Buckeyes Back in Action at the Ohio State Winter Invitational

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Buckeye swimming and diving program hosts the Ohio State Winter Invitational Friday, Nov. 11-Sunday, Nov. 13 at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion for its final regular-season outing of the year. The three-day meet features five teams in addition to the Buckeyes, including Kentucky, Ball State, John Carroll, Cleveland State and Akron.

Important Meet Day Reminders

The university and City of Columbus policies require wearing of masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status, for all faculty, staff and invitees.
The department requires all patrons at our events to wear your mask at all times for your own safety and for the health, safety and well-being of others, including our student-athletes, campus community and visitors.
The university and the Department of Athletics encourage individuals to get vaccinated, boostered and to continue safety protocols.
Admission to the OSU Winter Invitational is free. Paid parking is available in the Tuttle and Neil Avenue Garages. The Neil Avenue Garage is open to the public starting at 4 p.m. on Friday.

Meet Schedule

Prelims meet will start at 11 a.m. ET on each day of the invitational. Finals are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET on Friday and Saturday and 4 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Order of Events

Friday. Feb.11 (11 a.m. prelims, 5 p.m. finals)	Saturday. Feb.12 (11 a.m. prelims, 5 p.m. finals)	Sunday. Feb.13 (11 a.m. prelims, 4 p.m. finals)
200 Free Relay	200 Medley Relay	1650 Free
500 Free	100 Fly	200 Back
200 IM	400 IM	100 Free
50 Free	200 Free	200 Breast
400 Medley Relay	100 Breast	200 Fly
	100 Back	400 Free Relay
	800 Free Relay

Ohio State In the Rankings

Both the men’s and the women’s teams saw improvements in their rankings with the reveal of the February CSCAA poll on Wednesday. The women come in at No. 6, improving three spots on their previous ranking. The men break into the top-10 this month with a No. 9 ranking, a five-spot jump from last month’s poll.

Ohio State as of Late

The Buckeyes enter the invitational following a historic win over Michigan on Jan. 28. With the men defeating the Wolverines 189-111 and the women edging their rivals 152.5-147.5, the program earned its first combined win over Michigan in the history of the dual. The men earned their first victory against Michigan since the 1990-91 season while the women took the win for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign.

The women’s team has earned five dual wins on the year and finished first at the Ohio State Fall Invitational. The men have won four duals and placed second at the fall invite.

NCAA Qualifying Times

Thirty Buckeyes have raced NCAA qualifying times this season. The women have 19 swimmers who have raced to B standard times while all five divers have recorded zone qualifying scores. Hannah Bach is the only individual swimmer with an NCAA A cut this season, racing a 58:08 in the 100 breaststroke at the Ohio State Fall Invitational. For the men, 11 swimmers have finished in B qualifying times in 12 different events. All eight men’s divers have earned NCAA zone standards on at least one board. The women’s 200 free relay, 400 free relay and 200 medley relay as well as the men’s 200 medley relay have earned NCAA qualifying times.

Top-20 Finishes

With one more regular-season meet for the Buckeyes this year, 11 Ohio State swimmers have recorded finishes that rank in the top 20 in the NCAA this season. Charlie Clark is third in the Big Ten and seventh nationally with a season-best 1650 freestyle time of 14:42.21. Hunter Armstrong’s 45.66 finish in the 100 backstroke at the Fall Invitational ranks ninth-best in the country this season and third in the conference. Fabio Dalu comes in at 14th in the mile in a time of 14:53.34 for the NCAA B cut. Ruslan Gaziev’s season-best time of 1:33.20 in the 200 freestyle is the 15th-best time in the country.

For the women, Hannah Bach leads the conference and ranks seventh in the nation with a season-best 58.08 in the 100 breaststroke. Sally Tafuto’s season-best time of 4:40.49 in the 500 freestyle leads the conference and ranks 12th nationally. Katherine Zenick’s 51.65 in the 100 butterfly is the 11th fastest time in the NCAA this year. Amy Fulmer own’s the 11th-best time nationally in the 100 freestyle with an NCAA B cut time of 48.09 and also ranks 15th nationally and third in the conference with a time of 1:44.98 in the 200 freestyle. Maya Geringer leads the Buckeyes with a 16:06.02 in the 1650 freestyle, good for second in the Big Ten, 11th nationally and an NCAA B cut. Katie Trace raced the 19th-fastest time in the 400 IM Backstroke this year with a season-best time of 4:08.80. Rounding out the Buckeyes in the top-20 is Emily Crane with a team-best 51.94 in the 100 backstroke this season.

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