2025 NCAA Swammy Awards: Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving

2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 19-22, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center – Federal Way, Washington
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Final Results
• Live Results
• Live Recaps :Day 1 ׀ Day 2 ׀ Day 3 ׀ Day 4

Final Team Scores 

1. Virginia — 544
2. Stanford — 417
3. Texas — 394
4. Indiana — 312
5. Tennessee — 298
6. Florida — 232
7. Louisville — 209.5
8. California — 202.5
9. Michigan — 196
10. NC State — 164
11. USC — 130
12. Wisconsin — 126
13. Miami (FL) — 75.5
14. Ohio State — 66
15. Alabama — 65
16. Georgia — 58
17. UNC — 57
18. Purdue — 53
19. Arizona State — 41.5
20. Virginia Tech — 37
21. Duke — 33
22. LSU — 32
23. BYU — 29
24. South Carolina — 28
25. Kansas — 25
26. Texas A&M — 22
27. Minnesota/Pitt — 21
28. —
29. Arizona — 20
30. SIU — 17
31. Houston — 16
32. Cincinnati — 15
33. Washington State — 14
34. Nebraska — 13
35. Auburn — 10
36. Florida State — 8
37. UCLA — 7
38. Princeton/Ohio — 6
39. —
40. Arkansas — 4
41. Rutgers/Akron — 2
42. —
43. Fresno State — 1

Swimmer of the Year: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia 

For the second year in a row, Gretchen Walsh is the undisputed swimmer of the meet. This year, she was the only woman to go three-for-three in her individual events, sweeping the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, and 100 freestyle combination for the second-straight season. 

She put together one of the greatest swims in collegiate history in the 100 butterfly by breaking new ground by winning the event in 46.97, a new NCAA, American, U.S. Open, and Championship mark. It was just two years ago that Kate Douglass won a loaded 100 butterfly field with an NCAA record in 48.46; Walsh has now blown that swim away by 1.49 seconds. 

Gretchen Walsh (photo: Jack Spitser)

Walsh did not lower her 50 freestyle NCAA record to win the event, though she tied it with a 20.37 leading off Virginia’s 200 freestyle relay later that session. In the final individual NCAA event of her career, Walsh reset all the records again, this time in the 100 freestyle. She posted a 44.71, lowering her previous mark by .12 seconds. She’s a barrier breaker in this race as well; no other woman has broken 45 seconds in the 100 freestyle. 

Finally, Walsh was a member of Virginia’s four winning relays at the 2025 Women’s NCAA Division I Championships. As highlighted in our article revisiting the women’s high school recruiting class of 2021, Walsh went 16-for-16 in relays throughout her NCAA career. Out of a possible 240 individual career points, Walsh scored 231—another strong data point in her case for greatest college swimmer of all time. 

Gretchen Walsh’s Results 

• 50 freestyle: 1st, 20.49
• 100 butterfly: 1st, 46.97 NCAA Record
• 100 freestyle: 1st, 44.71 NCAA Record 
• 200 medley relay: 1st, 1:31.10 NCAA Record — 20.88 butterfly split
• 200 freestyle relay: 1st, 1:24.45 — 20.37 lead-off =NCAA Record
• 400 medley relay: 1st, 3:20.20 — 47.35 butterfly split
• 400 freestyle relay: 1st, 3:06.01 — 45.04 relay split 

Honorable Mentions: 

• Claire Curzan, Virginia — After a transfer and redshirt season, junior Claire Curzan returned to the NCAA Championships with a bang. Curzan had a disappointing summer as she did not qualify for her second Olympic team, but she began her rebound with a 200 backstroke NCAA and American record at midseason. She bettered that record in Federal Way by five-hundredths, swimming 1:46.82 for the title. She also won a close race against Bella Sims in the 100 backstroke out-touching the Gator by a hundredth with a lifetime best 49.11. Curzan placed second in the 50 freestyle as part of a Cavalier 1-2, clocking a lifetime best 21.11. 
• Torri Huske, Stanford — Like her former college teammate, Torri Huske returned to the NCAA season after a redshirt in 2023-24, culminating in her winning multiple medals at the Paris Olympics, including gold in the 100 butterfly. In her first individual NCAA Championship race since 2023, Huske beat Alex Walsh in a thrilling 200 IM battle, breaking 1:50 (1:49.67) and winning her first individual NCAA title. Huske followed up with two second-place performances, swimming 48.90 in the 100 butterfly and 46.01 in the 100 freestyle. The latter was a lifetime best that ranks her 5th all-time. Huske also swam a lifetime-best 20.92 50 freestyle leading off Stanford’s 200 free relay. 

Coach of the Year: Greg Meehan, Stanford 

The Stanford women rode a wave of momentum into the 2024-25 season. The team returned every single individual point from the 2024 NCAA Championships, plus got Huske back on the competition roster. 

Greg Meehan led the Cardinal to a strong first season in the ACC as swimmers like Aurora Roghair, Caroline Bricker, and Lucy Bell continued to reach new heights. 

Greg Meehan (photo: Jack Spitser)

The team exploded on the first night of the NCAA Championships in Federal Way, Wash., winning the 800 freestyle relay (6:46.98) with Bricker, Roghair, Lillie Nordmann, and Kayla Wilson. The win plus a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:33.00) put Stanford in a strong position heading into the individual portion of the meet and they did not look back. 

