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, 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. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final, and “Down” to swimmers in the B final.
From the opening whistle, six-time defending champions, Queens University of Charlotte, showed why it will be challenging to unseat them this year. The Royals placed three swimmers in finals of both the 200 IM and the 50 free, and they are expected to have three of the 16 scoring spots in the 1000 free. Queens outscored the psych sheet by 26.5 points on Day 1, more than any other team. Lindenwood had a good morning, picking up points in all three individual events for a 17-point surplus. Simon Fraser (+13) and Drury (+10) also performed well.
Nova Southeastern and Indianapolis also had successful prelims performances on Day 1 and are projected, along with Queens and Drury, to rank in the top-4 at the end of finals.
Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …
