2025 W. NCAA Previews: With A Chorus Full of Options in the Medleys, UVA Looks for the Sweep

2025 Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 19-22, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center — Federal Way, Washington
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WOMEN’S 200 Medley Relay– By The Numbers

• NCAA Record: 1:31.51 – Virginia (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass) 2023
• U.S. Open Record: 1:31.51 – Virginia (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass) 2023
• American Record: 1:31.51 – Virginia (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass) 2023
• 2024 NCAA Champion: 1:31.58 – Virginia (G. Walsh, J. Nocentini, C. Novelline, M. Parker)

Last year, Ohio State entered as the #1 seed in this event and on paper seemed to have the best chance to upend Virginia’s chances of a relay sweep, an achievement that went to Florida in the very next event. The Big Ten program did drop .38 off their seed time of 1:33.47. Still, their result of 1:33.09 could do nothing against the power of UVA as the quartet of Gretchen Walsh, Jasmine Nocentini, Carly Novelline, and Maxine Parker dropped 2.11 seconds from their seed time to win the event in 1:31.58, just .08 shy of breaking their own NCAA record from 2023.

UVA lost Nocentini, but return all of their other legs. It is a loss that will hurt as Nocentini would go on to win the 100 breaststroke two days later, but the UVA machine keeps on recruiting and improving swimmers to jump into these relays. From 2023 to 2024, the Cavaliers lost both Lexi Cuomo and Kate Douglass, but still managed to be within a tenth of their best time, so in losing Nocentini, the Cavaliers seem to be in a better position this year then they were two years ago as they can call upon either the top seed in the 100 breaststroke, Alex Walsh or the #10 seed and 2024 US Olympian Emma Weber.

Relay Carousel

It is good to know you have options, but Todd DeSorbo and his staff seem to have them in spades, which sometimes can make things more confusing than they need be. With the limit on the number of relays one can enter, UVA has a bit of a puzzle on their hands to figure out what configuration works best for them.

G. Walsh’s statement at ACCs, where she said that her participation in the 800 free relay would be her one 200 free of the year, helps clear things up as she would be automatically on this relay. However, her sprinting abilities are such that Walsh would be the top seed in every event 100 yards long, except for the breaststroke, where she would be only the #2 seed, by just .01.

At the 2025 Virginia Sprint Olympics, Walsh’s aggregate time across the four 50s was 1:32.54, a time that would have placed 2nd at last year’s NCAAs, and while the races were spread out, affording some rest between the 50s, there were no relay starts to bring down the reaction times, so Walsh individually could challenge the relay record. While the prospects of seeing a race where each swimmer swims the medley relay but has to climb out and dive in again would be interesting, it’s rather moot to the point of this article.

World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024
02 – 18 Feb 2024
Credit Fabio Cetti

This season, Walsh ripped the fastest 50 fly split of all time, going from 21.50 to 20.87 at a dual meet against in-state rivals Virginia Tech, but she is also the fastest 50-yard backstroker of all time, recording a time of 22.10 last year. With the arrival of the reigning long course World Champion across all three backstroke distances, Claire Curzan, Walsh seems to have shifted her focus more to the fly, which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as she is the Long Course WR holder.

On that relay, where G. Walsh split 20.87, Curzan led off in 23.25, but she has been as fast as 23.11, doing so at the Eddie Reese Invite. Curzan, like Walsh, was held off this relay at ACCs and instead swam the anchor leg on the 800 Free Relay, posting a flying start of 1:40.89.

Curzan has been more tight-lipped on her potential relay swims than G. Walsh was. If she remains on the 800, then the backstroke duty would likely fall to Tess Howley, who has a season best of 24.34 in the 50 back. G. Walsh too, could move to the backstroke leg, leaving Novelline to the fly leg. Novelline had the 3rd fastest 50 fly at their Sprint Olympics, going 23.69, behind only Walsh and Weber.

