2022 Men’s Big Ten Championships: Day 2 Ups/Mids/Downs

2022 MEN’S B1G SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• February 23-26, 2022
• Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center, West Lafayette, IN
• SCY (25 yards)
• Prelims at 10AM Eastern, Finals at 5:30PM Eastern
• Defending Champions: Michigan (2x)
• Championship Central
• Live Results
• Live Stream: DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4
• Day 2 Prelims Heat Sheet

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.

Before getting into the prelim numbers, here’s a look at how the team scores currently stand after Wednesday night’s relay events at Big Tens:

TEAM SCORES (THRU DAY 1)

1. Indiana, 120.0
2. Ohio State, 118.0
3. Michigan, 110.0
4. Northwestern, 100.0
5. Penn State, 96.0
6. Purdue, 92.0
7. Wisconsin, 52.0
8. Minnesota, 50.0

The two-time defending champions from Michigan came out of the opening day in a close third after Ohio State and Indiana each picked up a relay win on Wednesday, but the Wolverines asserted themselves Thursday morning by putting seven men through to ‘A’ finals.

That included freshman Gal Cohen Groumi claiming the top seed in the 200 IM, and last season’s 1-2 finishers in the 500 free, Jake Mitchell and Patrick Callan, safely advancing into the top eight of that event. Michigan also put three up in the 50 free, with all eight finalists separated by just 54 one-hundredths of a second.

Indiana, which had an impressive opening session last night with a win in the 800 free relay and a close second in the 200 medley, was close behind with six men advancing to ‘A’ finals, including a trio in the 200 IM. However, one of the favorites in the 500 free, Michael Brinegar, added over eight seconds to his seed time and was relegated to the ‘C’ final.

Ohio State only put four up, but with five ‘mids’ and the top two times in the 50 free from Hunter Armstrong and Sem Andreis, the Buckeyes actually project to outscore the Hoosiers tonight based off this morning’s results.

Wisconsin and Minnesota, both hampered by disqualifications in last night’s 200 medley relay, have started moving through their way back through the field (projected to, anyway) after sitting at the bottom of the pack overnight.

DAY 2 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

Note that this is before diving prelims wrapped up.

SCORED PRELIMS

1. Michigan, 217.0
2. Ohio State, 194.0
3. Indiana, 182.5
4. Wisconsin, 144.0
5. Minnesota, 117.0
6. Penn State, 93.0
7. Northwestern, 82.5
8. Purdue, 57.0

DAY 1 SCORES + PRELIM PROJECTIONS

1. Michigan, 327.0
2. Ohio State, 312.0
3. Indiana, 302.5
4. Wisconsin, 196.0
5. Penn State, 189.0
6. Northwestern, 182.5
7. Minnesota, 167.0
8. Purdue, 149.0