And not to detract from Denison - they had some great swims and the women look to be every bit as deep as last year - but I have to wonder how much the overall finish matters to some of these schools. Denison and Emory have approximately the same roster size this year, but Emory only brings about half of their swimmers to this meet and splits the weekend with the SCAD Invitational. When there are 27 spots in finals for each individual event, that makes a difference. When you lose half your swimmers to illness it makes an even bigger difference (as already noted).
For reference, take a look at some of the Emory swimmers who were swimming at the scad invitational this weekend, and how their times would have finished at the Denison invitational. Not necessarily event winners, but point scorers.
We are also of the same mind in openly stating we do not want to take anything away from Denison. That is an incredibly impressive squad. their men’s teams have had a couple of down seasons - by the very lofty standards of Denison. And it looks like Denison may have come through that stronger. If you were completing a rebuild, this is exactly what you would want to be seeing in a midseason invitational.
This morning our best estimate is that on Friday and Saturday, 13 Emory Men missed 20 likely swimming spots in some sort of mysterious/unexpected/last-minute/dfs/ns circumstance, costing Emory 299 points, the difference between a close loss and slightly-less-close win.
Will admit to some surprise that it would have been that close even if Emory were healthy. Denison's Men are more impressive than we expected. Barring illness, this was an Emory win. But not an Emory blow-out.
And not to detract from Denison - they had some great swims and the women look to be every bit as deep as last year - but I have to wonder how much the overall finish matters to some of these schools. Denison and Emory have approximately the same roster size this year, but Emory only brings about half of their swimmers to this meet and splits the weekend with the SCAD Invitational. When there are 27 spots in finals for each individual event, that makes a difference. When you lose half your swimmers to illness it makes an even bigger difference (as already noted).
It’s a solid point.
For reference, take a look at some of the Emory swimmers who were swimming at the scad invitational this weekend, and how their times would have finished at the Denison invitational. Not necessarily event winners, but point scorers.
We are also of the same mind in openly stating we do not want to take anything away from Denison. That is an incredibly impressive squad. their men’s teams have had a couple of down seasons - by the very lofty standards of Denison. And it looks like Denison may have come through that stronger. If you were completing a rebuild, this is exactly what you would want to be seeing in a midseason invitational.
Worth noting Emory had about twelve men scratch for illness related issues. Needless to say, nationals will be exciting!
This morning our best estimate is that on Friday and Saturday, 13 Emory Men missed 20 likely swimming spots in some sort of mysterious/unexpected/last-minute/dfs/ns circumstance, costing Emory 299 points, the difference between a close loss and slightly-less-close win.
Will admit to some surprise that it would have been that close even if Emory were healthy. Denison's Men are more impressive than we expected. Barring illness, this was an Emory win. But not an Emory blow-out.
On behalf of the Emory men: we'll be back in business once our tummies stop hurting
No doubt.
Tip of the cap to Denison for their remarkable defense of their home invitational.
Rest-up. Enjoy the holidays and training trip.
We can't imagine that anyone in the division has been lulled into a false sense of security.
Norovirus > Emory Men > The rest of the division until proven otherwise.