I thought we could start a new thread just for NCAAs instead of adding on to the SEC thread.

Final cut list:

http://cdn.swimswam.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015-NCAA-DI-W-Official-Psych-Sheet.pdf

Georgia is at the max of 18 athletes. If any divers advance, they will have to cut a swimmer.

SwimSwam "scored" the meet from the psych sheet minus divers and this predicts the top 20 as:

1California505
2 Georgia 368
3 Stanford 309
4 Virginia 295
5 TexasA&M 220
6 Florida 193
7 USC 161
8 Louisville 160
9 Tennessee 130
10 Wisconsin 129
11 Indiana 123
12 Texas 100
13 Michigan 98
14 Minnesota 82
15 Auburn 67
16 NC State 63
17 Arizona 62
18 Kentucky 50
19 SDSU 46
20 Missouri 44.5

I think the surprise here is Virginia. I had no idea they were so strong this year. They have a few swimmers highly seeded in multiple events

Leah Smith - 200/500/1650 free
Courtney Bartholemew - 200 IM/200 back/100 back

Virginia has three swimmers in the top 8 in 200 IM.

Their times are very fast - I think they were swum at the ACC championships. Can they hold on to that speed?

The pre-meet scoring is useful to identify the top 5, but lots of things could change because a few tenths of a second can change the results a lot.

Texas could get three divers to NCAAs. All three are potential podium finishers and could generate 50 points or more.

I think the Aggies can swim faster than they did at SECs. The factors that come to mind:

- how close to her best was Henry at SECs? She has been the iron-woman of the team, but I haven't seen a dominating superfast swim yet this season.
- I think Gastaldello is gonna swim faster. She was really fast at SECs - likely tapered. But she is young and a warrior. I think she is a racer and will fight to get her hand on the wall first.
- Can we get someone to sprint backstroke? Breaststroke? Both of our medley relays have started slow and finished strong. We really two Gastaldellos.
- Can Ibanez finish the season fast? My bet is no.

Virginia swam those times at there midyear invite. Will be interesting to see if they can replicate those results. They have some top notch swimmers and some potential NCAA champs if they do.

Considering A&M graduated (arguably) the greatest class in its history, getting 16 back in is a major accomplishment and the staff and team should be commended. Really looking forward to watching this group perform on the NCAA stage.

I think UVA is following the (old) Arizona model :
1) BIG rest for Invite, pick up cuts.
2) Mostly swim through conference, and challenge at NCAA's.

Not surprising considering the the majority of the UVA coaches their come straight out of the old Arizona staff.

Lots of teams plan their season like that. Bultman does that. Those that get their cuts rest a bit for conference but otherwise swim through it.

I'm aware most places do it.
but UVA didn't used to do it to such an extreme until the coaching change, and so that's what I'm pointing out.

Bultman's swimmers usually performed better than Arizona's at conference (relatively speaking from the talent standpoint of each team) in Arizona's heyday in the mid to late 00's. Arizona would then bring the pain at NCAA's while we would be right at the same times as conference or even a touch slower.

As the A&M talent has gotten better over the last 10 years, Bultman has adjusted more and more to the style of training where we see better times out of our girls at NCAA's. I think our training for the NCAA meet really turned a corner in 2008 when we earned our first top four finish and we haven't looked back since.

Starts today!

Live Results

Live streaming supposedly at:

http://www.gopack.com/collegesportslive/

Events today:

200 free relay
500 free
200 IM
50 free
400 medley relay
1M diving

Should be a good day to see where we are. Sprinters, Sarah Henry, our IM group (Galat, Bratton, McMahon), and Gastaldello all swim today.

Hmmm....it was a mixed start.

200 free relay - strong swim by the Aggies. 1.5 sec drop from seed time.

500 free - solid prelims swim by Henry. Outstanding top time by the UVA swimmer- who set an NCAA record.

200 IM - solid swims but no one in the A final (which wasn't expected). Galat swam her seed time.

50 free - good swims, but Gastaldello didn't make the A final. She was a bit off her seed time - which would have put her in the A final.

400 medley relay - a very disappointing swim for us - two seconds off seed time, 14th place and behind Texas and even SMU. The front half of the relay was very slow.

