Tennessee Women Are Running Away With 2022 SEC Title (Day 3 Ups/Mids/Downs)

2022 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 15 – Saturday, February 19, 2022
• Jones Aquatics Center, Knoxville, Tenn. (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Men- Florida (9x) Women- Kentucky (1x)
• Live Results
• Live Video (Watch ESPN)
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets
• Thursday morning heat sheets
• 2021 SEC Scoring Breakdown
• Teams: Georgia, Texas A&M, Florida, Tennessee, LSU, Auburn, Kentucky, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, Vanderbilt

For those unfamiliar with swimming terminology, the concept of “Ups” and “Downs” is a good way to track which teams performed best at prelims. In prelims, swimmers qualify for one of three finals heats: the top 8 finishers make the A final, places 9 through 16 the B final and places 17 through 24 the C final. In finals, swimmers are locked into their respective final, meaning a swimmer in the B heat (spots 9-16) can only place as high as 9th or as low as 16th, even if they put up the fastest or slowest time of any heat in the final.

With that in mind, we’ll be tracking “Ups,” “Mids” and “Downs” after each prelims session. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final, “Mid” to swimmers in the B final and “Down” to swimmers in the C final.

Before getting into the prelim numbers, here’s a look at how the team scores currently stand following the conclusion of Wednesday night finals:

TEAM SCORES (THRU DAY 2)

Women

1. Tennessee, 467.5
2. Georgia, 373.0
3. Alabama, 367.0
4. Kentucky, 299.0
5. Florida, 287.0
6. Texas A&M, 236.0
7. Auburn, 208.0
8. Missouri, 206.5
9. LSU, 202.0
10. South Carolina, 188.0
11. Arkansas, 163.0
12. Vanderbilt, 90.0

Men

1. Florida, 497.0
2. Texas A&M, 360.0
3. Alabama, 358.0
4. Tennessee, 338.5
5. Georgia, 308.0
6. Auburn, 307.0
7. Kentucky / LSU, 277.0
8. –
9. Missouri, 269.0
10. South Carolina, 202.5

After a very strong Day 2 that saw them put five swimmers into top-three of individual events, the Tennessee women carried that momentum through to Thursday morning as the Lady Vols had a standout prelim session.

Tennessee put nine swimmers into ‘A’ finals this morning, more than double the next-highest (Kentucky with four), and are projected to lead by 234 points after tonight’s session.

Leading the way for the Vols was freshman Ellen Walshe, who qualified first into the 400 IM final by more than three seconds (4:04.26) and cruised through into the second spot in the 100 fly (51.45).

Overall, the team put three swimmers into the championship heat of all three individual events on the day, a feat that was only matched by one team in one other event (Kentucky put three in the 400 IM as well).

Behind Tennessee, Georgia is projected to have a 34-point cushion in second place after tonight, with Alabama, Florida and Kentucky all jockeying for position in third, fourth and fifth.

DAY 3 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS – WOMEN

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

SCORED PRELIMS – WOMEN

1. Tennessee, 269.0
2. Florida, 179.5
3. Kentucky, 140.0
4. Georgia, 129.5
5. Alabama, 101.5
6. Texas A&M, 83.0
7. South Carolina, 62.0
8. Missouri, 51.5
9. Auburn, 39.0
10. LSU, 25.5
11. Arkansas, 5.5

DAY 2 SCORES + PRELIM PROJECTIONS

1. Tennessee, 736.5
2. Georgia, 502.5
3. Alabama, 468.5
4. Florida, 466.5
5. Kentucky, 439.0
6. Texas A&M, 319.0
7. Missouri, 258.0
8. South Carolina, 250.0
9. Auburn, 247.0
10. LSU, 227.5
11. Arkansas, 168.5
12. Vanderbilt, 90.0

On the men’s side, Florida continues to be the story, as the Gators came into the day with an already massive lead and are projected to extend it to 249 points after tonight’s session.

Florida put six male swimmers into ‘A’ finals and 14 into second swims overall, with Georgia producing a strong 5/2/2 session to distance themselves from Tennessee and Alabama in the race for second.

DAY 3 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS – MEN

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

Swim-off Results

• Florida’s Alfonso Mestre (1:33.87) beat Texas A&M’s Koko Bratanov (1:34.19) in a swim-off for the eighth spot in the men’s 200 free. The two swimmers tied for eighth in the prelims at 1:34.02.
• Tennessee’s Micah Chambers beat Alabama’s Mateo Miceli in a swim-off for 16th in the men’s 100 fly.

SCORED PRELIMS – MEN

1. Florida, 258.0
2. Georgia, 180.0
3. Tennessee, 141.0
4. Alabama, 128.0
5. Texas A&M, 104.0
6. Auburn, 99.0
7. Missouri, 82.0
8. Kentucky, 43.0
9. LSU, 25.0
10. South Carolina, 22.0

DAY 2 SCORES + PRELIM PROJECTIONS

1. Florida, 736.0
2. Georgia, 487.0
3. Tennessee, 445.5
4. Alabama, 438.0
5. Auburn, 371.0
6. Texas A&M, 370.0
7. Missouri, 325.0
8. Kentucky, 285.0
9. LSU, 251.0
10. South Carolina, 206.5