The ASU swim and dive team is now looking to make NCAA cuts during the invitational portion of its schedule. The NCAA cuts are the qualifying times that a swimmer must achieve in order to be invited to the National Championship meet that will take place on Mar. 21-24 in Minneapolis.
The standards are broken up into two categories, an A-cut and a B-cut.
“A-cuts are the automatic standards that will get you to the meet immediately – if you get it, you’re going,” senior breaststroke specialist Christian Lorenz said.
On the other hand, the B-cut gives a swimmer consideration to swim an event – it does ensure that he or she will compete in that event. Swimmers who earn only B-cuts can still swim at the NCAA Championships but only if there are not enough swimmers with the A-cut for that event.
If a swimmer receives an A-cut in one event and a B-cut in another they can compete in both events.
The B-cut times are significantly slower than the A-cut. For example, in order to make the NCAA Championship in the 100 yard breaststroke, one must swim the distance in under 51.93 seconds for the A-cut and 55.39 for the B-cut.
Lorenz has made the NCAA Championship two out of his three full seasons.
In the world of collegiate swimming, making the A-cut for any event solidifies the swimmer as one of the best in the nation.
“The automatic All-American cut is designed to be the very select few, three to four people,” graduate swimmer Andrew Porter said. “However, in recent years, that's why the cuts have gotten faster, you see six to seven people making the A-cut.”
Porter competed in the NCAA Championships as a freshman in the 200 and 400 individual medley and in the 200 fly.
Unfortunately for those who do not make any NCAA cuts, they will likely not travel with the team beyond a certain point of the season. Freshman swimmer Grant House understands those implications.
“The team does get cut down because of limitations on who can come from the teams, but also who qualifies for it,” House said. “Ultimately the goal is NCAA (Championships) so if you can’t get to the meet, it is, in a sense, a failure.”
The ASU women's swimming team will look to make their NCAA cuts during the Art Adamson Invitational at Texas A&M from Nov. 16-18.
The ASU men’s team will look to secure its spots for the NCAA Championships at the Texas Invitational at the UT Austin from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2nd.
Time will tell which Sun Devils will be competing for a national championship in March.
Reach the reporter at nsheehy@asu.edu or follow @nsheehy_nick on Twitter.
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