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 three finals heats: the top 8 finishers make the A final, places 9 through 16 the B final and places 17 through 24 the C 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,” “Mids” and “Downs” after each prelims session. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final, “Mid” to swimmers in the B final and “Down” to swimmers in the C final.
BIG TEN – MEN
- Wednesday, February 24 – Saturday, February 27
- Boilermaker Aquatic Center, West Lafayette, IN (Eastern Time Zone)
- Prelims 11AM / Finals 6:30PM (Eastern Time)
- Defending Champion: Michigan (5x) (results)
- Live results
- Live Video ($)
- Championship Central
The Michigan men continue to dominate the men’s Big Ten, earning 23 scoring swims over 5 events on Friday morning.
The full numbers really represent just how Michigan has built its run of championships in the Big Ten. At the top, their high-end talent provided just enough to edge top challenger Indiana in A finalists, 11 to 9. Those two programs are using their elite talent to build a big lead in the team points after last night, and they hold 4 of 5 top seeds after this morning. Michigan’s Dylan Bosch is in line to repeat as 400 IM champ, and Indiana leads the 100 fly (Vinicius Lanza), 200 free (Anze Tavcar) and 100 breast (Tanner Kurz).
But what really separates Michigan from its top-end challengers is the Wolverines’ depth. Michigan put 10 swimmers into B finals, more than five times what Indiana did. Michigan’s B final numbers actually beat out Ohio State, a team really built on depth. The Buckeyes have 9 B finalists compared to Michigan’s 10.
Ohio State also has top backstroke seed Matt McHugh, who could contend for dual titles in the 100 fly and 100 back tonight.
The next tier of teams is relatively close. Ohio State has 6 up, Wisconsin and Minnesota 4. Ohio State has the edge on the other two in depth, and a big morning from Wisconsin has them in shape to close the gap on Minnesota a little bit, though the Gophers should strike back hard in diving. Purdue and Iowa also earned quite a few scoring swims, but most of them came in the C finals, which limits the scoring opportunities somewhat.
Day 3 Ups/Mids/Downs
| Up | Mid | Down | |
| Michigan | 11 | 10 | 2 |
| Indiana | 9 | 2 | 4 |
| Ohio State | 6 | 9 | 4 |
| Wisconsin | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| Minnesota | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Purdue | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| Iowa | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Michigan State | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Penn State | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Northwestern | 0 | 3 | 5 |
Current scores:
- Michigan 496
- Indiana 452
- Ohio State 427.5
- Minnesota 308
- Wisconsin 268
- Purdue 246
- Iowa 208
- Northwestern 194
- Penn State 187.5
- Michigan State 114
Lopsided? Are you serious? You can’t be. Indiana just behind and swimming fantastically!
Looks like MI domination continues. Makes rest of Big 10 look lopsided compared to them.