2021 Big Ten Men: Michigan Returns 13 Swims on Day 2, OSU Still 95.5 Pts Ahead

2021 BIG TEN MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Tuesday, March 2nd to Saturday, March 6th | Prelims 11am | Finals 5pm Tues, 6:30pm Wed-Sat (ET)
• Where: Ohio State University (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Michigan (1x) (2020 results)
• Streaming: Big Ten Network
• Championship Central
• Live Results
• Day 2 Prelims Recap

CURRENT SCORES

1. Ohio State – 433
2. Indiana – 319
3. Purdue – 258
4. Michigan – 223
5. Northwestern – 187
6. Wisconsin – 168
7. Minnesota – 162
8. Penn State – 129
9. Iowa – 114
10. Michigan State – 68

For those unfamiliar with swimming terminology, the concept of “Ups” and “Downs” is a good way to track which teams performed best at prelims. In prelims, swimmers qualify for one of three finals heats: the top 8 finishers make the A final, places 9 through 16 the B final and places 17 through 24 the C final. In finals, swimmers are locked into their respective final, meaning a swimmer in the B heat (spots 9-16) can only place as high as 9th or as low as 16th, even if they put up the fastest or slowest time of any heat in the final.

With that in mind, we’ll be tracking “Ups,” “Mids” and “Downs” after each prelims session. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final, “Mid” to swimmers in the B final and “Down” to swimmers in the C final.

On the second day of the 2021 Big Ten Men’s Championships at Ohio State University, the Michigan Wolverines had a big morning session throughout the prelims of the 200 IM, 50 free, and 500 free. At the end of the session the Wolverines picked up 13 returning swims, including 5 up and 7 mid swims. The next closest team was Indiana, also with 5 up swims but just 1 mid swims and 5 down swims. Host Ohio State will return four A-finalists, 1 B-finalist, and 5 C-finalists. Wisconsins, Penn State, and Purdue all have 3 A-finalists while Northwestern picked up an A-finalist. Iowa’s squad picked up 6 mid swims and 1 down swim in contrast to Minnesota’s 2 mid and 3 down swims.

In the 500 free, Michigan went 1-2-4 this morning, led by top seed Jake Mitchell (4:16.99), as well as picking up 2 mid swims. In the 50 free, they also snagged a deep four B-finalists along with the #3 seed, senior Gus Borges. In the 200 IM, they have the #8 Jared Daigle in the the top final and one B-final swim.

Indiana has two A-finalists in the 200 IM and 500 free each, yet their depth is not as strong as Michigan’s. In the 500 free, #5 Mikey Calvillo and #8 James Brinegar are the only scorers in the whole event. Meanwhile in the 200 IM, #3 Van Mathias and #4 Jacob Steele will score the A-final, yet four swimmers only managed a C-final scoring position (1-9 points). Indiana will have one swimmer in each final in the 50 free, led by #7 Jack Franzman.

In contrast, Ohio State has two top seeds after this morning in the 200 IM and 50 free. Senior Paul DeLakis (1:43.34) leads the IM with over a pair of Wisconsin Badgers, led by #2 Wesley Jekel (1:43.78), and Purdue Boilermakers, led by #5 Trent Pellini. Meanwhile, Semued Andreis holds the top seed in a very fast 50 free final at 19.22. The Buckeyes will also score #6 Charles Clark in the 500 free championship final.

It took 19.49 to qualify into the A-final. Penn State was able to pick up 3 A-finalists (and three sub-19.5 swims) into the 50 free, led by #2 seed Jacob Houck (19.29). Wisconsin will also have #3 Joshua Dannhauser in the 500 free

DAY 2 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

DAY 2 SCORING BREAKDOWN

SCORED PRELIMS

1. Michigan – 257
2. Indiana – 161
3. Ohio State – 142.5
4. Wisconsin – 123
5. Penn State – 106
6. Purdue – 98
7. Iowa – 92
8. Northwestern – 67.5
9. Minnesota – 39
10. Michigan State – 0

Michigan’s big morning made up for their pre-swimming deficit in the completed diving portion, where the Wolverines had the 5th-most diving points at 95, which was 226 points less than diving leader Ohio State (321). After Michigan’s 257 projected points, they now jump from 4th to tie 2nd with Indiana at 480 points. Ohio State still maintains their lead, now dwindled to 95.5 points.

Wisconsin can also jump Northwestern for 5th place while Penn State and Iowa both passed Minnesota for 7th and 8th after out-scoring the squad this morning.

CURRENT SCORES + SCORED PRELIMS

1. Ohio State – 575.5
2. Michigan/Indiana – 480
3. (tie)
4. Purdue – 356
5. Wisconsin – 291
6. Northwestern – 254.5
7. Penn State – 235
8. Iowa – 206
9. Minnesota – 201
10. Michigan State – 68