Nearly six months after the 2023-24 campaign came to a close with the Arizona State men being crowned national champions, the next season of college swimming has arrived.
The 2024-25 season has already gotten underway with a sprinkling of meets earlier this month, and will see the first national contender competing on Friday with the annual King and Queen of the Pool pentathlon hosted by Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. The competition features the Mustangs racing alongside one of the best teams in the nation, the Cal Golden Bears.
The one-day meet will see the athletes race the 100 fly, back, breast, free and IM, and the swimmer with the fastest combined time from each school will be crowned Queen and King of the Pool.
Last season, Summer Cheng and Sean Keegan were Cal Poly’s Queen and Kings of the Pool, while Isabelle Stadden and Destin Lasco won the awards for the Golden Bears. Cheng, Stadden and Lasco will all be back defending their titles this season.
Join us Friday as we kick off 2024-25 with the annual King and Queen of the Pool! #RideHighhttps://t.co/gt5Zz52iIH
— Cal Poly Swimming & Diving (@CPSwimDive) September 18, 2024
The 2024-25 NCAA season promises to be an exciting one. Although college swimming loses arguably the best male swimmer it has ever seen in Leon Marchand, things are more unpredictable than ever on the men’s side with the seismic changes we’ve seen in the aftermath of Bob Bowman‘s move to coach the Texas Longhorns.
The women’s side is more predictable, but it could be a history-making year with Virginia favored to five-peat as NCAA champions. If they pull it off, the Cavaliers would be the first women’s team to run the table for five straight seasons since Stanford did it from 1992 until 1996.
Additionally, the record books will most likely be rewritten once again by Gretchen Walsh, who, along with Marchand, has reset numerous all-time marks over the last two seasons.
A full slate of dual meets will be underway next weekend (Sept. 27-29) after the appetizer on Friday at Cal Poly.
Friday’s meet is scheduled to have diving begin at 10 a.m. and swimming at 12 p.m. PT.
Technically first meet was Oakland vs. Wayne State on 9/12/24, and then the All Arkansas Invite on 9/14/24