2021 NCAA Women Day 4 Ups/Downs: UVA Earns All 6 Scorers In the A-Finals

2021 NCAA WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

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 make 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 to help project team scoring opportunities for that night’s finals. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final, and “Down” to swimmers in the B final.

Virginia picked up six scoring swimmers during the final prelims session of the 2021 NCAA Women’s Championships, getting all six swimmers in the A-final. The Cavaliers flexed their depth in the 200 breast, picking up #2 Alex Walsh, #3 Ella Nelson, and #6 Alexis Wenger. Sophomore Kate Douglass is the top seed in the 100 free, aiming for a sprint double, while freshmen Reilly Tiltmann is the #5 seed in the 200 back and Abby Harter just snuck in 8th into the 200 fly A-final.

The NC State Wolfpack went 5 up and 1 down this morning, powered by 100 back champion Katharine Berkoff and #5 Emma Muzzy in the 200 back, #6 Kylee Alons in the 100 free, and 100 breast champion Sophie Hansson and #7 Andrea Podmaníková in the 200 breast.

Alabama showed off their deep 100 free field with their three A-finalists from this morning: #4 Cora Dupre, #4 Morgan Scott, and #7 Kalia Antoniou. The Crimson Tide will also have Rhyan White as the top seed in the 200 back. The Texas Longhorns also scored three A-finalists in the 200 fly, led by #3 Kelly Pash, #5 Emma Sticklen, and #6 Olivia Bray. Michigan also scored top-3 seeds in the 100 free (#3 Maggie MacNeil) and the top seed in the 200 fly (Olivia Carter).

DAY 4 UPS/DOWNS

Stat Breakdown provided by Andrew Mering.

All 200 Back 100 Free 200 Breast 200 Fly
UVA 6/0 1/0 1/0 3/0 1/0
NC State 5/1 2/1 1/0 2/0 0/0
Alabama 4/0 1/0 3/0 0/0 0/0
Texas 3/2 0/1 0/0 0/1 3/0
Kentucky 2/3 1/1 0/0 0/2 1/0
California 2/3 1/0 1/2 0/0 0/1
Georgia 2/2 0/0 0/1 1/1 1/0
Michigan 2/1 0/1 1/0 0/0 1/0
Texas A&M 2/1 0/0 1/0 0/0 1/1
Tennessee 1/1 0/0 0/1 1/0 0/0
Wisconsin 1/0 1/0 0/0 0/0 0/0
VT 1/0 1/0 0/0 0/0 0/0
Indiana 1/0 0/0 0/0 1/0 0/0
Louisville 0/3 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/3
UNC 0/2 0/1 0/1 0/0 0/0
Houston 0/2 0/1 0/1 0/0 0/0
ND 0/2 0/1 0/0 0/0 0/1
Northwestern 0/2 0/0 0/1 0/1 0/0
Florida 0/2 0/0 0/1 0/0 0/1
Stanford 0/2 0/0 0/0 0/2 0/0
Oakland 0/1 0/1 0/0 0/0 0/0
FGCU 0/1 0/0 0/0 0/1 0/0
U.S. Navy 0/1 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/1

DAY 4 PRELIMS SCORING

Here’s the points breakdown if the swimmers maintain their places from the morning. Note that these do not include diving or tonight’s relays.

1. UVA: 91.0
2. NC State: 82.0
3. Alabama: 61.0
4. Texas: 55.0
5. California: 45.0
6. Georgia: 44.0
7. Kentucky: 43.5
8. Michigan: 42.0
9. Texas A&M: 32.0
10. Tennessee: 21.0
11. Wisconsin: 16.0
12. ND: 12.0
13. VT: 12.0
14. Indiana: 11.0
15. Florida: 11.0
16. Louisville: 8.0
17. UNC: 8.0
18. Stanford: 7.5
19. Northwestern: 7.0
20. Houston: 5.0
21. U.S. Navy: 3.0
22. Oakland: 2.0
23. FGCU: 1.0

