Day 1 of the NCAA Championships has concluded, and the Lady Gators are doing all right.
Florida should do all right this year, but I don't think they'll place in the top 3. The Gators qualified 12 swimmers to the meet, the fourth-most in the entirety of Division I, behind Georgia (17), Minnesota (14) and Texas A&M (13). The max any school can send is 17. That said, it's going to be very tough to compete this year.
The top 10 after Day 1:
1. Georgia (163)
2. Tennessee (150.5)
3. Arizona (127)
4. California (102)
5. Stanford (90.5)
6. Southern California (90)
7. Florida (74)
8. Texas A&M (72)
9. Texas (65)
10. Minnesota (41)
The ladies performed fairly well in the finals, but there were definitely some points that could have been scored had they swum as well in the morning as they did at night. You have to be one of the top 8 times to make the finals - if you don't qualify for the top 8 and are relegated to the consolation final, the highest you can place is 9th even if you swim faster than the folks in finals. Conversely, if you qualify in the top 8 and then have a crappy swim in the finals, the lowest you can place is eighth.
So we have two swimmers who swam fairly well but didn't qualify for finals: Natalie Hinds in the 50 free and Jessica Thielmann in the 500 free, and they ended up 9th and 10th, respectively. If Hinds had swum as fast in prelims as she did in finals, she would have qualified for finals and probably gotten 8th instead of 9th. Thielman's 500 time was fast enough to place 8th in finals, but she didn't qualify (although I note that her finals time was pretty close to her time in prelims, so it was more of a matter of the competition performing poorly in finals rather than her giving a poor performance in prelims).
Whatever. The Lady Gators aren't going to place in the top 3 this year. There's just too much competition. I wouldn't be surprised if Georgia won it all, but expect some good races out of aTm, Tennessee, Auburn and a handful of PAC-10 schools. Florida will probably place in the top 10, and with some good swims could be as high as fifth.
Last night's results for the Gators:
200 Free Relay, 8[SUP]th[/SUP], 1:28.93
Zalewski, 22.67
Hinds, 21.79
Russell, 22.03
McKnight, 22.44
500 Free
Jessica Thielmann, 10[SUP]th[/SUP], 4:38.10
200 IM
Elizabeth Beisel, 5[SUP]th[/SUP], 1:54.65
50 Free
Natalie Hinds, 9[SUP]th[/SUP], 22.12
400 Medley Relay, 8[SUP]th[/SUP], 3:33.61
Beisel, 52.44
Luthersdottir, 1:00.36
Hinds, 52.62
Russell, 48.19
Women's Swimming: NCAA Championship Thread
Women's Swimming: NCAA Championship Thread
Despite a strong showing last night, including a victory in the 400 I.M. by Elizabeth Beisel, the women dropped to eighth.
200 Medley Relay, 4th, 1:36.06
Russell, 24.44
Luthersdottir, 27.53
Zalewski, 22.84
Hinds, 21.25
*
400 IM
Elizabeth Beisel, 1st, 4:00.49
*
100 Fly
Ellese Zalewski, 3rd, 51.69
Natalie Hinds, 9th, 51.89
*
100 Back
Sinead Russell, 2nd, 51.46
200 Medley Relay, 4th, 1:36.06
Russell, 24.44
Luthersdottir, 27.53
Zalewski, 22.84
Hinds, 21.25
*
400 IM
Elizabeth Beisel, 1st, 4:00.49
*
100 Fly
Ellese Zalewski, 3rd, 51.69
Natalie Hinds, 9th, 51.89
*
100 Back
Sinead Russell, 2nd, 51.46
Women's Swimming: NCAA Championship Thread
After setting two school records on Day 3, the women have come in sixth.
Women's Swimming: NCAA Championship Thread
1. Georgia 477
2. California 393
3. Tennessee 325.5
4. Texas A&M 323.5
5. Arizona 311
6. FLORIDA 305
7. Southern California 291
8. Stanford 246
9. Texas 186
10. Minnesota 141
2. California 393
3. Tennessee 325.5
4. Texas A&M 323.5
5. Arizona 311
6. FLORIDA 305
7. Southern California 291
8. Stanford 246
9. Texas 186
10. Minnesota 141
