2025 W. NCAA Previews: Curzan’s The Favorite In A Loaded 200 Backstroke Field

2025 Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 19-22, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center — Federal Way, Washington
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Official Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Live Stream

Women’s 200 Backstroke – By The Numbers: 

• NCAA Record: 1:46.87 – Claire Curzan, Virginia (2024)
• American Record: 1:46.87 – Claire Curzan, Virginia (2024)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:46.87 – Claire Curzan, Virginia (2024)
• Championship Record: 1:47.24 – Beata Nelson, Wisconsin (2019)
• 2024 Champion: Phoebe Bacon, Wisconsin – 1:48.23

Battle of the Last Two NCAA Champions 

After a one-year absence from the NCAA, Claire Curzan returned with a bang. She took down the NCAA and American records in the 200 backstroke with a 1:46.87, nabbing one of the few NCAA records not owned by a Virginia swimmer. It was the first time either record dipped below 1:47, as Beata Nelson held the NCAA record at 1:47.24 and Regan Smith the American record at 1:47.19. Both those records were swum in 2019. 

Not only did the swim announce Curzan’s presence on the NCAA scene, but it was also a triumphant moment for her after she missed making her second Olympic team over the summer. It seems like something has clicked for Curzan this season as she’s swum lifetime bests in multiple events, including the 200 backstroke and 50 freestyle. 

Her 1:46.87 effort in the 200 backstroke makes her the clear favorite in the race, as she ranks 1.41 seconds faster than the second-fastest NCAA qualifier. 

Curzan is searching for her second 200 backstroke NCAA title after winning the event as a freshman. The other returning champion in the field is Phoebe Bacon, who won her second 200 backstroke title last season with a lifetime best of 1:48.23. Bacon is a fifth-year and this will be her last individual event at her final NCAA Championships. 

The two-time Olympian has been remarkably consistent in this event over her collegiate career. She’s never finished lower than second place in her four years, winning the event in 2021 and 2024 and earning silver in 2022 and 2023. Historically, she hasn’t shown her cards during the regular season. But, she’s already been within .52-seconds of her lifetime best this season as she won her Big Ten title in 1:48.75. 

Between Curzan’s NCAA record of 1:46.87 and her ACC title-winning 1:47.38, it’s clear that if anyone wants to beat the Cavalier, they will need to swim a lifetime best to do so. Curzan is the swimmer to beat and based on her in-season swims, she may win by a significant margin. However, it would be incorrect to call this a weak field; even if Curzan swims away there should be a tight race for the rest of the placements in the ‘A’ final.

The Entire 2024 ‘A’ Final Returns 

Partly, that’s because the entire ‘A’ final from last season returns. Bacon is the defending NCAA champion, but sophomore Bella Sims has been the fastest of the returning eight championship finalists this season, clocking a lifetime best of 1:48.28 at the SEC Championships. Like Curzan, Sims missed her second Olympic Games but has had a successful 2024-25 NCAA season. Her backstroke has looked particularly strong; in addition to her 200 back best, she became the third woman to break 49 seconds with a 48.97. 

Sims’ new best is just five-hundredths off Bacon’s best, putting pressure on the defending NCAA champion as she aims to maintain her streak of top-two finishes. 

This will also be the final individual NCAA Championship event for fifth-year Isabelle Stadden and senior Josephine Fuller. The two are fifth and sixth on the psych sheet, with Stadden sneaking under the 1:50 barrier with a 1:49.96 from the Cal vs. USC dual meet. That’s the only time she’s been under 1:50 this season, but it follows last season’s trajectory, where she broke the barrier at a second-semester dual meet, missed the mark at Pac-12s, and then finished fourth at NCAAs in 1:49.19. She owns a lifetime best of 1:48.75. 

Fuller broke 1:50 for the first time last season (1:49.57) and has been as fast as 1:50.14 this season. She finished second at SECs this season behind Sims and has been on a strong improvement curve for the last two seasons. 

Two other major names to watch for are Miranda Grana and Kennedy Noble. The sophomore Grana has seen major improvements in multiple events since she transferred to Indiana, including in the 200 backstroke. She clocked a lifetime best 1:50.50 at the Indiana vs. Texas dual in the fall. Then, she was just a hundredth off that mark for silver at the Big Ten Championships, which suggests she could have a big swim in store for NCAAs once she’s fully rested. 

Noble is part of a strong 200 backstroke group for NC State–more on the rest in a minute–and has shaken up both the NCAA and national backstroke scene since her breakout in the summer of 2023. She’s outside of ‘A’ final position on the psych sheet (11th, 1:51.22) but watch for her to move up in prelims. Her lifetime best 1:48.43 would easily project as a top eight time. 

The other two returning ‘A’ finalists, Catie Choate and Caroline Bentz, are on the bubble of earning a second swim as they are seeded 15th and 17th on the psych sheet. They’re both capable of moving up but will need to be strong in the morning. Notably, Florida and Tennessee were in a tight race for second place at SECs and will both be fighting for a top-five finish in Federal Way. Florida was the only program to have two ‘A’ finalists in this event last year and that could boost the Gators ahead of the Volunteers. 

Freshman Factor 

The Wolfpack doesn’t have the same sprint freestyle depth they’ve had over the past couple of seasons, but they’ve significantly deepened their backstroke group with the arrivals of Leah Shackley and Erika Pelaez. 

The pair are both seeded to make the 200 backstroke  ‘A’ final at their debut NCAA Championships, with Shackley sitting third on the psych sheet after swimming her second lifetime best of the season with a 1:48.73. She improved from the 1:49.71 she swam at midseason by .98 seconds and put herself in position to play spoiler to some of the older athletes in the field. 

Pelaez has also seen improvements in her 200 backstroke during her first season with the Wolfpack. She arrived on campus with a lifetime best 1:51.54, which she’s brought down to a 1:50.56 after breaking 1:51 for the first time during a first-term dual meet. It will be a tough ask for Noble, Shackley, and Pelaez to all make the ‘A’ final but regardless, this will be one of NC State’s strongest events at the meet. 

Another freshman to consider is Wisconsin’s Maggie Wanezek. She’s seeded 9th after clocking a lifetime best 1:50.56 at the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational. She was off that mark at Big Tens, though she did finish fifth. The Badgers are in a position to have a strong NCAA showing and Wanezek is a big part of that push. Putting her and Bacon both in the ‘A’ final would go a long way for Wisconsin. 

SwimSwam Picks

Dark Horse: Carmen Weiler Sastre, Virginia Tech — Dark Horse can mean a lot of different things. Sometimes, we use this space to pick a surprise winner or maybe a surprise finalist. Virginia Tech junior Carmen Weiler Sastre wouldn’t be a surprise finalist, but she’s made such big improvements in backstroke this season that it’s hard to put a cap on how far up the ranks she’ll climb at NCAAs. She didn’t even race this event at the 2024 NCAA Championships, focusing instead on the 50/100/200 freestyle. Now, in a strong 200 backstroke field, she’s made herself a strong candidate to pull an upset and make the ‘A’ final.