The NCAA has released its official Division II time standards for the 2018-2019 season, with nearly half of the cuts either staying the same or getting slower compared to the 2017-2018 cuts.
23 individual cut times – 10 in men’s events and 13 in women’s events – remained unchanged or took a step backwards for the coming season, while 33 cuts got faster. That includes two events (the men’s 100 back B cut and women’s 200 fly B cut) where NCAA standards will actually get slightly slower in 2018-2019 compared to where they were in 2017-2018.
It won’t be much of a step back, as both of those cuts got just .01 slower. Most of the cuts that got faster also did so by hundredths, though the biggest changes seemed to come in women’s distance freestyle. The events that didn’t change qualifying times were the women’s sprints (50 free, 100 free), women’s 200s of fly, back and breast, women’s 400 IM, men’s backstrokes (100 back A cut, 200 back both cuts), men’s 100 breast and men’s butterflys.
The cut times again don’t include automatic qualifying standards for relays, a change put into effect last year. Of the remaining provisional cuts, one (the men’s 400 free relay) remained unchanged from last year, while the rest got faster.
- The 2017-2018 cuts are here
- The full 2018-2019 men’s cuts are here
- The full 2018-2019 women’s cuts are here
We’ve also reproduced the full set of standards below. Times listed in italics remain unchanged from last season. Times listed in bold are slower than last season.
2018-2019 Division II NCAA Qualifying Standards
| Men | Women | |||
| A Standard | B Standard | Event | A Standard | B Standard |
| 19.76 | 20.75 | 50 free | 22.90 | 24.05 |
| 43.36 | 45.52 | 100 free | 49.63 | 52.11 |
| 1:35.51 | 1:40.29 | 200 free | 1:48.14 | 1:53.55 |
| 4:21.76 | 4:34.84 | 500 free | 4:50.73 | 5:05.26 |
| 9:05.65 | 9:32.94 | 1000 free | 9:55.37 | 10:25.14 |
| 15:18.85 | 16:04.79 | 1650 free | 16:37.32 | 17:27.18 |
| 46.94 | 49.29 | 100 back | 54.02 | 56.72 |
| 1:44.78 | 1:50.02 | 200 back | 1:57.46 | 2:03.33 |
| 52.91 | 55.56 | 100 breast | 1:01.16 | 1:04.21 |
| 1:55.12 | 2:00.87 | 200 breast | 2:13.75 | 2:20.44 |
| 46.79 | 49.13 | 100 fly | 53.37 | 56.04 |
| 1:45.11 | 1:50.37 | 200 fly | 1:59.37 | 2:05.34 |
| 1:46.15 | 1:51.45 | 200 IM | 1:59.39 | 2:05.36 |
| 3:48.97 | 4:00.42 | 400 IM | 4:17.69 | 4:30.57 |
| Qualifying | Provisional | Qualifying | Provisional | |
| N/A | 1:21.25 | 200 free relay | N/A | 1:34.42 |
| N/A | 2:59.79 | 400 free relay | N/A | 3:26.67 |
| N/A | 6:37.76 | 800 free relay | N/A | 7:30.17 |
| N/A | 1:29.20 | 200 medley relay | N/A | 1:43.61 |
| N/A | 3:16.66 | 400 medley relay | N/A | 3:47.77 |
Can someone explain how some cuts go unchanged for years while the distance races that have the least amount of “B” qualifiers keeps getting harder?
Distance actually has the most B qualifiers. While some events will have even as little 40-60 make “B” cuts, the women’s 500 and 1650 actually had over 100 each. For example, the women’s 200 fly had 40 make “B”, while the 500 had 123. The 400 IM had 46 “B” qualifiers, the 1650 free had 124 “B” cuts made.
https://www.collegeswimming.com/times/?page=3&conference=&division=2&season=2017-2018&gender=F&event=11650