2022 Minnesota Invite
- November 30 – December 3, 2022
- Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
- SCY (25 yards)
There are some big invites in college swimming this weekend, but maybe the biggest, at least on the men’s side, is still to come: #1 vs #2, for the last decade, Cal and Texas, at the Minnesota Invite.
The Golden Bears and Longhorns will be two of eight teams competing at the event, which will take place in two weeks’ time, with a one-week gap following this weekend’s onslaught of meets due to U.S. Thanksgiving.
CONFIRMED TEAMS (8)
- Minnesota (host)
- Cal
- Texas
- Harvard
- Arizona
- Pitt
- Wisconsin
- UNLV
The Minnesota Invite has consistently produced some incredibly fast times. In 2019, Cal’s Abbey Weitzeil became the first swimmer to break 21 seconds in the women’s 50 freestyle, setting the all-time record in 20.90.
That same year, Michigan’s Maggie MacNeil tied the NCAA and U.S. Open Record in the women’s 100 fly (49.26), and we also saw Texas’ Drew Kibler join the elusive sub-1:31 club in the men’s 200 freestyle for the first time.
At last year’s edition, we saw several NCAA ‘A’ cuts achieved, highlighted by MacNeil’s 49.97 in the women’s 100 fly, Texas’ Carson Foster‘s 3:37.35 in the men’s 400 IM, and fellow Longhorn Luke Hobson shattering the boys’ 17-18 NAG record in the 500 free (4:09.72).
The Cal women and Texas men came out on top at the 2021 Minnesota Invite, but this year, it’s the Golden Bear men and Longhorn women coming in with momentum on their side.
The Texas women are coming off a breakthrough performance at the 2022 NCAAs, upending Stanford to place second, and have been performing well so far this season, with a notable injection of talent in transfer Dakota Luther and freshman Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby.
The Bears, on the other hand, have rebounded well considering the uncertainty surrounding the program in the offseason with the Teri McKeever situation, though we still don’t know if Izzy Ivey will compete for them this season.
The Cal men, coming off a national championship title in March, are the odds-on favorite to repeat this season, while some are doubting the Longhorns’ ability to hold on to a top-two spot at NCAAs after some departures from their roster early this season.
Among the remaining teams, notable competitors include reigning NCAA champions Max McHugh (Minnesota) in the men’s 100 breast and Paige McKenna (Wisconsin) in the women’s 1650 free, plus fellow Badger Phoebe Bacon, the 2021 national champ in the women’s 200 back.
Will this meet sell out?
What are some of the factors a coach would consider when choosing which midseason invite meet to attend?
Expected level of competition and geographical location are two I can think of off the top of my head. What are others I’m not thinking of.
Seems like Cal has more often than not, found an invite to attend at that years’ NCAA host site, or at least something in the same time zone.
Those things. I think in a lot of cases, intrapersonal relationships play a part – coaches go back to their old programs, etc.
Weather.
NCAA Championship hosts always draw a crowd.
Somewhere different.
Recruiting – Washington State at Texas A&M is a good example of this. Washington St. has a lot of swimmers from the Houston area.
Most common are trying to get into the location of the teams conference meet that year, or the location NCAAs will be that year.
If anyone has followed college swimming in the last 10 years, Cal doesnt swim as fast as anticipated at mid season invites because they don’t have to, and don’t care to.
NCs is their goal and despite how lackluster in season times may be, they show up when it matters most
I really think you could say that about a number of programs. Texas appears to be resting more in recent years, but they’re a special case since they can train through Big 12s.
If Michael Andrew was swimming in this meet, he could smoke anyone in the sprints because he can swim fast year-round. It’s only a matter of time before colleges learn how to do this.
If if’s and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a very merry Christmas…
Yea but will we then see swimmers coming home in 31 seconds on their 200 IM.
Although it would be fun to watch I don’t think MA would be as dominate today as you think. He hasn’t swum SCY sense 2018 and his recent SCM times have not be impressive. He swam horrible at last year’s SCM World Championships resulting in him leaving the meet early and he never met expectations during his time competing in ISL. I think his focus and efforts have sense been on LCM.
With that being said I often find myself thinking about what he could have done in the colligate scene. I don’t know of many recruits, if any who had times like his as an 18-19 year old.
50 Free: 18.88100 Free: 42.56100 Back: 46.50100 Breast: 51.18100 Fly: 45.47200… Read more »
How did MA swim at WC a couple weeks ago? Just saying
Texas has been resting at mid season last couples years so expect some big swims out of Hobson and Johnson and of course the fosters
Carson & Corbeau have A cuts already, so they don’t really need to
I’d guess both will rest for SC worlds instead
When people downvote verifiable facts, you know the education system in this country is broken. As an aside, Corbeau will not be at Minnesota, as he will be in NL for a LCM Worlds qualifier…
i pick Alec Enyeart as this year’s December “surprise” – could easily see him around 4:10
The Minnesota Invite always has big talent.
I’m curious as to the format of this meet.
I swam as a USA swimmer at this meet in 2018 when the competition was open to college and club swimmers. This was a great way to race fast swimmers.
Maybe I will get a chance to swim at this meet again in the future if they open up to USA swimmers.
It’s only for the alpha males of the NCAA sorry lil buddy
+ Arizona
it was a grand prix meet for a number of years
Cal hasn’t really shown their cards yet, anticipating some real firepower at this meet. Great precursor/preview to NCAA’s
Cal tends to always get better as the season goes. So I’m not expecting anything particularly exciting out of them.
more like flower power
Very exciting. Looking ahead to some fast swims.