New Round of NCAA Championships, New Round of Questions

After answering the 5 big questions we had about last week’s big D1 conference championship meets, it’s time to look forward to this week’s meet and see what else we want to know.

If we’re being totally honest, this week’s meets don’t have the same nationally-appealing storylines as last week’s did. But, there’s still enough there to be worth a deeper dig on a few ideas.

1) Will Big Ten Men’s Taper Patterns Follow the Women’s?

In what was supposed to be a close Big Ten women’s meet last week, the Indiana won with relative ease over rivals Michigan, while the Ohio State women put up an unexpected battle before ultimately finishing 3rd.

That should be the same top 3 teams as we have in the men’s meet, with the order to be determined. The Indiana men actually enter their conference meet with more work to do in terms of qualifiers than the Indiana women did, so there’s every reason to believe that they’re going to put a similar amount of preparation into the meet. If they outperform seed like their women did, this meet won’t be close (when Indiana’s diving crew is factored in). The Michigan men and Ohio State men are in about the same position as their women’s teams are.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed for the barn-burner that Swimulator is projecting, but right now, the Hoosiers feel like they’re almost unstoppable. Bucking the recent history of the Big Ten, the sprint freestyles will be the highlight races of the meet.

2) What Impact Will Mark Bernardino Have on NC State’s D-Crew?

Mark Bernardino coached a number of athletes to a lot of success while the head coach at Virginia. But if there’s one thing that stood out, it was his success with the men’s middle-distance and distance freestyle groups. We got a taste of what that looks like at the women’s meet last week, where the Wolfpack went 1-2-3-4 in the mile.

The men’s group already was very successful last season – Gary Taylor, before leaving to become the head coach at Auburn, led the team to NCAA titles in the 800 free relay and 1650 free last season – so the pressure is on to continue that success.

3) Can Arizona State Recapture Their Magic from Last Season?

The Arizona State women shocked the conference last season and vaulted to 3rd place at the conference championship meet after more than a decade of hovering in the bottom half of the conference. That was the team’s 2nd-best finish ever in the league, and best since they were runners-up in 1994.

Transfers notwithstanding, the Sun Devils only graduated 78 individual points from seniors last year, returning 668 individual points. But USC, who they pushed past for 3rd lasts year, is returning 668.5 points and now has a bona fied national star in Louise Hansson. Based on season-best times, Arizona State would only finish 6th in the conference this season (in swimming-only competition), 300 points behind the next-closest team (Arizona). They were in a similar position last year, though, and we saw how that turned out.

4) Can Dean Farris Stop…Himself?

Dean Farris last year went wild at the Ivy League Championships, swimming best times in the 200 free (1:31.12) and 200 back (1:38.99). He was a full second slower in the 200 free and almost a second-and-a-half slower in the 200 back at NCAAs. All memes aside, if the legend of Dean is going to come true, this is the year. The Harvard men have a lot on the line with just a 68-point projected swimming margin over Princeton (who they beat by 300+ last year), but if Farris and the rest of the Harvard men can put that aside and focus on NCAAs, it could mean a top 15 finish there.

5) How High Can Akron Fly?

The Akron women have turned heads this year, especially in their butterfly group, and even broke conference records last week at the Ohio State “First Chance” style meet. Head coach Brian Peresie says that his team is sticking with its plan this season, which means that they could still have more to show this week. They’re the 5-time conference champions, so that’s nothing new, but the rest of the country is starting to notice.

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Ragnar
5 years ago

If Farris was able to be attending physician at his own birth, and re-invented the wheel(the Farris Wheel), I think there’s enough Farris to split between the meets. Between all meets. 1:30.9 at conference, 1:30.4 at NCAAs.

Pinkie Pie
5 years ago

\

DynaDaddy
5 years ago

Raunak Khosla of Princeton will not be denied against the Harvard men… Fear the beard

swimmy
Reply to  DynaDaddy
5 years ago

Khosla-Lamastra 1-2 200 fly inbound

The Wolf of Raleigh
5 years ago

How much will NC State win ACC’s by? Will they taper or shave?
Will UVA show up?
Will BC beat UNC?

WOLF-

The Rise of the North
Reply to  The Wolf of Raleigh
5 years ago

PACK

Swammer
Reply to  The Wolf of Raleigh
5 years ago

UVA is on the rise with desorbo they might challenge the pack in a year or two as the pack becomes a more totally ncaa focused team. NC state is going to win. From what I could tell most of there guys were under pretty heavy training at invite this year where the top sprinters probably got 2-3 days rest(I’m guessing). So I say for there top end guys 5-7 day rest for acc to lock in some qualifying times and 7-12 for the guys on the outside. Then a nice full taper for everyone at ncaas.

Ladymanvol
Reply to  Swammer
5 years ago

One word descries why UVA will not close on NCState – MarkBernadino

luis_spanishswimmer
5 years ago

Hi guys! I follow you from Spain, and every time I read all that kind of comments about GodKing Farris, cannot stop laughing 😂😂😂
Can anybody explain us the real reason about why all that hilarious comments about THE MAN? I’m serous, not kidding. Just curious because a friend of mine and me always read those comments and… 😂😂😂

Papa
Reply to  luis_spanishswimmer
5 years ago

Our Lord, the king of wetness, DEAN, is the only human on record to have reached the deepest depths of the ocean. . . while wearing a drag suit, 300lb resistance band, one breath of air, as well as helping a local dolphin give birth. He is what all man should strive to be. But they won’t.

Riley
Reply to  luis_spanishswimmer
5 years ago

For a serious answer since I’ve been visiting here forever including the origin of Dean memes. Basically at Harvard’s mid season meet (want to say it was Texas invite) his freshman year, he randomly went 1:31 or 1:32 out of nowhere and beat the Texas guys (think his best was 1:36 or 1:37 before). That combined with the fact that he’s at Harvard of al places fueled the rise of the man, the myth, the legend that is Dean

Ladymanvol
5 years ago

Dean Farris aint nothing = He is ALL

Togger
5 years ago

6. Can the water cope with Dean Farris?

Isaac
5 years ago

When will we get an ACC Men’s article?

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

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, …

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