With the loss of most of their stars, Arizona State sophomore Ilya Kharun will be the Sun Devils' top returning performer after winning a pair of Olympic medals in Paris. Archive photo via Jack Spitser/Spitser Photography
While the standards don’t ultimately decide much, they are a good indicator of the trajectory of times in college swimming, because they are set based on the average of the 8th-best time in the country for the last three years and the 125th-best time in the country for the last three years for the individual “A” and “B” cuts, respectively.
Individual Events
Qualifying Standards:
Number of standards that got faster: 12 (men) + 8 (women) = 20
Percentage of total standards: 76.92%
Provisional Standards:
Number of standards that got faster: 13 (men) + 11 (women) = 24
Percentage of total standards: 92.31%
Relay Events
Qualifying Standards:
Number of standards that got faster: 4 (men) + 3 (women) = 7
Percentage of total standards: 70.00%
Provisional Standards:
Number of standards that got faster: 5 (men) + 5 (women) = 10
Percentage of total standards: 100.00%
Highlights
While the “A” standard for the women’s 1650 free didn’t change, the “B” standard changed by almost 11 seconds. That implies that the top end of the field was stagnant time-wise, but that the deeper ranks of the event (125th rank nationally) got much, much faster last year.
Relay events, where these time standards are most significant, mostly got faster on the men’s side, though the 400 medley “A” cut stayed the same. On the women’s side, only three of the relay “A” cuts got faster, and one of those was by only .01 seconds.
Comparison Table – Men Individual
Event
A Standard 2024
B Standard 2024
A Standard 2025
B Standard 2025
A Standard Difference
B Standard Difference
50 Freestyle
0:18.82
0:19.79
0:18.72
0:19.69
-0:00.10
-0:00.10
100 Freestyle
0:41.50
0:43.46
0:41.34
0:43.25
-0:00.16
-0:00.21
200 Freestyle
1:31.74
1:35.79
1:31.21
1:35.35
-0:00.53
-0:00.44
500 Freestyle
4:10.74
4:21.99
4:10.64
4:21.28
-0:00.10
-0:00.71
1,650 Freestyle
14:37.31
15:25.12
14:37.31
15:21.20
0:00.00
-0:03.92
100 Butterfly
0:44.64
0:47.08
0:44.51
0:46.80
-0:00.13
-0:00.28
200 Butterfly
1:40.16
1:45.89
1:40.05
1:45.34
-0:00.11
-0:00.55
100 Backstroke
0:44.71
0:47.47
0:44.48
0:47.16
-0:00.23
-0:00.31
200 Backstroke
1:39.13
1:44.60
1:38.80
1:44.03
-0:00.33
-0:00.57
100 Breaststroke
0:51.10
0:53.63
0:51.02
0:53.43
-0:00.08
-0:00.20
200 Breaststroke
1:51.09
1:57.44
1:50.65
1:56.96
-0:00.44
-0:00.48
200 Individual Medley
1:41.03
1:46.16
1:40.75
1:45.68
-0:00.28
-0:00.48
400 Individual Medley
3:38.90
3:50.68
3:38.37
3:49.53
-0:00.53
-1:01.15
Comparison Table – Men Relay
Event
Qualifying 2024
Provisional 2024
Qualifying 2025
Provisional 2025
Qualifying Difference
Provisional Difference
200 Freestyle Relay
1:16.80
1:17.38
1:16.51
1:17.13
-0:00.29
-0:00.25
400 Freestyle Relay
2:50.44
2:51.86
2:49.79
2:51.01
-0:00.65
-0:00.85
800 Freestyle Relay
6:16.02
6:18.94
6:15.80
6:18.42
-0:00.22
-0:00.52
200 Medley Relay
1:23.71
1:24.32
1:23.62
1:23.90
-0:00.09
-0:00.42
400 Medley Relay
3:04.96
3:06.84
3:04.96
3:06.37
0:00.00
-0:00.47
Comparison Table – Women Individual
Event
A Standard 2024
B Standard 2024
A Standard 2025
B Standard 2025
A Standard Difference
B Standard Difference
50 Freestyle
0:21.63
0:22.67
0:21.58
0:22.58
-0:00.05
-0:00.09
100 Freestyle
0:47.18
0:49.36
0:47.10
0:49.18
-0:00.08
-0:00.18
200 Freestyle
1:42.84
1:47.12
1:42.60
1:46.85
-0:00.24
-0:00.27
500 Freestyle
4:37.89
4:47.20
4:36.89
4:47.20
-0:01.00
0:00.00
1,650 Freestyle
15:52.41
16:30.59
15:52.41
16:41.45
0:00.00
0:10.86
100 Butterfly
0:50.69
0:53.63
0:50.52
