The NCAA released qualifying standards for the 2025 NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championships this week, and most of the standards got faster from last year’s meet.
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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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
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).
College swimming is outrageously fast. 18.72 for the A standard?? In 2007 Cesar Cielo won the 50 free in 18.69. In 2009 Nathan Adrian won in 18.71. In 2011 he won in 18.66, his PB and the American Record until Dressel obliterated it. in just 13 short years the time it took to win is now the time to get to the meet.
How long until 17.63 is the A standard?
When 8 guys got that fast in a season.
Buckle up and get training.
I guess in about 15-20 years