Tennessee Invite To Be Scored In Head-To-Head, Dual Meet Format (Psych Sheets)

2022 Tennessee Invitational

• November 17-19, 2022
• Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center, Knoxville, Tenn.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Start Times: Prelims – 10 am / Finals – 6 pm (ET)
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream (ESPN)
• Dual Meet Scoring (9-4-3-2-1)

The Tennessee Invitational will take on a bit of a different look this year compared to how midseason invite meets are traditionally run, as the 2022 edition will be scored in a dual meet format.

That means that each of the five schools sending swimmers to the competition will be scored head-to-head with the other four, rather than in the standard championship style.

Update: Psych Sheets are now available here.

A school spokesperson told SwimSwam that the primary reason for making this change was to make prelims more competitive. Last year, the meet had ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ finals, meaning the top 24 swimmers in each event earned a second swim.

With this new format, each team will be limited to a maximum of three swimmers in each ‘A’ final, and while there might be certain events with ‘C’ finals for postgrads or exhibition swims, they won’t count towards the point totals.

Under the dual meet scoring format, five swimmers between the two teams in each event will score (max of three per team), as will the top three relays (max two per team). A ‘B’ finalist cannot jump ahead of an ‘A’ finalist in terms of scoring regardless of their time in the final.

There will also be a cap of four individual events per swimmer for scoring purposes, though they’re eligible to take part in all five relays.

SCORING FORMAT (HEAD-TO-HEAD)

• Individual Events: 9-4-3-2-1
• Relay Events: 11-4-2
• Swimmers can score in a maximum of four individual events
• Swimmers can compete on all five relays

While a total of nine schools will be sending athletes to the meet, only five teams will have swimmers competing: Tennessee, Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina and Carson-Newman.

Duke and South Carolina will send both of their diving squads, while Florida Gulf Coast and Georgia Southern will send their women’s diving teams.

Teams

• Tennessee
• Virginia
• Michigan
• North Carolina
• Carson-Newman (Swimming Only)
• Duke (Diving Only)
• Florida Gulf Coast (Women’s Diving Only)
• Georgia Southern (Women’s Diving Only)
• South Carolina (Diving Only)

The dual meet scoring format will favor the two-time defending national champion Virginia women, who placed third last year, with the Lady Vols having rolled to a dominant win. Tennessee has been missing a few of its top female swimmers so far this season, most notably Ellen Walshe, Julia Mrozinski and Jasmine Rumley.

Walshe is out for at least the first half of the season, staying home in Ireland, while Mrozinski competed at the FINA World Cup stop in Berlin last month, indicating she’s home in Germany.

Under the traditional invitational scoring format last year, where the top 16 swimmers in each event score, the Tennessee women came out on top with 1,203.5 points, followed by Alabama (881.5) and Virginia (809.5). On the men’s side, the Vols (1,004) earned a narrow victory over the Crimson Tide (980), with the Cavaliers back in third (728).

In 2020, Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia raced under the dual meet format, and the men’s competition between the Cavs and Crimson Tide came down to the wire, with UVA ultimately coming out on top, 189-182. Virginia also beat Tennessee (206-178) for the men, while the Cavalier women ousted Alabama (235-147) and the Lady Vols (219-168).

𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊🗣️

Excited to suit up and compete against some of the best in the country in front of our home crowd! Admission is 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞!#GBO x #IGTBATV🍊 pic.twitter.com/TXXafiSnEM

— Tennessee Swimming & Diving (@Vol_SwimDive) November 14, 2022

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