Based on the swims today...I'd say Henry has more in the tank following her swims at SECs. Most of the ladies must have been fully rested for SECs.

1 up/ 4 down today

Excellent swims tonight so far.


Aggies finish 5th in the 200 free relay, moving up 1 place matching their prelims time exactly. The sprint group is really solid.

Henry finishes 3rd in the 500 behind the 2 fastest 500 NCAA swimmers in history.

Galat swam a great 200 IM (dropped over 1 sec) to win the B final. Her time was good enough for 5th overall if she had been in the A final. Bratton moved up to finish 11th overall.

50 free was an improvement from prelims since Bosma moved up one spot.

(Aggies in 3rd place at this point, We'll lose some ground after 1M diving and the 400 medley relay)

Steve juggled the 400 medley relay lineup for finals and the results were better. Gastaldello in back instead of fly, Jonker in breast, and Neubert in fly. Unquestionably a better lineup. Aggies finished 11th, up 3 places.

In 4th overall, ahead of UVA in 5th.

Stanford crushed the NCAA record in the relay. 45.45 split by Simone Manuel.

Aggies will likely have a mixed day today. Our goal is probably to hang on to 4th - stay ahead of UVA and Louisville.

200 medley relay - not sure what the lineup will be for this since we swam two lineups in the 400 medley relay. Our sprint free relay was very good, but we still have a problem with sprint back and sprint breaststroke.

400 IM - Henry is swimming very well and has a great chance for a podium finish. Bratton also swimming well and should score points.

100 fly - Gastaldello does not have the speed she had at SECs. Her 100 fly split in the relay was slower than her SEC flat start swim. No other Aggie likely to score points. Neubert swam well in the relay finals but I don't think she is fast enough to get in the top 16.

200 free - It will be a stretch for any Aggie to score points.

100 breast - Galat is swimming well. McMahon is not (at least based on her relay swim). Jonker was reasonably fast on the medley relay but her split was slower than her best flat start.

100 back - I don't see any Aggie points.

Prelims so far:

200 medley relay - very disappointing swim. Added time. The back half can't make up for the poor first half, especially backstroke (we had the slowest back split of the top 16). We slid to the B final.

400 IM - outstanding swim by Henry for top seed tonight. I watched this and she was very aggressive from the start, which showed confidence. She took control in breaststroke and powered her way to a two body length heat win. Bratton swam well and moved up to sit 12th.

100 fly - Gastaldello is struggling. I'd guess she is just not 100%. She was behind right away. She looked low in the water and slow off the walls. New American record in prelims from Worrell (Lousville). Unless there is a scratch no Aggie points in 100 fly. This is a big point loss in an event we were seeded 2nd.

200 free - no Aggie points here. All of the Aggies are a bit off their seed times. This predicts that our 800 free relay will be slightly slower than it was at SECs.

100 breast - Galat's strong 200 IM showed she is fast. She just missed the A final with 9th fastest and a drop in time.

100 back - as expected. A big weakness for us.

I think just about everyone has swum now. I do not think we can hold on to 4th overall. Virginia is swimming very well overall - particularly with their relays.

Up - Henry**, Galat*, Bratton*
Even - Bosma, Neubert
Down - everyone else to varying degrees

Gastaldello is an awesome swimmer but she is clearly not herself right now. She is well off her SEC times. We don't have depth in her events so it hurts us that she is not 100%. She is a warrior and will do her best.

Henry could be our next NCAA champion in the 400 IM. She was super strong this morning. That time could hold up for the win tonight.

Steve juggled the medley relay again with better results. Three freshmen swam tonight and moved up to 11th. Nice job.

Henry is the next A&M NCAA champion. Outstanding meet for her so far. It looks like she held on to win with Flickinger closing very fast on her the last 50.

Some incredible swimming tonight - two NCAA records - 100 fly (Worrell) and 200 free (Franklin). Missy destroyed the field and broke 1:40 for the first time ever.

Galat continued her great meet with another time drop in 100 breast to finish 10th.

Great 800 free relay by the Aggies. The swimmers were likely fresh (except Henry) and had everything to give.

Aggies in 5th. Nice place all things considered.

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Steve juggled the medley relay again with better results. Three freshmen swam tonight and moved up to 11th. Nice job.

