Note: we’ll be breaking down each day’s prelims sessions based on how many swimmers each team has “up” and “down.” For those not as familiar with swimming terminology, “up” refers to an athlete in the A final (qualifying spots 1-8), while “down” refers to a swimmer in the B final (qualifying spots 9-16).
Trailing by 10 points, California came up with a huge morning on day 2, placing 12 swimmers into scoring position for finals.
That includes 7 swimmers in individual A finals, and 3 apiece in the 200 free and 100 back. To make things even sweeter for the Golden Bears, these ups/downs don’t include the 800 free relay, where Cal fields the American record-setting relay from a few weeks ago and is the heavy favorite to take the title and the double relay points.
In the hunt for event titles tonight for Cal will be Missy Franklin (200 free) and Rachel Bootsma (100 back). Farida Osman is the second seed in the 100 fly, but it’d be a surprise if she overcame new American record-holder Kelsi Worrell for the win.
Stanford and Georgia just about held pace with each other individually. The Cardinal has 4 up and 3 down, where Georgia’s number’s are merely flip-flopped to 3 up, 4 down. Georgia will have the points edge, though, putting its 200 medley relay into the A final. Stanford chose to sit out Simone Manuel on this relay and fell to the B final.
Tonight looks like the night for Virginia to overtake Texas A&M in the race between the next tier of schools. Virginia has 3 A-finalists including 100 back favorite Courtney Bartholomew.
Also of note: a wide range of teams will earn points tonight, as 34 different teams earned scoring swims of some sort this morning. That number doesn’t include programs that will score in diving, and any outside teams who manage to score in the 800 free relay.
Day 2 Ups/Downs
| Up | Down | |
| Cal | 7 | 5 |
| Stanford | 4 | 3 |
| Georgia | 3 | 4 |
| Virginia | 3 | 0 |
| Texas | 2 | 2 |
| Indiana | 2 | 2 |
| Louisville | 2 | 1 |
| USC | 2 | 1 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 0 |
| Florida | 2 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 2 | 0 |
| Missouri | 1 | 4 |
| Texas A&M | 1 | 2 |
| SMU | 1 | 2 |
| Kentucky | 1 | 1 |
| Notre Dame | 1 | 0 |
| FGCU | 1 | 0 |
| Florida State | 1 | 0 |
| Denver | 1 | 0 |
| Alabama | 1 | 0 |
| UNC | 0 | 2 |
| Wisconsin | 0 | 1 |
| Penn State | 0 | 1 |
| Arizona | 0 | 1 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 1 |
| Michigan | 0 | 1 |
| UCLA | 0 | 1 |
| Nevada | 0 | 1 |
| Kansas | 0 | 1 |
| Arkansas | 0 | 1 |
| LSU | 0 | 1 |
| Cincinatti | 0 | 1 |