If the goal of the new NCAA qualifying procedures was to get more schools involved with the NCAA Championship meets (and that was one of the major stated goals), then at least in year one, it was mission accomplished.
There were a few teams that miscalculated the amount of rest they would need to qualify individual swimmers, perhaps, under the new rules. In the past, most top swimmers could take individual swims just by default of their relays qualifying; this year, swimmers had to be invited as individuals to get any individual swims.
As compared to last year, the number of teams qualifying swimmers to the NCAA Championship meets:
- Men’s 2012: 42, Men’s 2013: 51
- Women’s 2012: 64, Women’s 2013: 73
We have passed our rudimentary statistics course, so we know that one year does not a trend make, but the difference is pretty firm.
Our expectation is that this will level off in the short-term, and the number of teams may come back down somewhat as the bigger players adjust their tapering strategies. On the other hand, that could be counteracted in a longer-term time frame as more of these mid-major schools can use NCAA qualifiers and perhaps All-Americans in their recruiting pitches and spread the talent further.
First, they do not swim the 1000 in the DI meet. Second, the cap size it is not about the timeline, it is about the money.
Why should the 200 free get more heats than another event? The selection process is balanced for all the events.
The cut lines dropped from 17-18 to 29 with the new selection method… and you are wanting 32-40? Not going to happen. Again, it is about the money.
And Ben, the rationale for different cap sizes is that women have more programs than men in DI. The proportion for men and women IS equal. Both men and women get and equal percentage of swimmers in the NCAA Championships based on participation rates in DI.
Maybe its time for the NCAA to get over its monomaniacal focus on the number of swimmers in the meet. Invite the top 32 or 40 individuals in each event (after scratches), then let the relay only swimmers swim a couple of bonus events if they have the B times. Maybe exclude the mile and 1000. Couple of extra heats of the 200 free aren’t going to kill the timeline.
yeah I completely agree and not to beat a dead horse, but shouldn’t there be an equal number between the two genders that get invited? I can’t see any reason how it makes sense to have it be unequal