Curzan’s availability isn’t the only one in question, as Alex Walsh also eschewed the 200 Medley Relay in favor of the 800 Free Relay at ACCs. The older Walsh sister, who was a member of the World Record Setting 4×200 free relay in Budapest, was 1:41.87 on the second leg at ACCs. While Walsh, like her sister, has the versatility to swim any stroke, if she swims this relay likely will fill the breaststroke spot, having split 26.08 at the Virginia Tech dual and then going 25.89 at the Eddie Reese Texas Showdown. If she opts out of this relay and stays on the 800 free, Olympic teammate Weber likely would get the nod. She split 26.46 at ACCs on the relay and is the fastest 100 swimmer for the Cavaliers this season, not named Walsh.

TEXAS!

It seems somewhat fitting that the three-time runner-ups to Virgina, Texas, should be right behind them in the relays as well. It wasn’t always the case as last year, they were seeded just 5th and fumbled a little in the timed final, adding .60 and dropping one place.

Abby Arens (photo: Jack Spitser)

This year, Texas looks to be going with a revamped lineup with no swimmers returning to their same legs from last year. At SECs, their first year in the conference, the Longhorns set a new Conference record of 1:33.84. They used Sticklen, the 100 fly SEC champion on the backstroke leg, where she split 23.38 and replaced her with NC State grad transfer Abby Arens. Arens bounced around the medley relays while at her former school, swimming the breast, fly, and free legs on their medley relays at NCAAs. With Piper Enge holding down the breaststroke leg, it looks like Arens will remain on the fly leg as their freestyler, Grace Cooper, was the bronze medalist in the 50 at SECs.

None of Texas’s medley swimmers really factor into their 800 free relay so they avoid the issues run into by UVA, and while their relay order is likely set and their time of 1:33.84 affords them the #2 seed, their are a few schools not far behind them that could make some changes and challenge for that silver.

South [east] Pacific [former]

At ACCs, the former PAC-12 programs, Stanford and Cal, placed first and second in times of 1:34.05 and 1:34.34, which rank them as the #3 and #4 seeds in the event. Stanford opted to use Torri Huske on both the 200 Medley and 800 free, which occur in the same session, and we will have to wait and see if they choose to do the same at NCAAs.

At ACCs, Huske anchored the relay in 20.60, leaving the fly duties to Gigi Johnson. Johnson, a junior, split 22.97. While she and Huske switched roles at their mid-season meet, Johnson did swim the fly leg when Huske was red-shirting, going 22.63 last year at NCAAs. Stanford placed 8th last year but likely will improve with or without the inclusion of Huske. Lucy Thomas has already been a tenth faster this year than she was last year on the breast leg, and first-year Levenia Sim‘s 24.17 on the backstroke leg at ACCs is an upgrade on the 24.83 from the more distance-orientated Natalie Mannion, who was 24.83 last year.

Rivals, Cal placed 4th last year, but like Texas added time at NCAA, going 1:34.55 in the finals against a seed time of 1:33.89. Due to graduations, new swimmers, and improvements, Cal has shown a very different lineup this year. At ACCs, only Isabelle Stadden retained her relay spot from the 2024 NCAA team. In Greensboro, Stadden was 23.61, just .03 slower than she was at NCAAs. Isreali Olympian Lea Polonsky took on the breaststroke duties, splitting 26.44, the 3rd fastest in the field. Cal was brought home by Mckenna Stone (22.91) and Mary-Ambre Moluh (21.38), both of whom were faster than their counterparts from the 2024 NCAAs.

While the Cal/Stanford rivalry is well documented, the SEC too has its share of rivals, and with less than .10 separating Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama in the psych sheets, one should be warned. Each school was just around half a second slower than the interloping Texas and will look to regain dominance over their SEC rivals.

