2025 NCAA Women’s Championships: Day 3 Relay Analysis – 56.3 Breast and 47.3 Fly for Walshes

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)
• Start Times: Prelims: 10 AM ׀ Finals: 6 PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
• Meet Central
• Official Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Live Recaps :Day 1 ׀ Day 2 ׀ Day 3

Women’s 400 Yard Medley Relay – Finals

• NCAA Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch), 2025
• Championship Record: 3:21.01 – Virginia (Walsh, Nocentini, Walsh, Parker), 2024
• American Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch), 2025
• S. Open Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch), 2025
• 2024 Champion: Virginia (Walsh, Nocentini, Walsh, Parker) – 3:21.01

Podium:

1. Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch) – 3:20.20 (Meet Record)
2. Tennessee (Fuller, McSharry, Stotler, Spink) – 3:24.99
3. Florida (Sims, Bottazzo Peoples, Cronk) – 3:25.18
4. Indiana (DeWitt, Crawford, Grana, Paegle) – 3:25.83
5. Texas (Bray, Enge, Sticklen, Nesty) – 3:26.11
6. Stanford (Parkhe, Thomas, Huske, Nordmann) – 3:26.34
7. USC (Famous, Dobler, Sasseville, Abraham) – 3:26.82
8. Louisville (Murray, Cheatwood, Welch, Dennis) – 3:27.76

Virginia’s Claire Curzan (49.63), Alex Walsh (56.37), Gretchen Walsh (47.35), and Anna Moesch (46.85) lowered their own meet record with 3:20.20, but were .62 off the NCAA, American, and U.S. Open records that they set earlier in the year with 3:19.58. The relay began with a rematch of the 100 back final, with Curzan trading stroke for stroke with Florida’s Bella Sims. After a thrilling finish that saw Curzan touch out Sims by .01 with 49.11, it was Sims who eked it out in the relay leadoff, 49.54 to 49.63. Alex Walsh led the breaststrokers by a full second with 56.37, handing off to her sister with a .90 lead over Florida. Gretchen extended the Virginia advantage to 4.2 seconds. Moesch brought it home for a victory margin of 4.79 seconds.

Backstroke Leg

While Sims and Curzan were the only 49s, the next-fastest lead-off (50.21) belonged to Tennessee’s Josephine Fuller, who had won the consolation final in the 100 back with 50.28. Cal’s Isabelle Stadden (50.48) and Mya Dewitt of Indiana (50.79) were also under 51 seconds. Stadden was 10th in the individual final behind Fuller; Dewitt placed 14th.

NOTE:
*The Duke and Auburn relays were disqualified for early takeoffs on the 4th leg.
**Disqualified swimmers.

Breaststroke Leg

After Alex Walsh’s 56.37, Tennessee’s Mona McSharry and Florida’s Anita Bottazzo both split 57.3s. Earlier in the session, McSharry placed second behind Walsh in the 100 breast final, going 57.41. Bottazzo went 57.84 and won the consolation final. USC’s Kaitlyn Dobler (57.67) and Duke’s Kaelyn Gridley (57.97) also broke 58 seconds. Eight more breaststrokers went under 59: Lucy Thomas (Stanford), Brearna Crawford (Indiana), Piper Enge (Texas), Iza Adame (Arizona State), Ava DeAngelis (Ohio State), Letitia Sim (Michigan), Maddy Huggins (Florida State), and Avery Wiseman (Alabama).

NOTE:
*The Duke and Auburn relays were disqualified for early takeoffs on the 4th leg.
**Disqualified swimmers.

Butterfly Leg

Gretchen Walsh split the third-fastest 100 fly leg in NCAA history, behind two of her previous performances (47.00 and 47.15). Stanford’s Torri Huske, runner-up in the 100 fly final, posted the only other sub-49 split with 48.71.

With Texas and Stanford in a protracted battle for second place in the team standings, Emma Sticklen’s 49.17 was a big split for the Longhorns; it was just enough to hold off Huske and give Texas a slight advantage on the Cardinal heading into the fourth leg. Both Miranda Grana of Indiana (49.62) and NC State’s Leah Shackley (49.96) were under 50 seconds. Grana finished fourth in the 100 fly final; Shackley won the consolation and was ninth.

Phoebe Bacon (Wisconsin), Ella Welch (Louisville), Olivia Peoples (Florida), and Sophie Yendell (Pitt) all broke 51.

NOTE:
*The Duke and Auburn relays were disqualified for early takeoffs on the 4th leg.
**Disqualified swimmers.

Freestyle Leg

Julia Dennis anchored the Louisville relay in 46.39, touching out Cal to give the Cardinals a second-place finish behind USC in heat 3. When Duke and Auburn were disqualified, Louisville moved into the top-8. In the next heat, Camille Spink’s 46.45 pulled Tennessee past Florida in the final heat.

Minna Abraham of USC (46.54), Lindsay Flynn of Michigan (46.82), and Virginia’s Moesch (46.85) also anchored in sub-47s. There were 17 swimmers faster than 48 seconds.

NOTE:
*The Duke and Auburn relays were disqualified for early takeoffs on the 4th leg.
**Disqualified swimmers.