SCORED PRELIMS + ACTUAL SCORES

1. UVA: 435.0
2. NC State: 323.0
3. Texas: 279.0
4. California: 255.0
5. Alabama: 216.0
6. Ohio State: 177.5
7. Michigan: 169.5
8. Georgia: 159.0
9. Kentucky: 157.5
10. Stanford: 147.5
11. UNC: 122.0
12. Tennessee: 111.0
13. Texas A&M: 96.0
14. Louisville: 89.0
15. Florida: 85.5
16. Missouri: 79.0
17. Indiana: 74.0
18. Northwestern: 71.0
19. Wisconsin: 55.0
20. USC: 42.0
20. Miami: 42.0
22. Minnesota: 40.0
22. VT: 40.0
24. Nebraska: 22.0
25. Arkansas: 21.0
26. Arizona: 17.5
27. GT: 16.0
28. ND: 16.0
29. Purdue: 13.0
30. Houston: 11.0
31. LSU: 9.0
32. San Diego St: 6.0
33. Duke: 4.0
34. Akron: 3.0
35. U.S. Navy: 3.0
36. Oakland: 2.0
37. FGCU: 1.0

The 1650 free timed finals will also take place in between preliminaries and the start of the last finals session. Looking at the psych sheets, Michigan’s Sierra Schmidt and Kaitlynn Sims could combine for 26 points in the top-seeded heat, which can bump Ohio State for 6th place. Virginia has Paige Madden as the top seed in this event, favored for a 3-for-3 NCAA title sweep.

Ups/Downs Points
Michigan 2/0 26
UVA 1/0 20
Tennessee 1/0 17
Texas 1/0 16
Alabama 1/0 15
Arkansas 1/0 13
Stanford 1/0 11
Georgia 0/1 9
Florida 0/2 8
Kentucky 0/1 7
Texas A&M 0/1 5
Cal 0/1 4
Louisville 0/1 3
NC State 0/1 1

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swimfan210_
3 years ago

Race for 2nd looks tight. Texas might have the upper hand and catch up to NC State after the mile and diving. Cal could easily not finish top 3, kind of an upset.

Ghost
3 years ago

Texas divers 1 up and 2 down?

Wethorn
Reply to  Ghost
3 years ago

Yes, and the two down finished 2nd and 4th, so 12 points.

JCO
3 years ago

Any chance Alabama catches Cal?

Right Dude Here
Reply to  JCO
3 years ago

Not mathematically impossible, but very unlikely at this point.

Bevo
Reply to  JCO
3 years ago

Talk about a great team performance here. Pandemic, mid-year coaching change, Roll Tiders came to race. Well done!

Coach
Reply to  Bevo
3 years ago

If anyone predicted Alabama would be the highest scoring SEC team, please let me know. I want lottery numbers from you.

Speculating
3 years ago

Texas just went 6th, 9th, 10th in prelims of platform diving. If those places hold, and you count their 3rd place seed in the 1650, that puts them 1 point ahead of NC State before the relay.

WahooSwimFan
Reply to  Speculating
3 years ago

Some drama for the last relay! Hopefully no DQs

Bevo
Reply to  Speculating
3 years ago
Bevo
Reply to  Speculating
3 years ago

Texas 10th and 12th in consolations it appears so 12 points along with big finalist.

