With the first week of the Power 5 NCAA conference championship meets in the books, we paused to take a look at where the NCAA stands in terms of relay qualifying for nationals.
While relays, mostly because there aren’t that many teams and everyone gets them, don’t have a huge impact at conference championship meets, at nationals they are the driving force for most top 10 teams’ scoring.
There are still many meets to come, especially on the men’s side where the Pac-12, ACC, and Big Ten are still to come in the next 2 weeks. So far, only one team from outside of the Power 5 Conferences has earned a spot at NCAAs in relays: the Harvard men.
A reminder of the NCAA Division I relay qualifying system (omitting the details about alternates and ‘who pays for them,’ which aren’t super pertinent to this discussion). The NCAA has created a list of “Qualifying Standards” (A-cuts) and “Provisional Standards” (B-cuts), which work a little bit differently than the individual event A-cuts and B-cuts. To swim a relay at NCAAs, a school must have qualified an individual swimmer for an event as well. It’s very unlikely to qualify a relay and not an individual, but Kentucky, for example, could be in that position: their highest-ranked swimmer now is Wyatt Amdor, who is 22nd nationally in the 100 breaststroke in 52.68. Andrew Mering’s pre-conference estimate was that a 52.62 would earn an invite to NCAAs.
Men’s Qualifying
The most surprising absence from this list: the Georgia Bulldogs, who were 10th as a team at NCAAs last season. The team, built upon middle distance and 200 stroke swimmers, doesn’t yet have any relays qualified for NCAAs yet. The relay in which they’re closest is the 800 free, where they swam a 6:18.75. They would need to improve that to a 6:18.46 in order to get any relays automatically in to the NCAA Championships. The most likely path, though, is through a rarely-used back door: if they have 4 invited individual swimmers, they’d be eligible to swim any relay in which they have a Provisional Standard (B-cut). That appears likely at this point, meaning Georgia would be able to swim the 200 medley, 400 medley, and 800 free relays where they have provisional entries. However, they’re only allowed 4 uninvited relay swimmers, which could limit them from swimming their best relays.
No ACC men’s teams hit the Qualifying Standard (A-cut) in the 800 free relay. That includes NC State: the defending national champions.
Eligible entries including Provisional Standards (B-cuts) for teams with Qualifying Standards (A-cuts):
| Cal | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Texas | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Florida | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| NC State | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Tennessee | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Missouri | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Indiana | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Stanford | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Texas A&M | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Alabama | 4 | 2FR | 4FR | 2MED | 4MED | |
| Kentucky | 4 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | |
| Arizona | 4 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 4MED | |
| Auburn | 3 | 2FR | 2MED | 4MED | ||
| Florida State | 3 | 2FR | 4FR | 2MED | ||
| Utah | 3 | 2FR | 4FR | 2MED | ||
| USC | 3 | 2FR | 2MED | 4MED | ||
| Georgia Tech | 3 | 2FR | 2MED | 4MED | ||
| South Carolina | 2 | 2FR | 2MED | |||
| Harvard | 1 | 2FR |
A-Cuts in each relay:
| 200 Free Relay | 400 Free Relay | 800 Free Relay | 200 Medley Relay |
400 Medley Relay
|
| Alabama | Cal | Florida | Alabama | Missouri |
| Cal | Alabama | Missouri | Tennessee | Alabama |
| Texas | Florida | Texas | Florida | Texas A&M |
| Florida | Texas | Cal | Cal | NC State |
| NC State | Indiana | Texas A&M | Missouri | Cal |
| Tennessee | NC State | Stanford | Texas A&M | Texas |
| Missouri | Missouri | Indiana | USC | Indiana |
| Texas A&M | Tennessee | Georgia Tech | Florida | |
| Auburn | Florida State | Auburn | Tennessee | |
| Florida State | Utah | USC | ||
| Harvard | South Carolina | Arizona | ||
| Utah | ||||
| Indiana | ||||
| Kentucky |
Women’s Qualifying
All of the usual suspects are ‘in’ so far in the women’s relay qualifying. The only top 10 contender without all 5 relays in is Indiana, who don’t have an 800 free relay Provision Standard (B-cut) yet. They swam 7:07.41 at Big Tens, and they’d need a 7:06.19 to swim that race at NCAAs. They were 16th at nationals last season.
Eligible entries including Provisional Standards (B-cuts) for teams with Qualifying Standards (A-cuts):
| NC State | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Tennessee | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Texas | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Michigan | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Cal | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Auburn | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Louisville | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Stanford | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Ohio State | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Virginia | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Wisconsin | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Texas A&M | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Florida | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Notre Dame | 5 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED |
| Missouri | 4 | 2FR | 4FR | 2MED | 4MED | |
| Indiana | 4 | 2FR | 4FR | 2MED | 4MED | |
| USC | 4 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 4MED | |
| Kentucky | 4 | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED | |
| Minnesota | 4 | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | 4MED | |
| Georgia | 4 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | 2MED | |
| Arizona | 3 | 2FR | 4FR | 8FR | ||
| Arkansas | 3 | 2FR | 4FR | 2MED | ||
| Florida State | 1 | 2MED |
A-Cuts in each relay:
| 200 Free Relay | 400 Free Relay | 800 Free Relay | 200 Medley Relay | 400 Medley Relay |
| NC State | Texas | Texas A&M | Tennessee | Indiana |
| Tennessee | Michigan | Michigan | NC State | NC State |
| Texas | Auburn | Tennessee | Indiana | Tennessee |
| Michigan | Cal | Virginia | Michigan | Michigan |
| Cal | Louisville | Kentucky | Virginia | Louisville |
| Auburn | USC | USC | Missouri | Auburn |
| Louisville | Stanford | Auburn | Florida | Cal |
| Stanford | NC State | Georgia | Cal | Virginia |
| Missouri | Virginia | Texas | Auburn | Texas |
| Ohio State | Wisconsin | Louisville | Ohio State | USC |
| Arizona | Tennessee | Cal | Texas A&M | Wisconsin |
| Indiana | Indiana | Stanford | Wisconsin | Kentucky |
| Virginia | Missouri | Minnesota | Texas | Missouri |
| Arkansas | Wisconsin | Minnesota | Texas A&M | |
| Kentucky | Florida | Florida State | Florida | |
| Ohio State | Notre Dame | Louisville | Minnesota | |
| NC State | Arkansas |
Georgia actually used that “back-door” qualifying method last year as well. They’re best relay before NCAAs was the 400 Medley which was .01 above the A standard.
