The NCAA recently published the Division I swimming & diving qualifying standards for the 2024 championships, with the ‘A’ cut in 16 different individual events getting faster from last season.
The University of Virginia women and Cal Berkeley men enter the 2023-24 campaign as the reigning national champions, with the Cavaliers winning their third straight title and the Golden Bears claiming their second consecutive crown this past March. The 2024 women’s championships will run March 20-23 in Athens, Georgia, while the men’s competition will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, from March 27-30.
The NCAA allows 235 swimming spots for men and 281 swimming spots for women for individual events at the NCAA Division 1 Swimming & Diving Championships. These numbers don’t include relay-only swimmers.
Each team is also limited to bringing 18 athletes, with divers counting as half. If a team qualifies more than 18 athletes, a situation which happened this past season with the NC State men, they must cut athletes to get down to a total of 18.
Swimmers automatically qualify if they achieve one of the ‘A’ cuts seen below. The ‘B’ cuts are used for consideration and one swimmer is added to each event until the swimming athlete cap of 235 for men and 281 for women is filled.
See the new qualifying standards below:
2024 Division I Swimming & Diving Qualifying Standards
| Men’s B Standard | Men’s ‘A’ Standard | Event | Women’s ‘A’ Standard | Women’s ‘B’ Standard |
| 19.79 | 18.82 | 50 free | 21.63 | 22.67 |
| 43.46 | 41.50 | 100 free | 47.18 | 49.36 |
| 1:35.79 | 1:31.74 | 200 free | 1:42.84 | 1:47.12 |
| 4:21.99 | 4:10.74 | 500 free | 4:37.89 | 4:47.20 |
| 15:25.12 | 14:37.31 | 1650 free | 15:52.41 | 16:30.59 |
| 47.08 | 44.64 | 100 fly | 50.69 | 53.63 |
| 1:45.89 | 1:40.16 | 200 fly | 1:52.86 | 1:59.23 |
| 47.47 | 44.71 | 100 back | 50.88 | 53.82 |
| 1:44.60 | 1:39.13 | 200 back | 1:50.50 | 1:57.07 |
| 53.63 | 51.10 | 100 breast | 58.02 | 1:01.46 |
| 1:57.44 | 1:51.09 | 200 breast | 2:05.73 | 2:13.86 |
| 1:46.16 | 1:41.03 | 200 IM | 1:53.66 | 1:59.56 |
| 3:50.68 | 3:38.90 | 400 IM | 4:03.62 | 4:17.30 |
| 1:17.38 | 1:16.80 | 200 free relay | 1:28.43 | 1:29.21 |
| 2:51.86 | 2:50.44 | 400 free relay | 3:14.10 | 3:16.25 |
| 6:18.94 | 6:16.02 | 800 free relay | 7:00.86 | 7:05.88 |
| 1:24.32 | 1:23.71 | 200 medley relay | 1:36.24 | 1:37.00 |
| 3:06.84 | 3:04.96 | 400 medley relay | 3:31.38 | 3:33.48 |
Diving
| Men’s Zones | Event | Women’s Zones |
| 300* | 1-Meter | 265* / 220** |
| 320* | 3-Meter | 280* / 235** |
| 300* | Platform | 225** |
*Qualifying point total in any 6 dive list
**Qualifying point in any 5 dive list
Last season, the women’s cutline fell around row 39 for the second straight time, while the last men’s qualifier came six swimmers into row 30 (for a full explanation on what that means exactly click here).
