2023 SEC Championships: Day 2 Ups/Mids/Downs

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
• Day 2 Prelims 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 prelim numbers, here’s a look at how the team scores currently stand after Tuesday night’s diving and relay events:

TEAM SCORES THRU DAY 1

WOMEN

1. LSU – 178
2. Florida – 150
3. Kentucky – 149
4. South Carolina – 142
5. Tennessee – 136
6. Alabama – 131
7. Auburn – 119
8. Georgia – 107
9. Missouri – 105
10. Arkansas – 97
11. Vanderbilt – 62
12. Texas A&M – 56

MEN

1. Texas A&M – 229
2. Auburn – 166
3. Tennessee – 159
4. Florida – 138
5. Missouri – 126
6. South Carolina – 115
7. Ge0rgia – 113
8. Alabama – 107
9. Kentucky – 86
10. LSU – 65

The University of Florida stamped its authority on the team race during Wednesday morning prelims at the SEC Championships in College Station, as the men’s team put 10 swimmers into an ‘A’ final and the women were similarly dominant with seven championship finalists and 12 total athletes making it into the top 16.

The Gator men put four swimmers into the ‘A’ final of the 500 free and three into both the 200 IM and 50 free, including holding the top two seeds in the 500 and the 2-3-4 slots in the 50.

On the women’s side, prior to the 1-meter diving prelims, Florida advanced three into the ‘A’ final of both the 500 free and 50 free.

Florida’s performances were buoyed by newcomers—both freshmen and transfers. First-year swimmers Hayden Miller, Gio Linscheer, Eric Brown, Zoe Dixon and Josh Liendo all qualified for an ‘A’ final for the Gators, as did transfers Emma Weyant and Jake Mitchell.

On the women’s side, the defending champion Tennessee Volunteers project to score the second-most points behind Florida, having put four into ‘A’ finals and three more into ‘B’ finals. That includes two ‘A’ finalists in the 200 IM, led by top seed Josephine Fuller.

For the men, Georgia and Alabama both put three swimmers into an ‘A’ final, but Auburn, with seven ‘B’ finalists, project to outscore every team other than the Gators.

DAY 2 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS – WOMEN

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

Note: Prior to diving prelims.

SCORED PRELIMS – WOMEN

1. Florida, 250.5
2. Tennessee, 170
3. Georgia, 155
4. Alabama, 121
5. Kentucky, 93
6. Texas A&M, 72.5
7. LSU, 65.5
8. Auburn, 52.5
9. Arkansas, 51
10. South Carolina, 38.5
11. Missouri, 16.5

DAY 1 SCORES + PRELIM PROJECTIONS – WOMEN

1. Florida, 400.5
2. Tennessee, 306
3. Georgia, 262
4. Alabama, 252
5. LSU, 243.5
6. Kentucky, 242
7. South Carolina, 180.5
8. Auburn, 171.5
9. Arkansas, 148
10. Texas A&M, 128.5
11. Missouri, 121.5
12. Vanderbilt, 62

DAY 2 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS – MEN

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

SCORED PRELIMS – MEN

1. Florida, 336.5
2. Auburn, 164
3. Tennessee, 129
4. Georgia, 109
5. Texas A&M, 107.5
6. Alabama, 102.5
7. South Carolina, 41
8. Missouri, 38
9. Kentucky, 35
10. LSU, 24.5

DAY 1 SCORES + PRELIM PROJECTIONS – MEN

1. Florida, 474.5
2. Texas A&M, 336.5
3. Auburn, 330
4. Tennessee, 288
5. Georgia, 222
6. Alabama, 209.5
7. Missouri, 164
8. South Carolina, 156
9. Kentucky, 121
10. LSU, 89.5