Olivia Peoples (courtesy: Florida Athletics)

Florida finished 3rd last year in the event, buoyed by the strong splits of Olivia Peoples (22.42) and Micayla Cronk (21.35) on the backhalf. This year at SECs, Peoples was a tenth of a second faster, while Cronk, who had a rough meet, was .3 off. Their time at SECs of 1:34.34 placed 3rd behind Texas and Tennessee, and while the time is just .04 off their time from NCAAs, it ranks just 7th this year. Italian breaststroker Anita Bottazzo‘s 26.00 split at ACCs is a strong improvement from last year, but Catie Choate‘s 24.36 is not a strong enough start to get Florida back into the top 3. They could use Bella Sims, who has been as fast as 23.68 this season, but that would preclude her from another relay.

Tennesse finished 5th last year at NCAAs, recording a time of 1:34.64, but looks to be in good shape this year as they have already eclipsed that time this season, going 1:34.27 to finish runner-up at SECs. Their backstroke and butterfly legs from last year to this year remain the same, but the Lady Vols made the unusual move of sliding their breaststroker to the freestyle leg. Last year, Mona McSharry split 25.68 at NCAA, but at SEC’s, it made way for McKenzie Siroky, who split an equal time of 25.68. McSharry, now anchoring split 21.85, an improvement upon their anchor, Amber Meyers’, split of 22.02 from NCAAs.

Tennessee likely will save their best freestyler, Camille Spink, for the other relays, but they could sub in back Meyers, who split 21.76 on their 200 free relay at SECs, or use Jillian Crooks, who was 21.50 on the same relay.

Alabama was just .02 behind Florida, finishing 4th at the most recent SEC Championships. Their time of 1:34.36 is a massive upgrade from the 1:36.18 that earned them 16th at NCAAs and is still a strong improvement upon their 1:35.32 entry time from last year. Much of that difference can be chalked up to sophomore Cadance Vincent. At NCAAs last season, she anchored in 21.95, but 11 months later, at SEC, she came home in a blazing 21.27.

Once

Hoping that their performances from last year were just a one-time thing, the teams of NC State (#5), Michigan (#9), Indiana (#10), and Louisville (#11) are hoping for a reversal of their fortunes. All four of the teams added time from their season best at NCAAs, with NC State particularly affected as they were disqualified for an early start after posting a time that would have finished 3rd overall.

NC State finished 5th (1:35.22) at ACCs, which is not a good sign as they added close to a second from their season best of 1:34.26. That said, however, NC State did not use their best backstroker, Erika Pelaez. The first year split 23.41 on the medley relay at a duel meet against UNC, but at ACCs was replaced by Kennedy Noble, who was 24.15, Noble, a junior, led off the NCAA relay last year in 23.58, so if she can get back down into the 23 mids, Pelaez’s absence may not be noticed too much.

Michigan and Indiana, the two highest-ranked Big Ten programs, sit just outside the podium in 9th and 10th. The pair, using their times from their conference championships, are separated by just a tenth of a second in the psych sheet. Indiana had the lead at Big Tens through the end of the butterfly, but Michigan senior Lindsay Flynn‘s anchor of 21.03 was enough to run down the Hoosiers and take the win in a time of 1:34.42. Each of the schools’ entry times is faster than they were last year, but not only do they need to fend with each other, but they also need to hold off Louisville, who is seeded behind them but finished ahead of them last year.

Louisville, the 3rd place finisher at ACCs this year, is just .10 off their time from last year, but like the schools mentioned above, athey dded time at NCAAs, as they were entered with a 1:35.37 but finished with a result of 1:35.45. The Cardinals had an entirely new quartet aside from Gabi Albiero, who moved from the freestyle leg to the fly leg. Her leg of 22.67 and Julia Dennis‘s 20.87 at ACCs put them into a good position, but the 24.26 backstroke leg by Abigail Karl leaves something to be desired.

