2023 SEC Champs Day 3 Ups/Mids/Downs: Gators Tighten Hold On 1st, Vols Make A Move

2023 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 14 – Saturday, February 18, 2023
• Rec Center Natatorium, College Station, TX
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Tennessee (1x)
  • Men: Florida (10x)
• Championship Central
• Women’s Fan Guide
• Men’s Fan Guide
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Video
• SwimSwam Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

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 prelims numbers, here’s a look at how the team scores currently stand after two days of competition.

SCORES AFTER DAY TWO:

Women: 

1. Florida — 502
2. LSU — 378
3. Tennessee — 375
4. Georgia — 329
5. Alabama — 306
6. Kentucky — 300
7. South Carolina — 286
8. Texas A&M — 226
9. Auburn — 222
10. Arkansas — 205
11. Missouri — 177
12. Vanderbilt — 94

Men:

1. Florida — 542.5
2. Auburn/Texas A&M — 380
3. –
4. Tennessee — 347
5. Georgia — 268.5
6. Alabama — 249
7. Missouri — 214.5
8. South Carolina — 203.5
9. Kentucky — 162
10. LSU — 131

Florida continues to tighten its grip in both the women’s and men’s team races. The Gator women put 15 swimmers into finals tonight, four more swims than Kentucky, who has the second-highest number of finals swims at 11. The Gators total was boosted by putting three swimmers into both the 400 IM and 200 freestyle ‘A’ finals.

Thus, they’re projected to pick up 254 points, 84 more than Kentucky.

Tennessee’s depth is beginning to catch up with LSU. They have two more finals swims than the Tigers, and more in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ finals. That should be enough to move them ahead of LSU in the standings, and by about 30 points as well. With no relays in finals tonight, LSU will have to wait to see if they can use their newfound relay prowess to make up some ground on the Vols.

South Carolina had a great morning: seven women made it back, highlighted by Laura Goettler dropping five seconds to make the ‘A’ final of the 400 IM. The Gamecock swimmers showing up big, on top of Brooke Schultz‘s sweep of the 1- and 3-meter boards earlier in the meet means Carolina is projected to jump to fifth in the standings; a huge improvement from last year’s 10th place finish.

It’s still all coming up Florida on the men’s side of the meet. Though they have one less ‘A’ finalist than both Tennessee and Texas A&M, they have the most total swims at 13. Their line of 4/8/1 gives the Gators a projected points total of 246, 90.5 more than second-place Tennessee.

Powered by their IM group that put three swimmers into the 400 IM ‘A’ final as the 1-3-5 seeds, Texas A&M should break their tie with Auburn. But while they may have swum away from the Tigers, the Vols are surging. From their line of 5/1/3, they’re projected to end the day just half a point behind the Aggies. So, while the Gators have a solid hold on first, the race for second is heating up.

DAY 2 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS – WOMEN

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

SCORED PRELIMS – WOMEN

1. Florida – 254
2. Kentucky – 170
3. Tennessee – 108
4. Auburn – 102
5. Texas A&M – 99
6. South Carolina – 97.5
7. Georgia – 63.5
8. LSU – 55.5
9. Alabama – 50
10. Arkansas – 44
11. Missouri 42.5

SCORED PRELIMS + ACTUAL — WOMEN

1. Florida – 739
2. Tennessee – 451
3. LSU – 419.5
4. Georgia – 385.5
5. South Carolina – 383.5
6. Alabama – 356
7. Kentucky – 446
8. Auburn – 313
9. Texas A &M – 296
10. Arkansas – 243
11. Missouri – 204.5
12. Vanderbilt – 94

DAY 2 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS – MEN

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

SCORED PRELIMS — MEN

1. Florida – 246
2. Texas A&M – 155.5
3. Tennessee – 155
4. Georgia – 128
5. Auburn – 113
6. Alabama – 96.5
7. Kentucky – 71
8. Missouri – 69.5
9. LSU – 29.5
10. South Carolina – 22

SCORED PRELIMS + ACTUAL — MEN

1. Florida – 788.5
2. Texas A&M – 535.5
3. Tennessee – 502
4. Auburn – 493
5. Georgia – 396.5
6. Alabama – 345.5
7. Missouri – 284
8. Kentucky – 233
9. South Carolina – 225.5
10. LSU – 160.5