Henry is the next A&M NCAA champion. Outstanding meet for her so far. It looks like she held on to win with Flickinger closing very fast on her the last 50.

Some incredible swimming tonight - two NCAA records - 100 fly (Worrell) and 200 free (Franklin). Missy destroyed the field and broke 1:40 for the first time ever.

Galat continued her great meet with another time drop in 100 breast to finish 10th.

Great 800 free relay by the Aggies. The swimmers were likely fresh (except Henry) and had everything to give.

Aggies in 5th. Nice place all things considered.

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I need to double check, but didn't Franklin's split on the relay at the P12 Champs break 1:40, as well. Seems like one of the parents mentioned that at our practice.

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Steve juggled the medley relay again with better results. Three freshmen swam tonight and moved up to 11th. Nice job.

Henry is the next A&M NCAA champion. Outstanding meet for her so far. It looks like she held on to win with Flickinger closing very fast on her the last 50.

Some incredible swimming tonight - two NCAA records - 100 fly (Worrell) and 200 free (Franklin). Missy destroyed the field and broke 1:40 for the first time ever.

Galat continued her great meet with another time drop in 100 breast to finish 10th.

Great 800 free relay by the Aggies. The swimmers were likely fresh (except Henry) and had everything to give.

Aggies in 5th. Nice place all things considered.

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I need to double check, but didn't Franklin's split on the relay at the P12 Champs break 1:40, as well. Seems like one of the parents mentioned that at our practice.

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I looked at the Pac12 results and Missy split 1:40.68 as anchor of their 800 free relay. I suppose it was an indicator of what was to come. But relay splits from positions 2,3, and 4 are not "official" records because of the moving start.

Very impressed so far with Galat. Her season developed slowly and she was probably frustrated for a good while swimming slower than she did in high school. Now the work is paying off.

Bratton is also swimming well - and her best event is still to come - 200 back.

Bosma is a rock solid sprinter. She splits 21.9-22.0 like clockwork.

Saturday prelims:

200 back - Bratton basically matches her seed time to finish 10th. 200 back is a really fast event right now with 4 ladies under 1:51.

100 free - Gastaldello gutted it out to get in the A final with a time close to seed. Bosma in 13th. Our 400 free relay should be in good shape with Ibanez, Malone right at their seed times.

200 breast - McGregor with a very good 2:08.79 for 8th place. Ashley swam near the front the entire race. Galat unfortunately slipped to 2:10.49 and won't swim tonight. Galat looked tired and was never in it.

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I looked at the Pac12 results and Missy split 1:40.68 as anchor of their 800 free relay. I suppose it was an indicator of what was to come. But relay splits from positions 2,3, and 4 are not "official" records because of the moving start.

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I know... more a point of reference. Thought it was interesting.

I appreciate your updates. I don't always comment, but do catch them.

I spend most my time in AGS.

A great finish by the Aggies to move up to 4th on the last event. We finished 2 points ahead of UVA - so every point scored counted.

Henry finished a great senior season and career at A&M with a 4th in the 1650.

Bratton dropped almost .5 secs to finish 11th.

Gastaldello moved up to 6th - surely through sheer willpower. She is the fastest freshman not named Simone Manuel - who crushed the NCAA record and almost broke 46 secs.

McGregor moved up to 7th after dropping another tenth.

The biggest swim though was the 400 free relay - Aggies finished 4th - over 1 sec faster than prelims. Same roster, slightly different order. Kristin Malone swam .5 secs faster. 2 freshmen, 2 seniors on that relay.

Awesome finish tonight. The ladies all showed up to race - a hallmark of Steve's teams. All this with zero points from diving.

Great performance by our ladies. It seems that we did as well as anyone could have expected.

Thanks, Spicewood, for the updates and knowledgeable comments. I really appreciate your sharing your knowledge and interest in swimming.

Finally, without diminishing the accomplishments of the ladies in any way, what does our men's team need to do to match the level of the women's team? It seems that over the last couple of years, they have really fallen off, although I don't ever remember them being in the top 5 at nationals.

Thanks in advance.

Is the men's team fully funded, meaning the full 9.9 scholarships? Should we offer more to fewer, higher quality swimmers? Not a guarantee that they will accept but I can't believe some studs would turn down a 85-90% ship to come here.

