Ohio State's Danika Varda Swims A-Final Time From Non-Scoring Roster (Time Trial Highlights)
Yesterday at 04:45 PM
By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
2025 BIG TEN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Dates: Wednesday, February 19 – Saturday, February 22
- Location: McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Columbus, OH
- Teams: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
- Defending champions: Indiana (1x)
- Championship Central
- Live Results
- Live Video: B1G+
- Results: Day 1 | Day 2
- Recaps:
- Day 3 Ups/Mids/Downs
The Big Ten’s relatively new format, where teams are allowed to bring 24 athletes but have to designate 18 scorers (with divers counting as half), has every year created some tough decisions for coaches.
With a compact scoring roster, things for those 16th, 17th, and 18th roster spots get fuzzy, especially for the deeper teams like Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana. Those choices can make the difference between a team title and not in a conference that is consistently the most competitive team battle among the big conferences. It also leaves coaches with having to project tapers, which most famously appeared when Ohio State’s Nyah Funderburkequalified for NCAAs as a non-scorer at Big Tens in 2022.
This year’s meet didn’t have anything quite that drastic, though there were several designated non-scorers who would have wound up in B or C finals, if allowed.
There was also one swimmer, Ohio State’s Danika Varda, who would have earned a slot in an A Final on Saturday in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:10.36 in prelims. That swim was about six-tenths slower than her best time in the event, but was the 6th-best swim in the morning session.
She also swam a 1:00.96 in the 100 breaststroke in a time trial on Friday after scratching the individual event, which would have put her into the points as well.
Every member of the Ohio State scoring roster has earned at least 13.5 points so far, and most of those swimmers still have races to go.
With the 200 IM (1:58.78) or 400 IM (4:15.60), both best times, as a non-scoring swimmer this week, she probably would have wound up as a 30-35 point scorer for the Buckeyes if she were on the scoring roster. That is only a couple of points difference from where the team’s last scoring swimmers are, so unless Indiana mounts a furious finals run, that decision doesn’t seem like it’s going to impact the outcome of the meet for Bill Dorenkott‘s crew.
Other Highlights of non-scoring and time trial swims this week
- Anna Boemer, who was on Michigan’s non-scoring roster, swam 53.55 in prelims, which would have just missed scoring finals. In a time trial session, though, she swam 52.36, which is a season best time and just .37 seconds away from her personal best at Big Tens last year. It took 51.88 for an NCAA Championship invite last season.
- Nebraska’s Maisie Gilford swam a 22.61 in a 50 free time trial after a 22.98 in the individual event prelims. Her best time coming into the meet was 22.90. That swim now ranks her third in Nebraska program history behind Taryn Collura (22.42) and legendary Husker sprinter Therese Alshammar (22.58).
- Michigan sophomore Lily Cleason time trialed a 100 backstroke and finished in 52.91, which took almost half-a-second off her previous lifetime best in the event.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Ohio State’s Danika Varda Swims A-Final Time From Non-Scoring Roster (Time Trial Highlights)
