Sydney Pickrem Entered in 200 Breast, No 200 Back, on Saturday

2019 SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 19 – Saturday, February 23
• Gabrielsen Natatorium, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Texas A&M Women (3x), Florida men (6x)(results)
• Live results
• Live Video – SEC Network
• Championship Central
• Saturday Heat Sheets

While there’s been some confusion surrounding whether or not Texas A&M senior Sydney Pickrem‘s no-show as the top seed in the 400 IM was going to count as one of her maximum 3 individual events, the Aggie made it a moot point on Saturday by scratching the 200 back. That leaves her with just 1 swim, a title defense in the 200 breaststroke, on Saturday, as she skips the 200 back, where she was seeded 4th.

The A&M women enter the day with a 83-point lead over Florida, and Pickrem’s presence behind the blocks, even if just in one event, will go a long way toward securing a 4th-straight conference title. Nothing is in the bag yet, though. Her scratch leaves A&M with only one likely scorer in the event (Sara Metszch, who was seeded 23rd coming in), while Florida has 2 potential A finalists (Mabel Zaaros and Sherridon Dressel) and all 5 of their entries in the circle-seeded heats. Both teams are a little thin in the 100 free, and then in the 200 breaststroke, there’s some huge head-to-head battles, with A&M and Florida swimmers seeded consecutively in 3 different spots.

On paper, this is still A&M’s meet to lose, though Florida does have a big opportunity in the mile to close that gap. There are no women’s diving events on day 5, so the Aggies will have to count on their swimmers to hold off a very young Florida team at the wire.

The only other significant scratch on Saturday is Georgia’s Olivia Carter, who entered the meet seeded 10th in the 200 back. She has already used all 3 of her individual entries in the 200 IM (11th), 100 fly (6th), and 200 fly (1st).

Day 5 Events (Finals Order)

• Women’s 1650 free
• Men’s 1650 free
• Women’s 200 back
• Men’s 100 back
• Women’s 100 free
• Men’s 100 free
• Women’s 200 breast
• Men’s 200 breast
• Men’s Platform
• Women’s 400 free relay
• Men’s 400 free relay