Florida came off a boisterous 1401-point SEC Championships win Friday. It’s UF’s ninth-straight championship.
The team dove head-first into the competition with only three meets under its belt and a young roster of four freshmen and sophomores. But it still swam to the top of a robust conference.
As of Tuesday, Florida sits comfortably with seven NCAA A-cuts in six events across four swimmers: juniors Kieran Smith, Bobby Finke and Dillon Hillis and freshman Adam Chaney. The decorated swimmers earned them after they exceeded their fastest times in the SEC Championships.
Smith holds three of the seven A-cuts after his performances in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:29.48, 500-yard freestyle at 4:06.32 and 400-yard individual medley at 3:37.47.
The eminent swimmer placed first in the 500-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley and third in the 100-yard freestyle at the SEC Championship. He also won Swimmer of The Meet and tied for the Commissioner’s Trophy. Despite Smith’s recent success, he’ll inaugurate the NCAA Championships this season.
Finke also showed his athletic prowess and secured an invitation for two events. He qualified in the 1650-yard freestyle at 14:12.18, the best time in the nation this season. Finke still holds the American record at 14:12.08 from last year’s SEC Championships. The swimmer barely made an A-cut in the 400-yard individual medley at 3:39.15 as the time standard is .01 second higher. He ranks fourth in the nation in the event this season.
Chaney locked in an invite in the 50-yard freestyle at 18.76. He holds the highest time in the nation this season — an impressive stat for a freshman swimmer. Harris qualified through the 100-yard breaststroke at 51.22, the second-best time in the nation this season.
Competition from around the U.S. rolls into the NCAA Championships, making it the hardest meet of the year as qualifications tighten.
Invited swimmers must meet time standards set by the NCAA for every event. Once a swimmer achieves the time, they collect an A-cut, which automatically welcomes them to the championships. The swimmer can also swim in another event of their choice if they meet the event’s B-cut time standard during any point in the season.
The rules take a confusing turn from here.
In the men’s championships, 270 spots are open, with 235 reserved for swimming and 35 for diving. Once A-cuts are accommodated, the swimmers with B-cuts are invited. The number of B-cuts in each event should match the number of A-cuts in the event with the most A-cuts.
Once all event spots are filled, leftover spots are divided up evenly until the 270 mark is reached.
March 7 marks the last day for swimmers to get an A-cut. All time standards can be found here.
The Gators already set their eyes on the NCAA Championships. Head coach Anthony Nesty spoke about the meet minutes after his team won the 2021 SEC Championships.
“Our relays are pretty good, individually we are very strong,” he said. “We just need to make sure we are doing the right things the next couple weeks.”
Contact Faith Buckley at fbuckley@alligator.org and follow her Twitter @_faithbuckley
Faith is a third-year journalism student specializing in sports media. She hopes to one day work as a play-by-play announcer for the National Hockey League.
