2026 NAIA National Championships: Day 2 Ups/Downs – Keiser Grows Lead in Men’s and Women’s Meets

2026 NAIA Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving National Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 4–Saturday, March 7
• Times: Prelims 9AM Eastern, Finals 5PM Eastern
• Location: Elkhart Aquatic Center, Elkhart, IN
• Defending Champions: Keiser women (4x); Keiser men (1x)
• Championship Program
• Psych Sheet
• Qualifiers per School: Men| Women
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Championship Central
• Recaps
  • Day 1 Finals
  • Day 2 Prelims | Finals

Day 2

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, 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 and divers in the A final, “Down” to B finalists.

Women’s Meet

Women’s Top 10 After Day 1

1. Keiser, 80
2. SCAD, 68
3. Masters, 64
4. St Thomas (FL), 58
5. Cumberlands, 56
6. Bethel (IN) , 52
7. Lindsey Wilson, 46
8. Milligan, 36
9. William Carey, 34
10. Olivet Nazarene, 28

Keiser dominated the morning with 7 ‘A’ final scorers and 3 ‘B’ finalists, earning 2 top-8 spots in the 200 IM, 50 free, and 3-meter diving, as well as one in the 500 free.

SCAD showed up in a swarm, though. With no divers, the Bees had the strongest swimming performance of the prelims session, earning 5 ‘A’ final and 4 ‘B’ final slots. A year ago, SCAD had 1 up and 1 down on Day 2. The Bees outperformed the psych sheet by 13 points this morning.

St Thomas also had a big morning in Elkhart, scoring 9 finals swims and dives, of which 4 were top 8. The Bobcats were up 5 points over the psych sheet.

Breneau beat their seedings by 11 points. Other strong performances came from Shawnee State (+7) and Milligan (+3).

Day 2 Ups/Downs – Women

Scoring Day 2 Prelims (plus 200 Free Relay as seeded)

Projected Day 2 Scores – Women

Men’s Meet

Men’s Top 10 After Day 1

1. Keiser, 121
2. SCAD, 64
3. William Carey, 62
4. Milligan, 58
5. Masters, 56
6. St Thomas (FL), 54
7. St Ambrose, 50
8. Aquinas College, 46
9. (tie) Lindsey Wilson / Cumberlands, 34
10. –

Keiser had a strong morning in Elkhart, with 5 ‘A’ and 4 ‘B’ finalists. With 3 in the top 8 of the 50 free, the Seahawks are giving us a preview into what to expect in the 200 free relay tonight.

Milligan had some outstanding performances in prelims, beating the psych sheet by 19 points and garnering 3 ‘A’ and 1 ‘B’ final swims. St Ambrose also did better than their seedings, picking up 16 points with 2 ‘A’ and 2 ‘B’ finalists. SCAD was up 11 points over the psych sheet and will have 2 ‘A’ and 2 ‘B’ finalists.

St Thomas was off by about -21 points but their 2 ‘A’ and 4 ‘B’ finalists will put the Bobcats in position to challenge Millian and SCAD for second place in the standings tonight.

Life (+5), Lindsey Wilson (+5), Loyola New Orleans (+2), and Bethel (+1) all outperformed their seedings, as well.

Day 2 Ups/Downs – Men

Scoring Day 2 Prelims (plus 200 Free Relay as seeded)

Projected Day 2 Scores – Men