It seems odd not to mention Ohio State this year, after having been the runner-up last year, but with the graduation of Hannah Bach, OSU has perhaps too much of a gap to fill. Bach split 25.68, tying for the fastest split at NCAAs. At Big Tens, OSU called upon Brearna Crawford to pick up the mantle, where she split a respectable but not fast enough 26.86. They also appear to be without Kit Kat Zenick, who started her fifth year with the Buckeyes but hasn’t recorded a swim since mid-November. Zenick was 22.33 at NCAAs, but without her OSU turned to Paige Hall, who split 23.40 at Big Tens.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse: USC (T-16th 1:35.13) – Last year’s 7th place finishing team, USC, returns three likely swimmers with Caroline Famous and Kaitlyn Dobler retaining their spots on the front of the relay. Minna Abraham, who anchored at NCAAs with a 21.80, slid over to the fly leg at Big Tens, going 22.90. Taking her place on the free leg was Vasilissa Buinaia, who anchored in 21.59. It’s not as if USC can’t make it back into the top 8, but with so many teams ahead of them, they will be hard-pressed to find the room to do so, especially considering that last year they had a seed time of 1:34.07. 

Women’s 400 Medley Relay

• NCAA Record: 3:19.58– Virginia (C. Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, A. Moesch) 2025
• U.S. Open Record: 3:19.58– Virginia (C. Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, A. Moesch) 2025
• American Record: 3:19.58– Virginia (C. Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, A. Moesch) 2025
• 2024 NCAA Champion: 3:21.01 – Virginia (G. Walsh, J. Nocentini, A. Walsh, M. Parker)

Ibid, See Above, Scroll Up.

While many of the same swimmers will carry over from the 200 medley to the 400 medley, and many of the same teams carry over with a similar seeding, the events aren’t actually that similar. While the distance is just doubled, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the time difference between the teams is doubled. Sometimes its closer to tripled

Dreamgirls

UVA is the top seed in both events and has a gap of 2.31 seconds over Texas in the shorter of the two relays. In the 400 Medley, the Cavaliers find themselves the top seed by a whopping 5.2 seconds, which is nearly half a pool length if one is swimming freestyle.

There is a saying that nothing new is original, and sadly, what was written about UVA’s dominance in this event carries over, so much so that I’ll just copy and paste what was written last year.

UVA’s dominance in this event is unquestionable. They are the two-time [now three time] defending champs in the event and the only team to have ever been under 3:23, let alone 3:22. They are also the only team that has had multiple relays where three legs have been under 50.00. Stanford appears to have done it once: in the 2023 Pac-12, where Claire Curzan [who now swims for the Cavaliers] went 49.26, Torri Huske went 49.74, and Taylor Ruck went 46.85. NC State has been close, but I couldn’t find a time when both Berkoff and Kylee Alons were under 50 at the same time.

UVA did so at least twice in 2022 when they set the American Record, and then again last year twice, and again this year at ACCs, where they swam 3:22.49, just .10 off their winning time from last year.

They did so again at NCAAs, breaking the NCAA record with a time of 3:21.01. This year, they did the unthinkable, bypassing 3:20 completely and setting a new Everything Record (Trademark pending (joking)) of 3:19.58. What’s even scarier than that is the fact that A. Walsh was 57.05 with a flying start but has a personal best of 56.85 and has already been 56.67 on a relay this season,  meaning that they could be faster than that.

Orange Girl(s)

While UVA has a seemingly infinitesimal chance of not winning this relay, early exchanges and 15-meter violations could still occur, and besides those, every team behind them will be looking for any and every chance to move up and score more points for their team.

Bella Sims (photo: Jack Spitser)

The next three teams all hail from the SEC, with Florida foremost among them. Whereas the Gators found themselves further down the psych sheet in the 200 Medley, they look to defend their second billing. At SECs, Florida used Bella Sims, who was absent on the 200 medley relay, to get their team off to a flying start as the sophomore became just the 3rd swimmer to break the 49-second barrier in the 100 back. Sims was joined on their SEC winning squad by Bottazzo, Olivia Peoples, and Cronk. They beat out Tennessee by .4 of a second as they recorded a time 3:24.78, taking down the SEC record set by Tennessee last year.

Tennessee returned all of its swimmers from last year’s NCAA team. At that meet, despite adding .47 to their seed time, they still managed to earn a top-three finish, hitting the wall in 3:25.39. This year, the same foursome posted a time of 3:25.18. Freestyler Camille Spink didn’t swim the 200 Medley relay at SECs, but her addition to this longer version of the Medleys is a must, as her season-best time in the 100, 46.25, is the fastest on the team by over a second.

