2025 Women’s Division I NCAA Championships: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

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:
  • Prelims: Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1

Day 2 Finals Program

Order of Events Day 2:

• 500 Freestyle
  • 500 Free Awards
• 200 IM
  • 200 IM Awards
• 50 Free
  • 50 Free Awards
• 1-Meter Diving
  • Diving Awards
• 200 Freestyle Relay
  • Relay Awards

It’s time for Day 2 finals of the 2025 NCAA Championships. Last night’s events featured a new NCAA record in the women’s 200 medley relay and a Stanford victory in the 800 freestyle relay with some very fast swimming.

Tonight we are in for some more exciting races. The 500 freestyle prelims might not have been as fast as we were expecting, but reigning champion Bella Sims still found herself on the outside looking in with her 17th place finish. The ‘A’ final is looking to be very close, and it is anyone’s guess who will take the gold, but Anna Peplowski had the strongest morning swim and will be in lane four for tonight’s final

The 200 IM should also be an exciting race, with the top four swimmers separated by less than a second. Torri Huske is your top qualifier, coming in four tenths ahead of the rest of the field. She is not a shoe in for the victory, however, as the next three swimmers pile in nicely behind her and will all be looking to pick up event wins tonight including reigning champion Alex Walsh.

Gretchen Walsh is the only safe choice for champions tonight in the women’s 50 freestyle. Her prelims time of 20.44 was the third fastest time in history, after two other times set by her, more than 0.81 seconds ahead of the 2nd place qualifier Julia Dennis. This is just barely less than the 0.84 seconds separating the top four seeds in the 200 IM. Anything can happen in a 50 freestyle, though.

We will also see UNC diver Aranza Vazquez attempt to defend her 1-meter title for the third straight year.

The last event of the session will be the 200 freestyle relay where we could potentially see another NCAA record from the UVA women, or another 19 second split from Gretchen Walsh.

Women’s 500 Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017)
• Championship Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017)
• American Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017)
• U.S. Open Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017)
• 2024 Champion: Bella Sims, Florida — 4:32.47

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Jillian Cox (Texas)- 4:31.58
2. Aurora Roghair (Stanford)- 4:33.90
3. Anna Peplowski (Indiana)- 4:34.12
4. Katie Grimes (Virginia)- 4:34.25
5. Cavan Gormsen (Virginia)- 4:34.51
6. Mila Nikanorov (OSU)- 4:36.38
7. Ching Gan (Indiana)- 4:36.69
8. Rachel Stege (Georgia)- 4:37.10

Texas sophomore Jillian Cox won the women’s 500 freestyle in decisive fashion, coming in more than two seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Her final time of 4:31.58 was just off her lifetime best of 4:30.68 from November, but she is your NCAA Champion.

She swam a very consistent race, not splitting a single 50 over the 27.84 she wentat the 250 mark, and getting gradually faster from there. Anna Peplowski from Indiana got out fast, flipping in first at the 100, a second-and-a-half ahead of the rest of the field. After that point, however, Cox began out-splitting her on every single 50 until at the 350 mark where she ultimately passed her.

After the 350 it became a race for 2nd with Cox continuously growing her lead for the duration of the race. Aurora Roghair from Stanford was all the way back in 6th at the 250 mark, but she also began chipping away, ultimately just barely negative split her race swimming 2:16.96/2:16.94 on her 250s, to chase down Peplowski as well.

Peplowski finished 3rd in 4:34.12, holding off a surge from Virginia’s Katie Grimes at the end, who came in at 4:34.25 for 4th.

Tennessee’s Ella Jansen won the ‘B’ final in 4:34.62, which would have been 6th had she been in the ‘A’ Final

Women’s 200 IM — Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:48.37 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• Championship Record: 1:48.37 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• American Record: 1:48.37 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:48.37 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• 2024 Champion: Alex Walsh, Virginia — 1:49.20

Top 8 Finishers

1. Torri Huske (Stanford)- 1:49.67
2. Alex Walsh (Virginia )- 1:50.14
3. Lea Polonsky (California)- 1:51.51
4. Phoebe Bacon (Wisconsin)- 1:51.98
5. Caroline Bricker (Stanford)- 1:52.01
6. Lucy Bell (Stanford)- 1:52.47
7. Emma Sticklen (Texas)- 1:52.54
8. Josephine Fuller (Tennessee)- 1:55.77

Torri Huske was out in first, and that is exactly where she finished, earning her first individual NCAA title in the women’s 200 IM. The Stanford Junior had the fastest fly leg at 23.22, and the fastest freestyle leg, splitting 26.54. She was briefly in 2nd after the backstroke with her 27.66 split, but took the lead again on the breaststroke leg falling right in the middle of the field at 32.25. Her final time of 1:49.67 is the 3rd fastest time in history, and she becomes only the 3rd woman ever to break 1:50 in the event.

Alex Walsh finished 2nd, swimming a very different race than Huske, sitting in the middle of the field on every single split, besides the breaststroke, where she tied with Stanford’s Lucy Bell at 31.50 for 1st. This split was enough to pull Walsh into 2nd overall, which is where she stayed to finish in 1:50.14. This is her 3rd time in this range at the 5 NCAA finals she has swam in this event. In 2022, she swam 1:50.08, she was 1:50.07 in 2023, and she was 1:50.14 tonight.

