09.22
5 100 Fly Natalite Hinds Florida 52.03
6 200 Free Natalite Hinds Florida 1:43.96
7 1650 Free Jessica Thielmann Florida 15:56.32
8 1650 Free Autumn Finke Florida 16:16.47
9 200 Back Georgia-Mae Hohmann Florida 1:53.61
10 200 Back Ashlee Linn Florida 1:54.46
11 100 Free Natalite Hinds Florida 47.75
1 400 IM Megan Brown Florida State 4:09.82
1 500 Free Hali Flickinger Georgia 4:41.92
2 200 Back Hali Flickinger Georgia 1:54.24
3 200 Fly Hali Flickinger Georgia 1:56.85
1 100 Breast Lilly King Indiana 1:00.74
1 500 Free Casey Kendal Kentucky 4:42.58
2 400 IM Kathryn Painter Kentucky 4:11.45
3 100 Back Danielle Galyer Kentucky 52.45
4 1650 Free Kendal Casey Kentucky 16:15.53
5 200 Back Danielle Galyer Kentucky 1:51.52
6 200 Back Bridgette Alexander Kentucky 1:53.91
1 500 Free Mallory Comerford Louisville 4:41.20
2 500 Free Andrea Kneppers Louisville 4:42.23
3 200 IM Kelsi Worrell Louisville 1:56.75
4 50 Free Kelsi Worrell Louisville 21.97
5 400 IM Rachel Bradford-Feldman Louisville 4:09.45
6 100 Fly Kelsi Worrell Louisville 51.36
7 200 Free Mallory Comerford Louisville 1:44.71
8 200 Free Andrea Kneppers Louisville 1:45.00
9 100 Breast Andrea Cottrell Louisville 58.67
10 100 Back Kelsi Worrell Louisville 52.53
11 100 Back Alina Kendzior Louisville 52.79
12 100 Free Kelsi Worrell Louisville 48.6
13 200 Breast Andrea Cottrell Louisville 2:08.63
14 200 Fly Kelsi Worrell Louisville 1:56.46
1 200 IM Kara Kopsco LSU 1:56.55
2 100 Fly Kara Kopsco LSU 52.47
3 200 Free Danielle Stirrat LSU 1:45.72
4 100 Free Leah Troskot LSU 48.64
5 200 Fly Kara Kopsco LSU 1:55.50
1 200 IM Siobahn Haughey Michigan 1:57.20
2 100 Back Ali Deloof Michigan 52.95
3 100 Free Siobahn Haughey Michigan 48.45
4 100 Free Ali Deloof Michigan 48.72
1 400 IM Brooke Zeiger Minnesota 4:10.28
1 500 Free Kira Zubar Missouri 4:42.52
2 200 IM Katherine Ross Missouri 1:57.72
3 100 Breast Katherine Ross Missouri 58.66
4 100 Breast Abby Duncan Missouri 58.83
5 100 Back Hannah Stevens Missouri 52.22
6 100 Back Nadine Laemmler Missouri 52.54
7 200 Back Nadine Laemmler Missouri 1:53.81
8 200 Back Hannah Stevens Missouri 1:54.40
9 200 Breast Abby Duncan Missouri 2:07.02
10 200 Breast Katherine Ross Missouri 2:09.70
1 200 IM Alexia Zevnik NC State 1:56.53
2 50 Free Riki Bonnema NC State 22.04
3 200 Free Alexia Zevnik NC State 1:45.62
4 100 Breast Kayla Brumbaum NC State 1:00.14
5 100 Back Alexia Zevnik NC State 51.65
6 200 Back Alexia Zevnik NC State 1:53.66
7 100 Free Alexia Zevnik NC State 48.6
8 100 Free Riki Bonnema NC State 48.69
9 100 Free Natalie Labonge NC State 48.88
10 200 Breast Kayla Brumbaum NC State 2:10.62
1 50 Free Liz Li Ohio State 21.83
2 400 IM Lindsey Clary Ohio State 4:07.95
3 1650 Free Lindsey Clary Ohio State 16:11.09
1 1650 Free Casey Francis Penn State 16:05.37
1 1650 Free Kaleigh Ritter Pittsburgh 16:14.34
1 500 Free Kaersten Meitz Purdue 4:40.29
2 500 Free Alexa Davis Purdue 4:40.51
3 200 Free Alexa Davis Purdue 1:44.54
4 100 Breast Emily Fogle Purdue 58.88
5 1650 Free Kaersten Meitz Purdue 16:09.96
6 200 Breast Emily Fogle Purdue 2:07.30
1 100 Fly Mame Erasmus SMU 52.6
2 400 IM Emma Barksdale South Carolina 4:11.96
1 200 IM Ella Eastin Stanford 1:54.53
2 50 Free Janet Hu Stanford 22.02
3 50 Free Lia Neal Stanford 22.22
