Which Cuts Got Faster? Comparing The 2024 NCAA Championship Standards To Last Season

The NCAA has released the qualifying standards for the 2024 Division I Swimming & Diving Championships, so it’s time to dive into the cuts and see what’s changed from last year.

Looking specifically at the ‘A’ standards, the majority of the men’s cuts have gotten faster, including seven of them improving by more than 0.2 percent (roughly equivalent to a tenth of a second per 100).

The women’s side, on the other hand, has remained largely the same, with only two cuts getting faster by 0.2 percent and seven of them remaining the same from last season.

WOMEN’S NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP ‘A’ CUTS: 2023 VS 2024

Jumping off the page for the women’s cuts is the 500 free, which sees a near two-second drop year-over-year, going from 4:35.76 in 2022-23 to 4:37.89 for the coming season.

The reasoning behind the event getting slower is due to the drop-off the 500 free has had over the last three seasons. ‘A’ cuts are determined by using the three-year average of the eighth-fastest time from the last three seasons, unless that average is slower than the current cut.

After three quick seasons in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 saw the cut get down to 4:35.76, the standard has stayed there since the subsequent three-year averages weren’t faster. With that three-year average now expiring, the new cut is the average from the past three seasons which has is much slower.

Eighth-Fastest Time, Women’s 500 Freestyle

• 2022-23 – 4:37.96
• 2021-22 – 4:37.35
• 2020-21 – 4:38.38
• 2019-20 – 4:36.40
• 2018-19 – 4:35.47
• 2017-18 – 4:35.69
• 2016-17 – 4:36.13

The cut that dropped the most was the 100 fly, which incredibly had the eighth-fastest time come in at 50.07 last season, essentially what won the national title in 2017 (50.05).

As a result, that cut drops from 50.92 to 50.69, while the 200 breast also saw a notable improvement down 45 one-hundredths to 2:05.73, primarily because it shed the 2019-20 season (#8 time of 2:07.24) from its three-year average.

MEN’S NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP ‘A’ CUTS: 2023 VS 2024

The men’s side saw numerous big drops, led by the 100 breast, which improves three-tenths and 0.59 percent down to 51.10.

This comes after the #8 time in the nation stood at 50.82 in 2022-23, the first time that distinction has ever been sub-51.

The 100 fly, which had an eighth-ranked time of 45.19 in 2019-20, saw a big improvement by 0.40 percent after the #8 time last season was 44.50, while the 200 breast matched that percentage drop after the #8 time came in at 1:50.86 in 2022-23. In 2019-20, that was 1:52.39.

How the Standards are Created

• The “A Standard” for individual events is calculated by using the three-year average of the eighth-best time on the performance list unless the current “A Standard” is faster than the three-year average.
• The “B Standard” for individual events is calculated by using the three-year average of the 125th best time on the performance list unless the current “B Standard” is faster than the three-year average.
• The “Qualifying Standard” for relay events is calculated using the three-year average of the 16th best time on the championship finals performance list unless the current “Qualifying Standard” is faster than the three-year average.
• The “Provisional Standard” for relay events is calculated using the three-year average of the 24th-best time on the championship finals performance list unless the current “Provisional Standard” is faster than the three-year average.

See the full standards below:

FULL 2024 NCAA DIVISION I SWIMMING STANDARDS