Franklin Has Women’s High Point Locked Up; Grevers & Clary Fighting for Men’s Award

Headed into the final day of the 2014 U.S. National Championships, the women’s high point award is more-or-less locked up in the name of Missy Franklin, even though she’s idle on Sunday.

Headed into the day, Katie Ledecky was the only swimmer within 20 points of Franklin’s 77, and while Ledecky was a heavy favorite in the 1500, she scratched that event and is also done with the meet.

The highest-ranked swimmer with events remaining is Texas A&M’s Breeja Larson – though it’s an entry in her 4th-best event, the 50 free. Larson does have an outside shot of making a B-Final in that race, even though she’s seeded in the yards class, but probably won’t score enough to catch Ledecky for 2nd. Elizabeth Beisel, who’s swimming the 200 IM, currently sits 5th. Placing 6th or better in that event would move her ahead of Ledecky for the #2 spot on this list.

The men’s side of this race is much more wide open, with two swimmers still in contention for the overall title. Matt Grevers, winner of the 100 back, has 68 points, and Tyler Clary, who won the 200 back and the 400 IM, is 2nd with 57 points. Grevers has the 50 free on Sunday and Clary has the 200 IM. Grevers’ 11-point victory means that if he makes the A-Final in the 50 free, the victory is secured for him. Anything else would leave him susceptible to Clary, who has been swimming very well all week.

Grevers, though, is in control of his own destiny, whereas Clary will need some help.

Ryan Lochte has a 200 IM swim left too, and while he sits 4th so far, the gap is too big for him to close on Grevers (21 points – max per event is 20). Kevin Cordes, in 3rd place, is done for the meet.

An interesting representation of where the men’s team is versus the women’s: the top two in the women’s high point are aged 19 and 17, respectively. For the men, they’re 29 and 25. In fact, the women’s top 10 as it stands right now is a teenager – 19.8 years old (not taking months into account on averages). The men’s top 10 is, on average, in their last Olympic cycle at 25.3. The young men’s breaststrokers (Fink and Cordes) are helping to bring that average down a lot.

Scoring: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (same as NCAA meets).

Women’s Top 10 After Saturday (Full Standings here).

1. Missy Franklin – 77
2. Katie Ledecky – 60
3. Micah Lawrence – 54
4. Breeja Larson – 50
5. Elizabeth Beisel – 48
6. Cierra Runge – 47
7. Sarah Henry – 22
T-8. Leah Smith – 45
T-8. Becca Mann – 45
10. Liz Pelton – 44

Men’s Top 10 After Saturday

1. Matt Grevers – 68
2. Tyler Clary – 57
3. Kevin Cordes – 53
4. Ryan Lochte – 47
5. Nic Fink – 46
6. Connor Jaeger – 43
7. Michael Phelps – 42
8. Tom Shields – 40
T-9. Eugene Godsoe – 39
T-9. Michael Klueh – 39