4 400 IM Ella Eastin Stanford 4:01.04
5 100 Fly Janet Hu Stanford 51.71
6 100 Fly Lindsey Engel Stanford 52
7 200 Free Ella Eastin Stanford 1:44.51
8 200 Free Lia Neal Stanford 1:44.87
9 100 Breast Sarah Haase Stanford 58.27
10 100 Back Janet Hu Stanford 51.45
11 100 Back Ally Howe Stanford 52.56
12 200 Back Janet Hu Stanford 1:52.17
13 200 Back Ally Howe Stanford 1:54.05
14 100 Free Lia Neal Stanford 47.76
15 100 Free Janet Hu Stanford 48.27
16 200 Breast Sarah Haase Stanford 2:07.64
17 200 Fly Ella Eastin Stanford 1:53.34
1 500 Free Maddy Tegner Tennessee 4:42.25
2 200 IM Lauren Driscoll Tennessee 1:57.54
3 50 Free Faith Johnson Tennessee 22.22
4 50 Free Madeline Banic Tennessee 22.24
5 400 IM Lauren Driscoll Tennessee 4:06.64
6 400 IM Colleen Callahan Tennessee 4:11.18
7 400 IM Amanda Carner Tennessee 4:11.77
8 100 Fly Madeline Banic Tennessee 51.19
9 100 Back Kira Toussaint Tennessee 52.37
10 1650 Free Maddy Tegner Tennessee 16:60.88
11 1650 Free Morgan Dickson Tennessee 16:16.15
12 100 Free Faith Johnson Tennessee 48.35
13 200 Fly Michelle Cefal Tennessee 1:56.87
1 200 Breast Madisyn Cox Texas 2:11.21
2 400 IM Madisyn Cox Texas 4:10.43
1 500 Free Sarah Gibson Texas A&M 4:42.43
2 200 IM Bethany Galat Texas A&M 1:55.22
3 200 IM Sydney Pickrem Texas A&M 1:57.00
4 200 IM Lisa Bratton Texas A&M 1:57.40
5 50 Free Beryl Gastaledllo Texas A&M 21.86
6 400 IM Bethany Galat Texas A&M 4:04.06
7 400 IM Sydney Pickrem Texas A&M 4:08.82
8 400 IM Lisa Bratton Texas A&M 4:08.92
9 100 Fly Beryl Gastaledllo Texas A&M 51.68
10 100 Fly Sarah Gibson Texas A&M 52.35
11 200 Free Claire Rasmus Texas A&M 1:45.91
12 100 Breast Jorie Caneta Texas A&M 59.37
13 100 Breast Bethany Galat Texas A&M 1:00.33
14 100 Breast Kristen Malone Texas A&M 1:00.67
15 100 Back Beryl Gastaledllo Texas A&M 52.31
16 1650 Free Sarah Gibson Texas A&M 16:16.92
17 200 Back Lisa Bratton Texas A&M 1:54.27
18 100 Free Beryl Gastaledllo Texas A&M 48.35
19 100 Free Meredith Oliver Texas A&M 48.89
20 200 Breast Esther Gonzalez Medina Texas A&M 2:08.30
21 200 Breast Bethany Galat Texas A&M 2:09.10
22 200 Breast Jorie Caneta Texas A&M 2:10.97
1 100 Back Linnea Mack UCLA 52.4
2 100 Free Caroline McTaggart UCLA 48.67
1 100 Back Hellen Moffitt UNC 52.77
2 200 Back Hellen Moffitt UNC 1:54.34
1 200 Free Chelsea Chenault USC 1:45.48
1 200 Breast Stina Colleou Utah 2:10.87
1 500 Free Leah Smith Virginia 4:34.51
2 200 Free Leah Smith Virginia 1:44.12
3 100 Back Courtney Bartholomew Virginia 52.49
4 200 Back Courtney Bartholomew Virginia 1:54.06
1 500 Free Jessica Hespeler Virginia Tech 4:42.45
2 400 IM Klaudia Nazieblo Virginia Tech 4:11.82
3 200 Fly Klaudia Nazieblo Virginia Tech 1:55.30
1 1650 Free Eva Fabian Yale 16:17.09
2 1650 Free Cailey Silbert Yale 16:17.09

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can't find what i'm looking for
8 years ago

anyone know where I can find a list of the 2016 men’s and women’s NCAA invited times? thanks!!

Swimfan
8 years ago

Auburn appears to have been completely omitted from your list.

Phil Jackson
8 years ago

We will know the answer to this question after the Texas Invite this weekend.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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