Great finish!

I have never heard the men's team wasn't fully funded at 9.9 scholarships. So I don't think they are handcuffed in any way. That would be death to any SEC program.

I don't think a smaller roster concentrating on a few stars is the answer. An NCAA team needs at least 10 guys that swim freestyle because there are three freestyle relays. I have my doubts a swimmer like Jack Conger would have come to A&M for a full ride. He probably wouldn't even return a phone call from A&M. We also need 3-4 divers on that roster.

I think the answer is that we need to convince top kids to swim for A&M for a 10%, 25%, or 50% scholarship, just like other schools do. At Texas a select very few have more than a half scholarship. Conger might have almost a full ride. MIke Hixon had almost a full ride when he dove for Texas as a freshman (and likely has almost a full scholarship at Indiana now).

I'm sure this has been covered here, but want to ask.

I know there is a limit for scholarships, and like baseball, they often get shared.

Some questions... like "walk-on" etc...

If someone wants to swim in college at say A&M... can A&M use students who are academic scholarship? Can you swim for the team if you aren't an accomplished swimmer, or is there an expectation you'll be able to contribute points in a certain event? Do schools look more favorably on those that can swim & dive, or would they expect you to do one or the other... at least very well?

What is the diving story? Is the state of Texas just weak in that area? I believe TAPPS just downgraded diving in Middle School and it isn't recognized (as of this past year).

My kids swim year-round... they are BB/A swimmers. They dive recreationally, however they will likely be over 6' tall, which I'm thinking will be an advantage for swimming as they get older, but likely a death nail for diving. 5'5" to 5'9" seems to be more likely for divers. 6'2"... probably not (for obvious physics reasons).

Just a killer job by the 400 free relay to step up and produce at the most critical time. And for the team to lose 3 individual NCAA champions (along with several other outstanding senior contributors) and still come back with a top 4 finish speaks to great coaching and the right attitude. Well done ladies!

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I'm sure this has been covered here, but want to ask.

I know there is a limit for scholarships, and like baseball, they often get shared.

Some questions... like "walk-on" etc...

If someone wants to swim in college at say A&M... can A&M use students who are academic scholarship? Can you swim for the team if you aren't an accomplished swimmer, or is there an expectation you'll be able to contribute points in a certain event? Do schools look more favorably on those that can swim & dive, or would they expect you to do one or the other... at least very well?

What is the diving story? Is the state of Texas just weak in that area? I believe TAPPS just downgraded diving in Middle School and it isn't recognized (as of this past year).

My kids swim year-round... they are BB/A swimmers. They dive recreationally, however they will likely be over 6' tall, which I'm thinking will be an advantage for swimming as they get older, but likely a death nail for diving. 5'5" to 5'9" seems to be more likely for divers. 6'2"... probably not (for obvious physics reasons).

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Almost no swimmer or diver gets a full scholarship, male or female. There just aren't enough to give one to a single athlete, especially for a men's program that has between 28-40 athletes on the roster. A few superstars will get one or close to one. The coach allocates the rest of the scholarships trying to make the most of them. SwimSwam had an article that said coaches try to get a kid to swim/dive for the least amount of money. That's simply the truth. Eddie Reese has almost 40 guys on his roster and he has just 9.9 scholarships to give. I understand he tries to give everyone at least "books" - which is worth about $1000. Eddie manages to get kids to swim for him, both from Texas and out of state for 1/10, 1/4, etc of a scholarship. Out of state kids have to pay out of state tuition. Some schools in other states can waive out of state tuition for kids they want (both academic and athletic) - but not in Texas. I'm pretty certain Mike Hixon (diver) had a nearly full ride. But he was probably the best high school diver in the country. He was NCAA champion as a freshman on both springboards. (in spite of that he transferred to Indiana). Coaches are thrilled when an athlete has an academic scholarship - that means the kid probably isn't as focused on athletic money.

Scholarship or not the team has a roster size limit - set by the athletic department. An athlete on the roster, even a walk-on, is expensive. They have the full investment all athletes get - trainers, medical care, tutoring, study hall, equipment, clothing, travel. I was told a few years ago that Bill Byrne would fund the men for no more than 24. But that was more than a few years ago. The Aggie men roster is 29 now.