Stanford won an NCAA title on each night of the championship. After the 800 freestyle relay win on night one, Huske won the 200 IM on day two. Bricker, a sophomore, ensured both IM NCAA titles went to Stanford this season, winning the 400 IM crown ahead of Olympic medalists Emma Weyant and Katie Grimes with a lifetime best of 3:57.36. Finally, after focusing on the 200 breast this season for the first time in her career, Bell became the NCAA champion in a lifetime best 2:04.28. 

Beyond the four national titles Stanford won at the meet, it was the Cardinal’s depth that propelled them to a second-place finish in the team standings, denying the Longhorns another runner-up trophy, though Texas had been favored to defend that spot coming into the meet. Five of Meehan’s swimmers scored in the 200 IM, earning 53 points—the most scored by a single team in any event at these championships. 

Huske, Bricker, and Bell all finished inside the top 10 in high point rankings, with Roghair just outside that cutline. This core of swimmers all developed at Stanford and peaked this season, which is why Meehan earned Coach of the Year this season.

Honorable Mentions: 

• Todd DeSorbo, Virginia — No team wins five straight national championship team titles without excellent leadership. Todd DeSorbo has had a steady hand throughout this Cavalier dynasty and was recognized as the CSCAA Women’s DI Coach of the Year for the fifth straight year. This year, he helped G. Walsh and Alex Walsh close their collegiate careers on high notes, coached Curzan to an NCAA backstroke sweep, and led the Virginia women to four NCAA relay titles and multiple national records. DeSorbo will face a new challenge next season, but this year he continued to show that he excels at helping Virginia’s stars shine when the lights are bright. 
• Ray Looze, Indiana — Ray Looze stewarded the Hoosiers’ excellent outing at the 2025 Women’s NCAA Championships. The team walked away with two national titles; Anna Peplowski–who’s had an incredible development trajectory at Indiana–won the 200 freestyle and Skyler Liu the women’s platform. Following several runner-up finishes at the NCAA Championships, Peplowski won a close rematch of the Big 10 200 freestyle to win not only her first career NCAA title but the Hoosiers’ first swim title since Lilly King. The Indiana seniors were the highest-scoring class of any program at the meet, providing the backbone of Indiana’s fourth-place finish in the team race, the highest in program history, with a smaller squad than many of the teams around them.
• Matt Bowe, Michigan — In his second year as the head coach at the University of Michigan, Matt Bowe led the Wolverine women’s return to the top 10 in the NCAA standings. The team got close last season, taking 12th. This year, they got the job done thanks to excellent sprint speed and relays, with six women contributing individual points. Michigan scored 196 points throughout the four-day championships, finishing ninth overall. The Wolverines were 32 points ahead of NC State and just 6.5 points behind California for eighth. Michigan returns all but one of their individual point scorers for next season, providing an excellent springboard for them to reach further up the standings next season.

Breakout Swimmer of the Year: Caroline Bricker, Stanford 

Caroline Bricker (photo: Jack Spitser)

Bricker brought a 400 IM lifetime best of 4:02.14 into her sophomore campaign. She had a strong showing at the 2024 NCAA Championships as a freshman, taking fourth in the 400 IM and tenth in the 200 IM. Bricker arrived in Federal Way with another year of experience under her belt and a new 400 IM lifetime best (3:59.88) after breaking four minutes for the first time at the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational. 

Despite breaking that significant barrier at midseason, much of the conversation about the 400 IM centered around Olympic medalists Weyant and Grimes as they faced off at two opposite points in their NCAA careers. But Bricker quickly silenced that conversation in the final, pulling away from the field and winning her first NCAA title in 3:57.36, the ninth-fastest performance in history. 

After making one ‘A’ final in 2024, the sophomore was a three-time ‘A’ finalist this season. She took fifth in the 200 IM with a lifetime best 1:52.01, helping the Cardinal dominate the event. Bricker switched from the 200 breaststroke to the 200 butterfly this year and the move paid off for her. She took third in a lifetime best 1:51.55, touching behind the battle between Walsh and Emma Sticklen. 

Bricker was part of the Cardinal’s winning 800 freestyle relay as well, leading off with a lifetime best 1:41.73. She had a strong outing as a freshman, but this was the year that Bricker reached a new level in collegiate swimming. 

Honorable Mentions: 

• Miranda Grana, Indiana — It did not take sophomore Miranda Grana long this season to show that her move from Texas A&M to Indiana was going to work out for her. During the regular season, she quickly improved on her times from the 2024 NCAA Championships and even hit lifetime bests. Despite the early season success, she still had something left in the tank for the NCAA Championships. Grana swam lifetime bests in her three primary events and successfully pulled off the 100 fly/100 back double, placing fourth in the 100 fly (50.01) and third in the 100 back (49.62). She won the 200 backstroke ‘B’ final on the last day of the meet (1:48.73). She was Indiana’s second-highest point scorer and a key figure on relays, helping the team to a program-best fourth-place finish. 
• Jillian Cox, Texas — Often, the NCAA Championships are a meet where experience wins and the upperclassmen shine. Jillian Cox proved she’s one of the rare exceptions to this commonly held belief. Cox swept the distance events at her first NCAA Championships, swimming 4:31.58 and 15:33.54 to win the 500 and 1650 freestyle events. Neither swim hit the lifetime bests she set earlier this season. However, it didn’t matter, Cox walked away from the meet as the NCAA’s newest distance queen and the spearhead of the women’s 500 freestyle renaissance.