It’s the middle of December, and it finally feels like the holiday season is in full swing. Holiday music is on repeat in the grocery store, the festive lights are up, and my family has begun arguing—sorry, respectfully disagreeing—about what movie we’ll see in the cinema on Christmas Day.
This week, the NCAA Digest is getting in the holiday spirit. To look back on everything that’s happened over the first term of the 2024-25 season, we’re using the timeless classic “The Twelve Days of Christmas”—one number for one notable thing that’s happened in collegiate swimming this fall.
Before we dive in, a quick scheduling note. We’re in the holiday spirit, but we’ll still have one more NCAA Digest before the calendar flips to 2025, and it’s a mailbag edition! Leave any questions about this NCAA season—fun or serious—in the comments, and we’ll do our best to answer them! There will be no digest the week of Dec. 30, but we’ll be back the week after to do a reset before the second semester.
Ok, that’s all the fine print. Now, please join us in song below.
12 Program Records Army Set On Its Way To Sweeping Navy For The First Time Since 1988
One of the biggest rivalries in college sports wrote another edition into its long history early in December, as Army hosted Navy for the annual Star Meet. The Black Knights put on a dominant display, breaking 12 program records as the team swept Navy for the first time since 1988.
The Army women set five program records, kicking things off with a record in the 200 medley relay (1:39.43). Three members of that relay (Angie McKane, Sydney Braeger, and Meghan Cole) swam individual school records as well. McKane broke the decade-old 100 fly school record (52.51), her fellow freshman Braeger took down the 200 fly mark (1:58.64), and Cole reset her 50 free mark (22.52). Finally, Clara Williams swam 1:46.73 in the 200 free, breaking the school record by .15 seconds.
Army men courtesy Army West Point Athletics.
Freshman Johnny Crush led the record-breaking spree on the men’s side. He hit 44.53/1:40.28 in the 100/200 backstroke, shattering the previous program records and his lifetime bests. It was his fourth time breaking the 100 back school record this season, and he moves to 3rd/8th in the 100/200 back on the all-time mid-major rankings.
Crush led off the men’s 400 free relay in a 100 free school record of 42.55, and the Black Knights got two records for the price of one in this relay, as Crush, Ben Vorthmann, Kohen Rankin, and Thomas Hadji set a school record in the 400 free relay (2:51.54). Wes Tate (200 free, 1:34.37), Riley Groves (200 fly, 1:44.25), and Daniel Verdaloga (100 fly, 46.27) set the other individual program records while Crush, Rankin, Veraloga, and Owen Harlow opened the meet with a school record 1:23.85 in the 200 medley relay.
On the men’s side, the Army men won every event, which will surely intensify an already competitive race for the Patriot League Championship.
11 Events Where Texas Swimmers Lead The NCAA This Season
Texas has come out swinging on both the women’s and men’s sides this season. They continued to do the same at their 2024 Texas Hall of Fame Invitational, and when the dust settled after invites, they owned 11 top times (excluding converted times) in the NCAA this season.
Emma Sticklen (photo: Jack Spitser)
Jillian Cox and Emma Sticklen highlight the women’s side as they each lead two events. Cox has reset the Longhorns’ school record in the 500 freestyle multiple times this semester, clocking 4:30.68 at midseason. She also became the 10th fastest performer in the 1650 freestyle with a 15:34.66. Sticklen leads the league in the 200 fly with an SEC record of 1:49.54 and the 200 IM with a 1:52.75.
Rex Maurer, Will Modglin, and Hubert Kos lead events for the men. Maurer owns three of the league’s top times after a sensational showing at the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational, including a 4:04.45 in the 500 free (more on that later), 14:30.47 in the 1650 free, and 3:34.19 in the 400 IM. Modglin leads in the backstroke events after dipping below 44 seconds in the 100 backstroke (43.91) and swimming 1:37.84 in the 200 back. Kos leads the 200 IM in 1:40.51, and the 800 freestyle relay carries on the Longhorns’ 200 freestyle legacy in the Bowman era with a 6:09.30 to lead the league.
All in all, it was a strong showing for the Longhorns after their first midseason invite with Bowman at the helm.
10 Times The Stanford Women Have In The “Post-Invite NCAA Top Three In Each Event”
Aurora Roghair (photo: Jack Spitser)
After exceeding expectations last season, the Stanford women had a lot to be excited about heading into this season. The team returned all of its individual points from the 2024 NCAA Championships, as well as Torri Huske, fresh off an incredible performance at the Paris Olympics.
