Only 22 Teams Qualify for Relays at 2021 NCAA Women’s Champs, Down from 30

It takes four very solid swimmers, if not a couple of strong swimmers and a star or two, to qualify a relay to the NCAA Championships. It’s common that a team with one or two stars still can’t get a relay fast enough during the season to get to swim it at the big meet.

This year, for the 2021 NCAA Women’s Championships, 22 teams have at least one eligible relay.

The last three seasons, 30 teams have qualified, so having eight fewer teams is significant. The last two years, at least one mid-major team had an eligible relay, too, but no mid-majors did so this year. The Ivy League canceled the 2020-21 season, though, which took out several potential relay qualifiers. Arizona State also accounts for one of the losses, as they’re redshirting the season but typically qualify relays.

20 teams have eligible relays for the 400 free and 400 medley relays, while the 200 medley and 800 free relays have only 17 teams eligible, so nearly every team will score in those if they swim them at NCAAs.

Virginia, NC State, Cal and Texas were the four teams to hit automatic qualifying standards in all five relays, and six other teams were able to qualify five relays with a mix of ‘A’ and ‘B’ cuts.

Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, Duke, Houston, San Diego State and South Carolina all qualified relays in 2020 but were unable to this year. Auburn’s 200 and 400 free relays were the top seeds for the 2020 NCAA Championships. Meanwhile, after qualifying no relays last year, Virginia Tech has four and UCLA has two, though neither team has an ‘A’ cut.

Check out the full chart below, and note that ‘PS’ means the relay has a provisional standard, not an automatic one.

SCHOOL 800 FREE RELAY 400 MEDLEY RELAY 200 MEDLEY RELAY 200 FREE RELAY 400 FREE RELAY # OF “A” CUTS # OF “B” CUTS RELAYS QUALIFIED
Virginia 800 free relay 400 medley relay 200 medley relay 200 free relay 400 free relay 5 0 5
NC State 800 free relay 400 medley relay 200 medley relay 200 free relay 400 free relay 5 0 5
Cal 800 free relay 400 medley relay 200 medley relay 200 free relay 400 free relay 5 0 5
Texas 800 free relay 400 medley relay 200 medley relay 200 free relay 400 free relay 5 0 5
Alabama PS 400 medley relay 200 medley relay 200 free relay 400 free relay 4 1 5
Ohio State PS 400 medley relay 200 medley relay 200 free relay 400 free relay 4 1 5
Stanford 800 free relay 400 medley relay 200 medley relay 200 free relay PS 4 1 5
Michigan PS 400 medley relay 200 medley relay 200 free relay 400 free relay 4 1 5
Georgia 800 free relay 400 medley relay PS PS 400 free relay 3 2 5
Louisville PS PS 200 medley relay PS PS 1 4 5
Tennessee PS 400 medley relay PS 200 free relay 400 free relay 3 2 5
Mizzou PS 200 medley relay 200 free relay 400 free relay 3 1 4
USC 400 medley relay PS 200 free relay 400 free relay 3 1 4
Northwestern 400 medley relay 200 medley relay PS 400 free relay 3 1 4
Florida 800 free relay PS PS PS 1 3 4
UNC PS 200 medley relay PS PS 1 3 4
Indiana PS PS PS PS 0 4 4
Virginia Tech PS PS PS PS 0 4 4
Kentucky 800 free relay 400 medley relay 200 medley relay 3 0 3
UCLA PS PS 0 2 2
Wisconsin PS PS 0 2 2
Texas A&M PS PS 0 2 2

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RUN-DMC
3 years ago

Tennessee’s total is 5 but they are ranked in the table with a total of 4.

War Damn
3 years ago

Auburn’s 200 and 400 free relays were the top seeds for the 2020 NCAA Championships, and now they have none of those swimmers left, and no relays close to qualifying! 2 graduated and AJ already transferred and Abbey Webb is now in the transfer portal.

Going to be years until they can even qualify relays again (if they can). What a huge downfall of a program!

Last edited 3 years ago by War Damn
GA Boy
Reply to  War Damn
3 years ago

Look at their incoming freshman. Shouldn’t be too long. Their woman’s recruiting class is top 5 in the country.

Curious
Reply to  GA Boy
3 years ago

I’m curious as to how their incoming class is ranked top 5 when you have classes like UVA, Stanford, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas and a few other really good ones coming into the NCAA

Former Auburn fan
Reply to  GA Boy
3 years ago

Until Gary drives off those girls also

Hswimmer
Reply to  GA Boy
3 years ago

Lol

About Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon studied sociology at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, graduating in May of 2018. He began swimming on a club team in first grade and swam four years for Wesleyan.

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