Coaches are happy to consider walk-ons - but they still want athletes that have the potential to develop into at least a conference level swimmer. The coaches don't have the time to invest in a kid with unproven talent.

As for diving in Texas - I think diving is actually very good. Quite a few good diving programs in Texas. Woodlands, Longhorn Aquatics, Cougar Diving, Alamo Area, etc. have all produced many NCAA caliber divers. Divers don't get good from school coaching. High school swim coaches are typically mediocre, and they have no diving skills at all. So a good high school diver developed their skills from a USA Diving club program. Kassidy Cook (2nd and 3rd at NCAAs on springboards for Stanford) dove for The Woodlands diving club.

Height is a disadvantage for divers. It hurts their ability to somersault. Guys today are doing 4 1/2 somersaults on the 3M board and you have to spin very vast to complete that dive. Height is a bit less of an issue for platform divers. Don't believe all the roster height listings. I know some guys listed as 5'7 are really 5'4 of 5'5. Most female divers are 5'0 to 5'5 - much like gymnasts.

But how do we convince good swimmers to come here on 1/4 ships? Can we hire a big name coach for relatively cheaply and hope he attracts bigger talent? Frustrating to see the difference in the men and women's teams.

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But how do we convince good swimmers to come here on 1/4 ships? Can we hire a big name coach for relatively cheaply and hope he attracts bigger talent? Frustrating to see the difference in the men and women's teams.

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We have the same challenge as every other D1 mens program. Eddie Reese does it - of course he is a legend, two time Olympic head coach, etc.

Greg Rhodenbough at Missouri does it - and he has no reputation like Reese. He is in just his 5th year and his program has surpassed A&M's. I don't know him and don't know how he has done it. Maybe he is just a better salesman.

Alabama hired a new coach in 2013. In just his second season Alabama put all five of its relays in the NCAAs to go with many individuals. Based on the psych sheet Alabama will finish 9th.

I think our program is just stagnant. It is stuck. It is stuck on being an Aggie program instead of being the best it can be.

As for hiring a big name coach.....top coaches probably don't make more than $150K more than our coach. It seems improbable that TAMU is constrained financially. A&M just needs to want it.

Thoroughly enjoyed watching NCAA's this year! Have to admit I enjoyed watching Simone Manuel swim. Part of that is because we first met her Mom about 8 years ago when my daughter used to practice with 1st Colony when we'd spend holidays with relatives near there. We'd talk at TAGs. Our daughters had similar beginnings as far as year around swimming (though my daughter ended up stopping).

Simone Manuel in an incredible swimmer. I watched replay of her 400 medley relay anchor leg - other than Jason Lezak (on LCM) - I have not seen a swimmer erase a deficit like that, especially in 25 yards. She may finally be the sprinter the US hasn't had in decades.

It was an incredible meet. Tons of American records go down and some exciting relays. Outside of Friday morning, the Ags were great. They caught a few breaks but they also made some for themselves too. I echo halco's point about the team earning top four status after losing the kitchen sink. Henry had an incredible meet and would have been second in the 1,650 if the race had been 25 yards longer. Great job all around.

Now it's time to find replacements for Henry, Bosma and Ibanez...

Spicewood: My wife & I had the very same discussion. True, we haven't seen anyone swim someone down on a 400 free relay since Jason Lezak!

Look Out Below: I was looking at the commitments on CollegeSwimming.com and saw that we have commitments from 3 of the top swimmers in TX, but none of the top swimmers in the nation. Do you know anything about the commitments? Of course, Coach Bultman is well known for making swimmers faster!

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Now it's time to find replacements for Henry, Bosma and Ibanez...

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To-do items for next season:

- solve the sprint backstroke problem; that costs us 1+ secs on the 4MR right now
- find someone in the breaststroke group to break out; maybe it will be Galat but I was surprised this season that with Breeja gone no one took it upon themselves to own it; I assume they are still training with Breeja as a post grad. They have someone to chase in the pool.
- fix diving; there is nothing special happening right now
- need a 200 fly swimmer;

Replacing Henry is a huge task. What a great swimmer. She is a RACER, and a great representative for A&M and the team.