Out of curiousity does anyone know the percentage of athletes that 1) make their conference team & 2) get an automatic NCAA bid by achieving an A cut OR get called up provisionally? I just watched a VERY fast SEC championship where very few A standards were achieved, so wondered if statistics exist on this
A standards aren’t really meant to be achieved by a significant number of swimmers. At this point, for individual events, A standards are basically motivational. With how they’re scripted, the odds of an A standard being meaningful is very, very slim: any swim that’s fast enough to hit an A standard will also get invited 10 times out of 10 at the D1 level. For that to change, something dramatic would have to change in how invites are given out or how the A cuts are devised.
(B cuts are only slightly more meaningful).
We can run some math on what you’ve asked, but it might not be until after conference season is over 🙂
I would add that a few years ago in D3 A cuts did end up mattering in the 100 fly. So many swimmers got the A cut that 5 or 6 more people qualified in that event than any other. People were so mad that A cuts were changed to be so fast that they practically no longer exist (D3 A cuts are the average of the last 3 winning times at nationals). If a similar thing ever happened in D1, I expect that the A cuts would get a LOT faster the next year just like in D3.
It really doesn’t seem like Georgia put together their best relay at SEC’s. Or is the current relay just not rested? Seems like it may be tough for them this year.
It’s a tough year for Georgia sprinters, and the Acevedo injury didn’t help. Sprints aren’t usually a highlight for the Georgia men anyway, but they can usually get most of their relays in.
I don’t think Acevedo’s injury hurt their relays. He had great relay legs at their Fall Invite, after the injury. They just don’t have other legs. Their medley relays should be ok…..just missing the free leg but they didn’t have a true sprinter last year either and they were top 8 I think in the 4mr.
Braden – Does an individual swimmer need to qualify to make relays eligible, or can it be a diver? Kentucky also has 3 divers with a good chance to qualify for NCAAs.
It USED to be a swimmer or diver – we actually caught that a few years back and asked the NCAA about it, and they concluded a diver would count. I want to say Duke was in a similar situation a few years back (can’t remember if they wound up getting a swimmer in or not, but they definitely got a diver in). However, the latest version of the pre-championship manual does specify “swimmer,” so I guess that’s been changed.
Back in the ’90’s DIII men used to invite 12-13 relays and you would get teams with 3 swimmers fielding relays with a diver splitting :27 in the 50 and getting Honorable Mention because there were only 15 relays swimming. I believe they changed the rule ~10 years ago to prevent that, and the new qualification system means there are 16 relays to prevent that. Would still like to see it go to 24 so you get the real best teams, but thats not my department.
I do not recall divers swimming relays, but maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention. The issue at the D3 level, at least as far as I recall it, was if you qualified one relay, that relay team could swim all of them (assuming the swimmers on the relay did not max out their individual swims). As such, there were not divers swimming relays, but an 800 free relay team also swimming the medley relays (i.e. you got a guy going a 1:10 100 BR split and getting HM All-America because they finished 16th) or a 200 medley relay swimming the 800 free relay.
Thanks Braden. I was curious since the SwimSwam article from last March regarding NCAA qualification process indicated that it could be either a swimmer or diver.
“For relays: if a team hits an “A” cut in any of the 5 relays, they are qualified to swim that relay at NCAAs. In addition, that school can enter in any of the other relays that they’ve hit “B” cuts in. The catch is this: to swim those relays, you also have to qualify one individual for the meet. That can be a swimmer, a diver, a member of the relay or someone who won’t swim relays.”
https://swimswam.com/ncaa-refresher-qualify-ncaa-division-championships/
So in regards to Kentucky if they had Wyatt Amdor qualify in the 100 breast would they be able to swim all the relays they have A and B cuts in since they have an A cut already or would they only be able to swim the relay they have the A cut in?
All relays with A and B cuts. Once your A cut relay is eligible, all B cut relays are eligible.
But where is Courtney Caldwell?
She just had her second shoulder Surgery.
Duke women, ASU men and women have none. San Diego st missed by .01
Asu men and women haven’t had their conf meet yet! Stanford women don’t have A cuts in the medleys which surprised me.
I know I’m giving Bowman a hard time. UCLA also has none. Hawaii men missed by .01 also. Stanford will be just trying to get a top 10 finish in those relays.
Question (sorry for my ignorance): in the example of Georgia men’s relays, they can’t bring 4 uninvited swimmers to fill out their relays or they can if they have 4 invited swimmers (they will)?
If they have four invited swimmers, they can bring up to four uninvited swimmers to fill out their relays for a total of eight swimmers.