0:53.34
-0:00.17
-0:00.29
200 Butterfly
1:52.86
1:59.23
1:52.47
1:58.93
-0:00.39
-0:00.30
100 Backstroke
0:50.88
0:53.82
0:50.66
0:53.53
-0:00.22
-0:00.29
200 Backstroke
1:50.50
1:57.07
1:50.50
1:56.71
0:00.00
-0:00.36
100 Breaststroke
0:58.02
1:01.46
0:58.01
1:01.22
-0:00.01
-0:00.24
200 Breaststroke
2:05.73
2:13.86
2:05.73
2:13.28
0:00.00
-0:00.58
200 Individual Medley
1:53.66
1:59.56
1:53.66
1:59.35
0:00.00
-0:00.21
400 Individual Medley
4:03.62
4:17.30
4:03.62
4:16.78
0:00.00
-0:00.52
Comparison Table – Women Relay
Event
Qualifying 2024
Provisional 2024
Qualifying 2025
Provisional 2025
Qualifying Difference
Provisional Difference
200 Freestyle Relay
1:28.43
1:29.21
1:28.42
1:29.00
-0:00.01
-0:00.21
400 Freestyle Relay
3:14.10
3:16.25
3:13.74
3:15.28
-0:00.36
-0:00.97
800 Freestyle Relay
7:00.86
7:05.88
7:00.86
7:05.56
0:00.00
-0:00.32
200 Medley Relay
1:36.24
1:37.00
1:36.24
1:36.76
0:00.00
-0:00.24
400 Medley Relay
3:31.38
3:33.48
3:30.89
3:32.88
-0:00.49
-0:01.40
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Coach A
2 days ago
The “B” cut for the women’s 1650 must be an error – did it really get 10 seconds slower??
For individual events, the “A” cuts don’t really mean much and neither do the “B” cuts. It’s all about the invited times at row 37 or 38 or 39 or whatever it is before the cap gets filled
Juan Cena
2 days ago
Making the men’s 400 IM B cut a minute faster is pretty crazy
In all seriousness, making it over a second faster is pretty crazy.
Iceman
2 days ago
everything is ridiculous but dude…1:31.2 in the 2 Free? that was the NCAA record 8 years ago…now just to get in??? wtf…and soon the 200 Fly and 200 IM the A cuts are gonna be under 1:40 when that used to win it…remember up until 2018 only David Nolan had been sub 1:40…swimflation is nuts
Seth
2 days ago
What are they feeding these swimmers?
Flutterfly
2 days ago
The women’s 100 fly A standard is a 50???? Are you sure?? 3 seconds faster than B?
swimster
2 days ago
wish we could see the day that Marchand goes sub 4 in the small tub
BR32
3 days ago
People are not getting this much faster 😭😭😭
KSW
3 days ago
I know swimflation is a real thing but this is just getting ridiculous at this point 💀
Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com.
He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming.
Aside from his life on the InterWet, …
The “B” cut for the women’s 1650 must be an error – did it really get 10 seconds slower??
For individual events, the “A” cuts don’t really mean much and neither do the “B” cuts. It’s all about the invited times at row 37 or 38 or 39 or whatever it is before the cap gets filled
Making the men’s 400 IM B cut a minute faster is pretty crazy
In all seriousness, making it over a second faster is pretty crazy.
everything is ridiculous but dude…1:31.2 in the 2 Free? that was the NCAA record 8 years ago…now just to get in??? wtf…and soon the 200 Fly and 200 IM the A cuts are gonna be under 1:40 when that used to win it…remember up until 2018 only David Nolan had been sub 1:40…swimflation is nuts
What are they feeding these swimmers?
The women’s 100 fly A standard is a 50???? Are you sure?? 3 seconds faster than B?
wish we could see the day that Marchand goes sub 4 in the small tub
People are not getting this much faster 😭😭😭
I know swimflation is a real thing but this is just getting ridiculous at this point 💀
It looks like an effort to reduce number of B cut entries at the meet. Makes some sense to limit number of heats.
There’s not an effort to do anything. A and B cuts are based on an average of the last three years (8th fastest and 125th fastest, respectively).