BearlyBreathing
3 years ago

Firstly, congrats to both Virginia and NC State. I’ve seen some great swimming from both.
So yes, a bit of a down year for the Cal women but in looking for the silver lining, I see a lot of potential in the underclassmen (underclasspersons?):
Ayla Spitz: top returning scorer in the 500 free.
Emily Gantriis (are the really 2 i’s?): fastest freshman in the 50 Free. Potentially part of 4 out of 5 relays for 3 more years.
Sara Dimeco: not sure what happened at NCs. Illness? Big distance/400IM potental next year.
Isabelle Stadden: backstroke stud, huge points in 2 events already, looking forward to her scoring in a 3rd event.
Rachel Klinker: if… Read more »

swimmerTX
Reply to  BearlyBreathing
3 years ago

Agree with all of the above.
Also freshman backstroker Tea Laughlin is looking good. She needs to swim fast in the morning. Her Pac-12 finals times were great, but hope to see some faster swims in the morning to lock in those night time spots.
Elise Garcia looked real good this year after having stagnated the past couple years. Excited to watch her shine as a senior.
Incoming freshmen also have lots of potential. Excited to see what our Bears can do in the coming years. Go Bears!!

BearlyBreathing
Reply to  swimmerTX
3 years ago

>needs to swim fast in the morning
I think the whole team could improve on that desu. Lots of awesome swims this year that came at non-optimal times.
Having said that, I feel the need to qualify it by saying this has been a wacky and abnormal year for everyone. No one should think I don’t trust in Teri. Because I do.

Last edited 3 years ago by BearlyBreathing
Coach
Reply to  BearlyBreathing
3 years ago

3 hour time change + coming off Daylight savings weekend. I’ve always felt that prelims on the East coast should start at 11:00 AM.

Yup
Reply to  Coach
3 years ago

11am for prelims and then what, 7pm start for finals? Now youre putting all east coast teams at a disadvantage (practice times are normally 6am and 2 or 3pm. Now you set them back 5 hours from their norm in an effort to be nice to west coast teams.

Coach
Reply to  Yup
3 years ago

I would start at 6:00 PM. Prelims aren’t very long in the mornings. This still gives swimmers about 5 hours in between sessions.

BearlyBreathing
Reply to  Coach
3 years ago

Personally, I enjoy waking up at 9 am on a Saturday and having a full set of prelim results I can obsessively pour over. Plus I can also start drinking at 3 in the afternoon.
Since all teams know the date and time well in advance, I feel this can be anticipated and prepared for in several ways, including arriving earlier or holding practices/time trials at the appropriate corresponding time for your time zone.

Breezeway
Reply to  Coach
3 years ago

2015 NCAA – 1. Cal, 3. Stanford
Same timezone, Same city, same pool, same Waffle Houses
Let’s not makeup excuses. Just congratulate Virginia and NCSU.

Coach
Reply to  Breezeway
3 years ago

Who is making excuses?

swimfin5
3 years ago

Slowest NCAA meet of all time. The winner is not a real NCAA champion

Sarcastic
Reply to  swimfin5
3 years ago

Um what? There’s literally been multiple historic “firsts” and conference record breaking swims. I wouldn’t say “slowest of all time”.

Swim85
Reply to  swimfin5
3 years ago

Swinfin5 is not a real name… do you even swim?

BearlyBreathing
Reply to  swimfin5
3 years ago

Don’t feed the troll.

(Prof) Andy Majeske
3 years ago

Watch Maggie Macneil tonight. 100 fly 1st 50 last night: 22.67. 1st 50 on this mornings 100 free: 23.27. huge drop coming tonight. I bet she beats Douglass…

(Prof) Andy Majeske
Reply to  (Prof) Andy Majeske
3 years ago

told you so!

Swim Parent
3 years ago

Congratulations to all the athletes! Your dedication, sacrifice and talents particularly in the face of pandemic limitations/hurdles are an inspiration to many and give us hope that things can return to normal in the near future. Big Wahoowa to the Hoo’s, their athletes, coaches, alumni that kept things going through the coaching transition and all those other supporters ! Hoping for a meaningful gathering to celebrate the win in the near future!

About Nick Pecoraro

Nick Pecoraro

Nick has had the passion for swimming since his first dive in the water in middle school, immediately falling for breaststroke. Nick had expanded to IM events in his late teens, helping foster a short, but memorable NCAA Div III swim experience at Calvin University. While working on his B.A. …

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