2025 Women’s Big Ten Championships
- Dates: Wednesday, February 19 – Saturday, February 22
- Location: McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Columbus, OH
- Teams: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
- Defending champions: Indiana (1x)
- Championship Central
- Live Results
- Live Video: B1G+
With the NCAA Swimming and Diving championship season upon us, athletes around the country are preparing to put their best foot forward in an effort to stand atop the podium. 2025 is the first year we see conference realignment take full effect, and these conference championship meets are now harder and more competitive than ever. The addition of USC and UCLA this year is sure to bolster the level of competition in the Big Ten. Diving is already notoriously difficult to predict, but the hope is that this article will give viewers a few key standouts to look out for and a good idea of what to expect this week.
Women’s 1 Meter Picks
- Lena Hentschel – Ohio State
- Elna Widerstrom – Minnesota
- Avery Worobel – Purdue
- Paola Pineda – Ohio State
- Viviana Del Angel – Minnesota
- Lily Witte – Indiana
- Ella Roselli – Indiana
- Daryn Wright – Purdue
Other Contenders: Katerina Hoffman (Rutgers), Skyler Liu (Indiana), Sophia McAfee (Purdue), Kiarra Milligan (Michigan)
The Big Ten is so competitive, I had a really hard time just picking the top eight for this event. The one-meter in particular was difficult to rank because any diver in the final really could win the title if they put together a good list. My choice to take the top spot right now is Ohio State’s Lena Hentschel because she is the reigning champion and is one of the few divers in this field to take a risk and go for the higher-difficulty dives.
Women’s 3 Meter Picks
- Viviana Del Angel – Minnesota
- Sophia McAfee – Purdue
- Paola Pineda – Ohio State
- Elna Widerstrom – Minnesota
- Daryn Wright – Purdue
- Kiarra Milligan – Michigan
- Skyler Liu – Indiana
- Avery Worobel – Purdue
Other Contenders: Lena Hentschel (Ohio State), Katerina Hoffman (Rutgers), Ella Roselli (Indiana), Lily Witte (Indiana)
Similar to how the one-meter event is, the three meter is anyone’s game in the final. This event has more differentiation in terms of difficulty than the one meter, with more divers taking the risk to go for the harder dives. However, dives with higher difficulty still have to be executed well to score high. For my top two, I chose Viviana Del Angel of Minnesota and Sophia McAfee of Purdue. Del Angel has the edge in terms of difficulty and she’s an extremely powerful and fast-twitched diver. McAfee has the easier list of the two, but her execution is spot on and she’s extremely consistent. I’d give the slight edge to Del Angel, but McAfee will be ready to capitalize if her competitors falter.
Women’s Platform Picks
- Daryn Wright – Purdue
- Viviana Del Angel – Minnesota
- Kate Miller – USC
- Sophia McAfee – Purdue
- Skyler Liu – Indiana
- Eden Cheng – UCLA
- Paola Pineda – Ohio State
- Bailee Sturgill – Rutgers
Other Contenders: Lena Hentschel (Ohio State), Katerina Hoffman (Rutgers), Geneva Pauly (Iowa), Ella Roselli (Indiana)
I expect athletes from the two new Big Ten schools to make an appearance in the platform championship final. Kate Miller is a Canadian Olympian and is having a great freshman season at USC. UCLA’s Eden Cheng is a British Olympian and previous PAC-12 runner-up in this event. In the end, I see reigning NCAA Champion Viviana Del Angel and U.S. Olympian Daryn Wright battling it out for the conference title. Wright has been having a great season, particularly on the platform, so she’s my pick to win.
