Nazareth/Easton YMCA Swim Team

NCAA D2 Nationals qualifying times (QT) tend to be slightly faster than US Olympic Trials qualifying times, and NCAA D1 are faster. As a result, if a swimmer qualifies for an NCAA D2 Nationals "A" cut, they will have likely also qualified for US Olympic Trials. Why are NCAA QTs so fast? They include many of the world's best international swimmers who go to college and train in the US, but will go home to represent their countries in the Olympics. Plus, not all the NCAA swimmers actually qualified in any given year. They need to get that cut within the qualifying time period, which is usually only the preceding 18 months prior to the US Olympic Trials and it's hard to maintain that level for prolonged periods for many swimmers.