Texas, who beat out both Florida and Tennessee for the SEC title, wound up DQing this relay at SECs. Much like on the 200 medley, the Longhorns’ lack of a star backstroker pushes them to use Sticklen on the first leg. However, Campbell Stoll is more than an adequate replacement on the fly leg as she split 50.25 at SECs, the fastest split in the field. Their relay’s time, although void, added up to 3:26.54, which is, in fact, slower than their entry time of 3:25.49, although that time may be composite, as at mid-season they were 3:27.12.

Anything Goes

After that second grouping of teams, the psych sheet follows a similar pattern where the next set of three teams, Indiana, Stanford, and NC State are all tightly bunched together with entry times separated by under half a second. Indiana leads the pack but finished the worst of them last year, settling for 15th place in a time of 3:29.65.

This year, the Hoosiers enter with a 3:26.64, thanks in part to Miranda Grana. A junior who transferred this season from Texas A&M, takes over the fly duties from Anna Peplowski. Last year, Peplowski split 52.46, but Grana’s 49.83 easily moves IU into the Top 8 and frees up Peplowski to concentrate on the free leg.

Stanford, too, has seen a massive drop from last year, and much of that comes in the fly leg as well. Torri Huske, as mentioned above, returned from her red-shirt year and instantly brought the Stanford Cardinal back to the tops of the field. Her 48.22 fly split was second only to Gretchen Walsh‘s 47.00 and is a massive improvement upon their flyer’s 50.87 from the 2024 NCAAs.

Despite losing two of their legs from last year’s 6th place relay, including the 2nd fastest 100 backstroker ever, Katharine Berkoff, NC State is still seeded faster than their time from last year entering these championships with a time of 3:27.08. Like IU, NC State is a back-half powerhouse with first-year’s Leah Shackley and Pelaez forming a formidable pair.

Eighth Place of Horrors

If the top seven seeds remain in their place, then the last spot upon that podium will be decided in a contentious fight. Sitting in 8th is Wisconsin at 3:28.51, but Louisville and USC are close behind at 3:28.82 and 3:28.85. Of the three, Wisconsin finished worst last year, placing 18th and recording a time of 3:30.65. Louisville was just off the podium, finishing 9th in 3:29.11, and USC claimed 5th in 3:25.76.

Phoebe Bacon (photo: Jack Spitser)

Each team has one star swimmer, as Wisconsin has Phoebe Bacon, an Olympic backstroke, but in an opposite move to Sticklen took over the fly duties at Big Tens. Louisville was 3:30.73, but like Texas may have entered the meet with a composite time. At ACCs, Dennis anchored her team in 46.53. Last year, USC used Abraham on the free leg, but she was absent from the relay at Big Tens, so the Trojans may have to rely upon Kaitlyn Dobler to help USC get things going. Of the three, only USC has been slower this year.

Duke and California finished 7th and 8th, respectively, last year, but each has had some roster turnover. From NCAAs last year to ACCs this year, Duke returns just their backstroker and breaststroke, whereas Cal only kept fifth-year Isabelle Stadden on the backstroke leg. The two schools find themselves this year seeded 15th and 12th overall. Cal looks to have the higher upside of the two as Stadden has been nearly a second faster than she was on their relay at ACCs and Margaux MacDonald, went a new PB of 59.50 at a last chance meet, making her the fastest 100 breaststroker on the team.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse: Michigan (11th – 3:29.05) – Its a bit of a cop out to pick a team that DQed at their conference meet to break into the top 8, but Michigan’s time, had they not jumped early would have been 3:28.53, which is half a second faster than their present seed time and would rank them 9th instead. Michigan placed 16th last year and returned three of its legs from last year, so the only change from last year is Letita Sim, although it’s a big one as she brings the breaststroke split from a 1:00 to under 59.