2019 National Invitational Championship
- March 14th-16th, 2019
- Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
- 2018 Results
- Championship Central
- List of participating teams
- Psych Sheet
The 2019 CSCAA National Invitational Championship, a meet hosted by the CSCAA as a next-tier championship meet for swimmers who don’t qualify for NCAAs, similar to the NIT in basketball, will begin on Thursday morning in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the 2nd edition of the meet, after the opening act last season was hosted by the US Naval Academy.
The meet was held for the first time in 2014, and again in 2015, and then went on hiatus in 2 years. It was revived when, in April of 2017 received official exempt status from the NCAA, which allowed the meet to grow unencumbered by season-length limitations for its 2018 return. Over the last 2 seasons, that has happened, with some schools now painting the event as a ‘target meet’ of their seasons, with entries in some women’s events approaching 100 swimmers.
This year, a number of Power 5 schools have jumped into the mix. That includes Indiana University, the Big Ten men’s and women’s champions, who have qualified 23 swimmers for individual events at NCAAs. While the Hoosiers’ top names will be preparing to race in a few weeks in Austin, some of their best non-NCAA qualifiers will be in Cleveland instead. That includes names like Maria Heitmann, who is the top seed in the 200 free (1:45.74) and 500 free (4:42.45) and who last year earned Honorable Mention All-America status as a member of Indiana’s 800 free relay at NCAAs. Spencer Lehman, Thomas Vanderbrook, Gary Kostbade, Abigail Kirkpatrick, Jacob Steele, and Cory Gamardella are also among the near-miss Hoosiers who will carry top seeds into the CSCAA meet.
They’ll be joined by other Power 5 teams like Ohio State, TCU, and South Carolina at the meet. Ohio State’s entries include Nick Hogsed, who like Heitmann earned Honorable Mention All-America status last season as part of an 800 free relay.
This lines them up against swimmers from many of the top mid-major programs in the country which have historically been the focal points of the meet. Denver, Akron, Boise State, Rice, Grand Canyon, Oakland, Army, and the defending champions from Florida International (women) and Navy (men) will all also send teams to the meet, among many others.
In total, 59 schools will participate in the meet, which is a huge jump from last season where 40 teams participated. This will be the largest NIC to date.
Schedule
| Thursday, March 14 | Friday, March 15 | Saturday, March 16 |
| Prelims (9:30 a.m.) | Prelims (9:30 a.m.) | Prelims (9:30 a.m.) |
| 50 Butterfly | 400 IM | 100 IM |
| 50 Breaststroke | 100 Butterfly | 200 Backstroke |
| 500 Freestyle | 200 Freestyle | 100 Freestyle |
| 50 Backstroke | 100 Breaststroke | 200 Breaststroke |
| 200 IM | 100 Backstroke | 200 Butterfly |
| 50 Freestyle | ||
| Prelims Results (PDF) | Prelims Results (PDF) | Prelims Results (PDF) |
| Finals (6:00 p.m.) | 800 Freestyle Relay (early heats) | 1000/1650 Freestyle (early heats) |
| 200 Freestyle Relay | ||
| 10-minute break | Finals (6:00 p.m.) | Finals (6:00 p.m.) |
| 50 Butterfly | 200 Medley Relay | 1000/1650 Freestyle (fastest heat) |
| 50 Breaststroke | 10-minute break | 100 IM |
| 500 Freestyle | 400 IM | 200 Backstroke |
| 50 Backstroke | 100 Butterfly | 100 Freestyle |
| 200 IM | 200 Freestyle | 200 Breaststroke |
| 50 Freestyle | 100 Breaststroke | 200 Butterfly |
| 20-minute break | 100 Backstroke | 20-minute break |
| 400 Medley Relay | 20-minute break | 400 Freestyle Relay |
| 800 Freestyle Relay (fastest heats) | ||
| Finals Results (PDF) | Finals Results (PDF) | Finals Results (PDF) |
This is such a great idea. I wish this had existed when I was still swimming. I never quite made it to NCAAs, but as a team we would all still practice until our teammates who qualified left for NCAAs. Because I was still training, I would swim a USA Swimming meet like sectionals or a state meet in mid-March to get in a second taper meet. It was difficult to stay motivated at those meets because they didn’t have the team atmosphere and you were swimming against younger kids. This would have been a fantastic alternative!
Thanks for the article. This a great meet. We have 14 swimmers attending the meet who we helped with recruiting.
A great meet! Perhaps change the title for event winners from “Champion” to King or Queen and instead of offering team trophy do a team Stuffed Dog?
I believe that the meet began with prelims this morning rather than this evening.
Host at IUPUI Natatorium and watch the teams flood in…..
Gary!!!!
This is a great initiative! Didn’t know much about it until now thanks to your great article Braden. Thank you.
Maybe meet for guys from Texas like Koustik, Artmann etc?
I think the CSCAA and meet organizers would die to have those guys. Doesn’t seem like it’s in Texas’ plans, however.