2022 Men’s NCAA Division I Championships: Day 1 Finals Preview (Heat Sheets)

2022 MEN’S NCAA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, March 23 – Saturday, March 26, 2022
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Official Psych Sheets
• Wednesday Night Heat Sheets

And, here we go. The 2022 Men’s NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championships kick off tonight with timed finals of the 200 medley and 800 free relays.

While many conference championship meets feature these two relays as timed finals the first night, this will be the first time these teams experience this format at NCAAs. Up until 2016, this was solely a three-day meet, but the 800 free relay was moved from Friday to Wednesday that year. Now, the 200 medley relay joins it, and just as we did when the 800 free relay moved earlier in the schedule, we could see an explosion in the 200 medley relay.

Just like last year, all relays are being contested in a timed finals format, meaning that theoretically a team could win from any heat.

Last year, the Louisville Cardinals won their first-ever NCAA relay title with a time of 1:22.10. They’ve already been faster this year, and have the fastest time in the country with a 1:21.84 from ACCs. However, their freestyler, Abdelrahman Elarby, has scratched out of the meet for unknown reasons, and while the Cardinals have some options, there doesn’t seem to be one on paper where they don’t lose at least a few tenths. If they opt to keep Dalton Lowe on fly, though, watch out. Last month he threw down one of the fastest fly splits all-time, with a 19.50. (On a related note, watch for Stanford’s Andrei Minakov — he split 19.49 at Pac-12s).

Even if Louisville wasn’t down Elarby, plenty of other schools should be in the mix. Florida and Ohio State are two well-rounded teams, but both should also get standout backstroke legs, from Adam Chaney and Hunter Armstrong, respectively. At SECs, Chaney clocked a 20.32 leadoff split, just over a tenth shy of Ryan Muprhy’s all-time mark. Texas, Alabama, and Indiana are all swimming in the final heat and should have a chance.

But, as we said, the winner could come from an earlier heat, so don’t blink on the next-to-last heat, where Cal and NC State could make some noise.

After a break, we’ll have four heats of the 800 free relay. The Texas Longhorns are the defending champions, but Arizona State tops the psych sheet with a 6:07.51. It’s been an incredibly fast year for this event — the top eight schools are all under 6:10.

The winner will almost certainly come from the fastest heat, but again, there’s plenty of reason to watch the earlier heats. One big reason is the presence of Dean Farris on Harvard’s relay. It’s tough to believe it’s been three years since he last swam at NCAAs, but back in 2019 he shattered the US Open record in the 200 free relay while leading off Harvard’s relay. He hasn’t looked quite as jaw-droppingly fast this year, but you never know what will happen with the excitement of NCAAs.

Back to the fastest heat — there is a decent chance we could see the NCAA record go down tonight. That heat will feature the top-seeded Arizona State, defending champions and US Open Record holders, Texas, the former US Open Record holders (NC State), and a very strong Florida Gators team. Kieran Smith is another contender to challenge the individual 200 free record if he leads off the Gators relay – he’s the 2nd-fastest performer ever tonight, after only Farris.

After swim fans get their appetite whetted tonight with the two relays, tomorrow will mark the first day of action, as prelims for individual events will get underway in the morning.