The first round of scratches, released on Wednesday, for the 2011-2012 Women's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, were fairly obviously coaches attempting to improve the standings of their relays.
The motive for the latest scratch, released today, was a bit less clear
Florida scratched sophomore Elese Zalewski from the meet, despite being invited in four different events. She was a member of Florida's primary 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 200 medley relay, and also received an individual invite by way of her 48.95 in the 100 free.
What's even more peculiar is that Zalewski is one of the best sprinters (behind Sara Bateman) on a team that is very thin on pure speed. This move can only be chalked-up to something more than a competitive decision. There was nothing to be risked by the Gators to simply removing her from the relays, if that were the case, as she received an individual invitation unrelated to her relay entries.
A request for information had not been responded to by posting time, but we will update if it is received.
The Gators' in-state rivals Florida State were the beneficiaries of the scratch. Sophomore Julia Henkel has been called up in the 400 IM, though that will be her only entry in the meet as she had no other B-times. (The 100 free previously had 31 entries, so the scratch resulted in a 400 IM'er being called up, as a higher-priority than the next-best 100 freestyler).