Huske has made her mark on the NCAA this season—she’s top three in the NCAA in the 50 free (3rd, 21.38), 100 free (2nd, 46.62), 100 fly (2nd, 49.24), and 200 IM (3rd, 1:52.89) but she’s far from the only Cardinal top three in an event this season. Aurora Roghair has made big improvements in the 500 free (3rd, 4:31.63) and 1650 (2nd, 15:36.43). Lillie Nordmann sits second in the 200 fly (1:53.79), while sophomores Lucy Bell and Caroline Bricker have picked up where they left off last season and continued to shine in the IMs and 200s of stroke. Finally, Stanford’s 400 free relay is third in the league with a 3:10.87.
9 Women’s Swimming Programs In The Mountain West After UC-Davis Announced Its Plan To Join
Gotta fit conference realignment in here somewhere—it’s been an unavoidable part of college sports this season. While the numbers are constantly changing as schools figure out their plans, the announcement that UC-Davis will join the Mountain West in the 2026-27 season gives the conference nine women’s swimming and diving programs.
8 Division 1 Men Sub-19 Seconds In The 50 Freestyle
Jordan Crooks (photo: Jack Spitser)
This is a benchmark we’ve been keeping track of for a couple of years now, as it helps illustrate just how fast this event has gotten at the collegiate level. During the 2022-23 season, seven men were sub-19 seconds after the midseason invites, which was a new record.
This year, eight men have accomplished the feat in a season where three men broke the barrier before November; before this year, no one had done that, as Jack Dolan held the record for the fastest 50 free before November at 19.02. And this year, there’s a mid-major swimmer on the list.
The eight men under the 19-second mark so far this season, with newly minted short-course world record holder Jordan Crooks leading the pack:
- Jordan Crooks (TENN), 18.12
- Ilya Kharun (ASU), 18.51
- Gui Santos (TENN), 18.76
- Jonny Kulow (ASU), 18.78
- Josh Liendo (FLOR), 18.80
- Quintin McCarty (NCSU), 18.91
- Jere Hribar (LSU), 18.92
- Karol Ostrowski (HI), 18.99
7 NCAA Records Not Owned By The Virginia Women
Claire Curzan (photo: Jack Spitser)
The Virginia women broke two NCAA records at the 2024 Tennessee Invitational. Gretchen Walsh reset her 100-fly record with a blistering 47.35. Then, in her first season competing collegiately for the Cavaliers, Olympian Claire Curzan broke the NCAA (and American) records in the 200 backstroke with a 1:46.87. It was a huge swim for Curzan, who missed making her second Olympic team earlier this year.
Curzan getting the record means there are only seven women’s NCAA records not owned by the Cavaliers. Yup, it’s quicker to list the records they don’t have than the ones they do.
For the record, the only ones they don’t have are the 200 free, 500 free, 1000 free, 1650 free, 100 breast, 400 IM, and 800 freestyle relay.
6 (.75) Seconds Rex Maurer Dropped From His 500 Freestyle PB In One Day At The Texas Invite
Rex Maurer (photo: Jack Spitser)
As we said earlier, Maurer—a sophomore transfer from Stanford—had himself a meet at the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational.
His best event was on the first day of the meet in the 500 freestyle. During prelims, Maurer broke 4:10 for the first time with a 4:09.45. He exploded in finals; an hour after Carson Foster broke the event’s American record in a time trial, Maurer broke Foster’s record, swimming a 4:04.45 and becoming the second-fastest performer in history.
Overall, he dropped 6.75 seconds from his lifetime best in a single day.
5 Division II NCAA Records Broken So Far This Season
courtesy MaKenna Maschino
Kirabo Namutebi got the Division II record party started pre-invites. The Uindy sophomore sliced five-hundredths off her 50 freestyle division record, bringing the mark to 22.03. Turns out, the DII swimmers were just getting started, as they got four more marks during the first week of invites.
Tampa’s Jacob Hamlin took down two at the Gamecock Invitational. He made huge drops in the 500 and 1650 freestyle to get the records; on the first night, he clocked 4:16.84 in the 500 free, breaking a record that had stood since 2016 with his second personal best of the day. On the final day of the meet, he swam 14:55.02 in the 1650 free, breaking 15 minutes for the first time to get under the old division record from 2021 by a tenth.
