27 Teams Qualify Relays for 2023 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

2023 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 22-25, 2023
• Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | Minneapolis, MN
• SCY (25 yards)
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The 2023 Division I Men’s NCAA Championships are less than a day away. With that, it’s time to take a look which teams have qualified relays for NCAAs. The eligible relays begin to show us a clearer picture of the state of play headed into the meet.

First, a quick reminder on how relays qualify for NCAAs:

• The simplest way to qualify relays for NCAAs is to hit the “A Cut,” formally known as the “Qualifying Standard” in a relay.
• Once a team has an “A” standard relay, they can also enter all relays where they’ve earned the “B” standard, formally known as a “Provisional Standard.”
• Teams with four individual swimmers qualified can swim relay events in which they have at least a “B” standard.
• Relays are qualified “to the team”, not the individual swimmers so teams can take whichever swimmers they want to use on the relay.
• Teams must have at least one individual invite to send relays.

Relay qualification is important for several different reasons. Relays are worth double points, which makes qualifying and scoring highly critical for teams with high aspirations in the team standings race. This year, the battle for a top 5 finish projects to be one of the closest we’ve ever seen. For Cal, ASU, Florida, Texas, NC State, and Indiana–the main teams vying for top 5–ensuring that all relays score in the top 8 and none disqualify is crucial as that could be the difference between a trophy or not (which we saw happen at the women’s meet).

But relay qualification has value not just from a points perspective; it can be a big turning point for a team to get a relay to NCAAs. That’s because relay qualification points to the depth of a program–it means that their success isn’t reliant on just one or two swimmers. There’s at least four swimmers making a direct impact; and the more relays qualified, the more swimmers likely to be involved.

We checked on teams’ relay qualification after midseason invites. But now that the psych sheets are out at the meet is rapidly approaching, here’s how things stand.

Schools Qualified To Send 1+ Relay to 2023 NCAAs

Note: The table is organized by number of qualified relays, in descending order

Overall, 27 schools have qualified at least one relay for NCAAs. That’s a drop from last year, when 32 schools made the cut. However, it’s the same number of schools that qualified in 2021, so it’s possible that last year was just an abnormal year.

10 teams have qualified all five relays by hitting ‘A’ cuts. That number is also down from last year, when 12 schools earned ‘A’ cuts in all five relays. Though the overall number is down, Auburn only earned four ‘A’ cuts last year but got all five this year. This is just another example of how they’ve continued to make improvements under second year head coach Ryan Wochomurka.

Three teams are taking advantage of the rule that if they have four individual swimmers qualified, they can swim relay events in which they have at least a “B” standard. Pitt, Minnesota, and Kentucky are exercising this rule, with Pitt eligible for four relays, Minnesota two, and Kentucky one. It’s a step in the right direction for both Pitt and Minnesota, neither of whom had relays swim in 2022. Last year, Kentucky hit one ‘A’ cut in the 800 free relay.

Wisconsin also made improvements this year. They’re eligible to swim all five relays compared to the two they qualified for last year.

Of the six programs expected to be involved in the race for the top 5 (Cal, ASU, Florida, Texas, NC State, and Indiana), the Longhorns are the only team that didn’t swim five ‘A’ cuts. The relay that they missed in is the 200 free relay, an event that’s been a thorn in their side all season. However, they did hit a ‘B’ cut with a time of 1:16.89. Since relays are timed finals and they’re the fourth-slowest qualifier, they’re going to find themselves in an early heat which could be an advantage since there will be more of a chance to catch some clean water.

Two mid-major programs qualified relays for NCAAs: Harvard and UNLV. Both teams had relays swim at NCAAs last year as well. Harvard graduated not only the legend himself, Dean Farris, but also Raphael Marcoux and Mahlon Reihman, who among other things were important contributors to the Crimson relays. So, the fact that Harvard will race all five relays (by virtue of their ‘A’ cut in the 200 free relay) says a lot about how that program has retooled.