LOL Pludo, nice analogy.

Texas is pretty well out of the conversation at this point. They've bombed themselves out of it, and will be in a fight for the top 10 if they're not careful.

The huge shock of this meet so far is Arizona. On Day 1, they moved up 65 points versus the psych sheet, and look like they're going to move up a ton more on Day 2. I think they'll be in the top 3 easily at the end of Day 2, which makes an Aggie top 5 a lot tougher. Should be an exciting finish.

Janie and Jaele both make the A-final in the 3-meter. Whoop!

Arizona rocking it doesn't surprise me a bit. Busch is arguably the best in the country at getting his kids to go fast at NCAA's. I'd throw McKeever and dare I say Bultman in there too now.

Texas should be ashamed of themselves. Flat out embarrassing. Any 5 star recruit should never even think about looking at them again. Hersey is one of the top 3 talents at this meet and she missed an A final? Inexcusable.

oh, and Jay Lerew is having a pretty darn nice first-ever NCAA meet batting 75% on getting girls in the A final

Jay Lerew.

On the women's side, A&M and USC are the only top swimming programs who also have top diving programs, and the Ags seem to be slightly better on both fronts.

Based on the story about the girl with the Texas swimming shirt, the general public still isn't realizing how truly impressive our program has become. Won't be much longer before they'll have to, because I think the top recruits are going to start figuring it out.

So we will get points from the 200 M Relay,
400 IM, 200 Free, 100 Breast and possibly diving?

I just got our issue of Splash today. That is the magazine put out by USA Swimming. The cover pics? Nathan Adrian and Kathleen Hersey.

I predict Adrian will swim like a man when the men race.

bogustrumper-Definitely diving. Finals works the same way, can't finish below the top 8 out of the A-final.

Great!

trumper - worst case scenario we get 23 pts out of diving

Ags win consols in the first relay in a GREAT time...good start to the night session!

JW gets 3rd in the 200. Another huge 2nd half for her.

We needed Tess to make it back in the 100 back and Alia to swim faster. That is not even a best time for Atkinson. Heiss should have been top 8. I am nervous.
Texas is a dead and gone but I believe Ags can still be top 4 if they perform tomorrow.

I'm liveblogging the meet, if anyone wants to check it out. Feel free to leave comments on what you think so far!

http://theswimmerscircle.com/blog/2010/03/19/womens-ncaa-live-blog-see-updates-while-as-happen/

dont worry, tomorrow is the day for the texas girls, they will most certainly surge to the front to capture the top 3 finish that they were expecting. kim brackin for coach of the year!

I think on day 3 - it a question of which team weakens the least....

I would be shocked if Georgia hung with Stanford. I would not be shocked if Arizona did.

More great swimming from the ladies, thats for sure. They have the quality, just a tad short on the depth to hang with the top dogs. Id still say they have made tremendous strides this year (to go along with pretty much every year in a while). Gig 'Em extra hard on day 3 ladies!

Ag Blastoff: Great blog!! Enjoyed it!

Nice blog.

The Ags are short a few things this year that will keep us out of the top 4.

- 100 backstroker - no one finaled this year and we were relatively slow in the medley relays on the backstroke leg
- 4th 200 free swimmer - the best teams have four 1:45-ish swimmers while we had three.
- 50 free stud (or two) - it was fantastic to have Aljan for four years. I think JW is faster than anyone on the team now and she never swims this.

[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 3/20/2010 11:47a).]

I love this team!

A good morning so far for the Ags. Heiss, JW, and Alia in the A finals. Medrano seeded fastest in 200 fly consols. I didn't see Heiss or Wilkinson. Alia looked really strong in the 2breast - but I think finals will require something special to medal. Alia's 100 breast was just OK. Not a best time. Chernoff a bit off her time in 200 fly. Like a lot of the girls who probably rested for Big12s.

tu finally put someone in finals - Hersey in 200 fly.

400 free relay still to come. Also platform diving.

Add: Ags seeded 1st in the 400 free relay. I didn't see it. I would be shocked if that holds up though. Stanford seeded with a 3:12 and I assume they swam a different lineup.

Great swim this morning in any case!

1650 coming too.

I went over likely changes to the 400 free relays in my prelims recap. Breeden will move onto the squad, and they will have the same team that set the American record (but didn't win) last year. She doesn't swim it in prelims because it's right after 200 fly, but will have the dive break in finals. Cal should also drop a bunch of time, since Sara Isakovic swam the 200 fly right before and went a pretty slow time in the 100.

Our squad will be the most rested, however, with only Julia swimming another event tonight.

Day 3-first 4 Heats of the 1650 are done, just waiting for the final heat. Didn't see the first 2 heats, but Maureen was 5th in heat 4 (better than all of heat 3) in 16:07, which should be enough to keep her in the top 16.

Live blog!
http://theswimmerscircle.com/blog/2010/03/20/ncaa-womens-championship-final-day-live-blogging/

What do you guys pick as the finish order? I've got Stanford, Cal, Georgia, Arizona.

any possible change for A&M's relay or is it set?

I've heard speculation that they might stick Heiss on it, after having more rest from her 200 back. But it was just speculation, and not from anyone who has any inside info.

I don't know if they've tried it yet, but she swam a 49.89 flat start at Big 12's. I've gotta imagine she can outdo a 48.93 in her last race off of a relay start, but I dunno.

Wilkinson is the NCAA champ in the 100 free!

But I didn't get to see it because no ESPN360 streaming in Austin. Damn.

Flash! Atkinson wins the 200 breaststroke!

Florida is going to be the top team by at least 6.5 headed into the last race. Who saw that coming?

And with how Truelove from Houston is diving, it's going to more likely be an 8.5 point lead. Wow, just wow.

Incredible!!

100 Free and 200 Breast: Great way to finish their Aggie swimming ...WOW

[This message has been edited by bogustrumper (edited 3/20/2010 9:25p).]

Kara Salamone jumps way up to third in platform to give Florida a 10.5 point lead. Read the blog for full scenarios, but basically, if Stanford wins the relay, Florida needs fourth. If anyone else wins, Florida should have it sealed.

[This message has been edited by AGBlastoff (edited 3/20/2010 8:20p).]