At altitude, Agata Naskret reset her division record in the women’s 100 backstroke. She’s the defending DII champion in the event and swam 51.96, bettering her record by .56 seconds. Finally, the Drury quartet of Ivan Adamchuk (46.24), Davi Mourao (51.99), Alejandro Villarejo (45.74), and Lucas Mineur (42.86) swam 3:06.83 in the men’s 400 medley relay. That time broke the record of 3:07.11 that McKendree swam at the 2024 DII NCAA Championships.
4 New Entries On The Mid-Major All-Time Top 10 By Mitchell Schott
Mitchell Schott (photo: Jack Spitser)
Princeton junior Mitchell Schott has been on fire so far this season. His successes started in the first meet of the season as he broke the 200 freestyle record he set last year, swimming a 1:32.78, which marked his first swim sub-1:33.
After Princeton’s Big Al Invitational ended last weekend, Schott has moved up the all-time mid-major rankings in four events. His 1:43.78 in the 200 free makes him the fourth fastest swimmer in mid-major history. He also moved up to fourth in the 200 fly (1:41.84). He’s entered the 200 IM top ten at sixth with a 1:42.84.
Schott entered invite season as the third-fastest swimmer in the NCAA in the 400 IM, and though he’s no longer in the top three, he swam a lifetime best 3:40.69 at his midseason invite, which makes him the third fastest mid-major swimmer in event history. He’s just .65 seconds from the mid-major record, which is also the Tigers’ record, as it was set at 3:40.04 by Raunak Khosla in the 2021-22 season.
The only one of these times that wouldn’t have won at the 2024 Men’s Ivy League Championships is the 1:42.84 in the 200 IM, which would’ve earned Schott second a hundredth behind Harvard’s Will Grant.
3 Times This Term Jacob Johnson Has Broken The Minnesota 200 Fly Program Record
Courtesy: Jaerid Rossi
Freshman Jacob Johnson is one of several swimmers who have broken a program record at their new school multiple times this season. Johnson arrived at Minnesota with a lifetime best faster than the program record in the 200 butterfly—his primary event. He first broke the record in a dual meet against Army with a 1:42.41, breaking Kaiser Neverman’s of 1:42.47. Three weeks later, he reset both the record and his lifetime best with a 1:41.70.
His most recent record-breaking swim came at the Minnesota Invite, where he clocked a 1:41.56, which should secure him his first NCAA Championship berth. It’s huge for Minnesota as it looks for ways to move up the NCAA standings and get some swimmers into individual event finals. Also, Minnesota did not have any ‘A’ finalists in this event at the 2024 Big Ten Championships.
2 Events Where Bowdoin Freshman Natalie Garre’s Time From The Maine College Invitational Would’ve Won at 2024 Division III NCAAs
Natalie Garre has put the rest of the women’s Division III distance scene on notice. She swam huge lifetime bests in the 500 and 1650 freestyle at the Main Collegiate Invitational, putting up swims that would’ve won at the 2024 Division III NCAAs.
Garre broke 5:00 for the first time earlier this season (4:56.78) and cut another 8.24 seconds off her lifetime best at this meet with a 4:48.54. That would’ve edged out Kenyon’s Bengisu Caymaz for the NCAA win by .11 seconds, putting Garre squarely in the medal conversation for this coming March.
The 16:31.90 she swam in the 1650 freestyle—which seems to be her first official time swimming the event—would’ve won by an even bigger margin. Caymaz won the 2024 title in 16:34.67, which means that had Garre swum this time at last season’s NCAAs, she would’ve won by a margin of 2.77 seconds.
1 Cal Record For Freshman Sprinter Mary-Ambre Moluh
Courtesy: Jaerid Rossi
French freshman Mary-Ambre Moluh has been strong all season. But she exploded at the Minnesota Invitational, and her best swim was in the women’s 100 backstroke, where she swam a 49.68, becoming the fourth-fastest freshman in NCAA history and breaking the Cal school record.
Yes, that’s right—Moluh is in her first season at Cal, also known as backstroke university—and already owns the school record. Some legendary names are on that all-time top ten list, including Natalie Coughlin, Rachel Bootsma, and Elizabeth Pelton. Moluh shaved .12 seconds off Kathleen Baker’s program record of 49.80 from 2017, and it feels like she’s only getting started.
Cute. Well played.
Was it a main meet or a Maine meet?