See the exact time it took to receive an invite for the past four seasons below:
WOMEN’S CUTS
| EVENT (SCY) | 2020 INVITE TIME | 2021 INVITE TIME | 2022 INVITE TIME | 2023 INVITE TIME |
| 50 free | 22.21 | 22.32 | 22.16 | 22.15 |
| 100 free | 48.51 | 48.76 | 48.44 | 48.37 |
| 200 free | 1:45.23 | 1:46.25 | 1:45.42 | 1:45.31 |
| 500 free | 4:41.20 | 4:44.77 | 4:43.08 | 4:41.09 |
| 1650 free | 16:17.45 | 16:25.47 | 16:16.47 | 16:13.73 |
| 100 fly | 52.34 | 52.70 | 52.35 | 52.20 |
| 200 fly | 1:56.06 | 1:57.42 | 1:56.14 | 1:55.92 |
| 100 back | 52.73 | 53.01 | 52.46 | 52.36 |
| 200 back | 1:53.99 | 1:55.05 | 1:53.97 | 1:53.94 |
| 100 breast | 59.98 | 1:00.12 | 59.87 | 59.73 |
| 200 breast | 2:10.12 | 2:10.37 | 2:09.15 | 2:09.68 |
| 200 IM | 1:57.31 | 1:57.62 | 1:56.85 | 1:56.90 |
| 400 IM | 4:10.39 | 4:13.19 | 4:11.60 | 4:11.36 |
MEN’S CUTS
| EVENT (SCY) | 2020 INVITE TIME | 2021 INVITE TIME | 2022 INVITE TIME | 2023 INVITE TIME |
| 50 free | 19.32 | 19.46 | 19.28 | 19.21 |
| 100 free | 42.57 | 42.88 | 42.34 | 42.32 |
| 200 free | 1:34.07 | 1:34.04 | 1:33.08 | 1:32.85 |
| 500 free | 4:16.49 | 4:16.75 | 4:14.96 | 4:14.36 |
| 1650 free | 14:57.07 | 15:01.33 | 14:55.21 | 14:53.84 |
| 100 fly | 45.97 | 46.29 | 45.57 | 45.57 |
| 200 fly | 1:43.18 | 1:43.47 | 1:42.42 | 1:42.57 |
| 100 back | 46.22 | 46.37 | 45.87 | 45.70 |
| 200 back | 1:41.49 | 1:41.81 | 1:40.92 | 1:40.62 |
| 100 breast | 52.46 | 52.40 | 52.20 | 51.90 |
| 200 breast | 1:54.03 | 1:54.28 | 1:53.23 | 1:52.94 |
| 200 IM | 1:43.79 | 1:44.15 | 1:43.36 | 1:43.14 |
| 400 IM | 3:44.36 | 3:45.67 | 3:43.50 | 3:42.99 |
As you can see above, the vast majority of the events had a faster cutline time last season compared to 2021-22, with the men’s 200 fly, women’s 200 breast and women’s 200 IM the only three to get slower, while the men’s 100 fly remained the same.
With so many ‘A’ cuts getting quicker this year, along with the majority of the ‘B’ standards, we’re seemingly destined to see the invite times in 2024 continue the trend of getting faster as the world of college swimming continues to level up.
The eventual NCAA champions from UVA had the most women’s qualifiers last season with 17, while the top men’s program was NC State with 19. See the full top 10 list below:
Women’s NCAA Qualifiers – Top 10 Schools
| Rank | School | Qualifiers |
| 1 | Virginia, University of | 17 |
| 2 | Florida, University of | 16 |
| T-3 | Stanford University | 15 |
| T-3 | Ohio State University | 15 |
| 5 | Texas, University of | 14 |
| T-6 | Kentucky, University of | 13 |
| T-6 | North Carolina State University | 13 |
| 8 | Louisville, University of | 11 |
| 9 | University of Tennessee | 10 |
| T-10 | Georgia, University of | 9 |
| T-10 | California, University of, Berkeley | 9 |
Men’s NCAA Qualifiers – Top 10 Schools
| Rank | School | Qualifiers |
| 1 | North Carolina State University | 19 |
| T-2 | Florida, University of | 16 |
| T-2 | California, University of, Berkeley | 16 |
| T-4 | Arizona State University | 15 |
| T-4 | Texas, University of | 15 |
| 6 | Stanford University | 12 |
| T-7 | Auburn University | 10 |
| T-7 | University of Tennessee | 10 |
| 9 | Indiana University | 9 |
| T-10 | VA Tech | 8 |
| T-10 | Georgia, University of | 8 |
Also Read: Which Cuts Got Faster? Comparing The 2024 NCAA Championship Standards To Last Season
Is it possible this years invite times are a bit slower due to red shirts? For e.g., we already know Claire Curzan and Tori Huske are not swimming. Doesn’t that presumable move the cut down 1 person for their events?