• Huske’s Splits: 23.22/27.66/32.25/26.54
• Walsh’s Splits: 23.98/27.72/31.50/26.94

Lea Polonsky from Cal had the slowest butterfly split, touching 8th at the 50. She did not stay in this position for long, ultimately using her backstroke (27.51) and breaststroke (31.91) to earn her a solid 3rd place finish at 1:51.51 for almost a two second drop from the 1:53.28 she went at ACCs.

7th place finisher Emma Sticklen was in first after the 100, splitting the 2nd fastest fly leg (23.47), and the fastest backstroke (27.33). She struggled on her back 100, though. Her breaststroke and freestyle were both the 2nd slowest in the field at 34.02 and 27.72 respectively. Only Jospehine Fuller‘s 35.00 and 28.26 for 8th place were slower.

Women’s 50 Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 20.37 — Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• Championship Record: 20.37 — Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• American Record: 20.37 — Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• U.S. Open Record: 20.37 — Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• 2024 Champion: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia — 20.37

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Gretchen Walsh (Virginia)- 20.49
2. Claire Curzan (Virginia)- 21.11
3. Julia Dennis (Louisville)- 21.20
4. Camille Spink (Tennessee)- 21.27
5. Sophie Yendell (Pitt)- 21.66
6. Maxine Parker (Virginia)- 21.77
7. Gabi Albiero (Louisville)- 21.78
8. Cadence Vincent (Alabama)- 21.83

Gretchen Walsh wins her 2nd straight NCAA title in the women’s 50 freestyle, picking up the 4th fastest time in history to officially lock up the entire top 10 in the event.

Walsh had a deep dive, and was out 10.04, more than a tenth off the 9.93 she went in prelims. She came back slightly faster though, splitting 10.45 on the 2nd 25 compared to her 10.51 in prelims.

Claire Curzan had a huge best time, dropping a tenth and a half from her 21.26 at ACCs to swim 21.11 for 2nd overall splitting 10.22/10.89. She just out touched Louisville’s Julia Dennis at 21.20, which was a little more than a tenths slower than her best of 21.08 also from ACCs.

Camille Spink from Tennessee went 21.27, another slight add from conference where she went 21.23.

Women’s 1 Meter Diving – Finals

• 2024 Champion: Aranza Vazquez, UNC – 350.50

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Chiara Pellacani (Miami)- 354.65
2. Mia Vallee (Miami)- 333.85
3. Lanie Gutch (UNC)- 330.80
4. Aranza Vazquez (UNC)- 322.00
5. Hailey Hernandez (Texas)- 320.95
6. Alejandra Estudillo Torres (Texas)- 316.30
7. Shiyun Lai (Kansas)- 309.10
8. Montserrat Lavenant (LSU)- 288.25

It will not be a three-peat for Aranza Vazquez. Miami took the top two spots in this event. They got a new diving coach this year, Dario di Fazio, after Randy Ableman held the position for 35 years. Chiara Pellacani took first overall with a total of 354.65 points and Mia Vallee scored 333.85 for 2nd. This is Pellacani’s first NCAA title.

Texas had two divers in the ‘A’ final, Hailey Hernandez and Alejandra Estudillo Torres who finished 5th and 6th respectively, putting them solidly ahead of Tennessee in the team rankings, and within striking distance of Stanford who sits in 2nd.

Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay- Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:23.63 — Virginia (Nocentini, G. Walsh, A. Walsh, Parker) (2024)
• Championship Record: 1:24.05 — Virginia (Nocentini, G. Walsh, A. Walsh, Parker) (2024)
• American Record: 1:23.87 — Virginia (Douglass, G. Walsh, Cuomo, A. Walsh) (2023)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:23.63 — Virginia (Nocentini, G. Walsh, A. Walsh, Parker) (2024)
• 2024 Champion: Virginia (Nocentini, G. Walsh, A. Walsh, Parker) — 1:24.05

Top 8 Teams:

1. Virginia- 1:24.45
2. Louisville- 1:25.04
3. Stanford- 1:25.69
4. Michigan- 1:26.04
5. Indiana- 1:26.68
6. NC State- 1:26.82
7. California- 1:26.96
8. Texas- 1:27.00

Virginia picked up their 2nd relay win of the meet in the 200 freestyle relay, swimming 1:24.45 to come in a little over half-a-second ahead of 2nd place Louisville.

Gretchen Walsh led off for UVA, exactly tying her best time, and the NCAA Record, in the 50 freestyle at 20.37. This time, she was out under in 9.88, faster than her prelims and finals swims. She was only about six tenths ahead of the rest of the field, though, thanks to Torri Huske‘s 20.92 for Stanford. Huske officially becomes the 5th fastest performer in history, and the 5th woman to ever break 21 seconds in the event. Louisville led off with Caroline Larsen, who went 21.80.

Claire Curzan swam the 2nd leg of Virginia, splitting 21.18 to hold onto the lead. Louisville’s Julia Dennis had the fastest 2nd 50 leg at 20.63 to help pull Louisville into 2nd overall, where they stayed the rest of the race. Stanford’s 2nd leg was Lucy Thomas, who split 21.60.

The third and fourth legs didn’t see any change in the top three positions. Maxine Parker (21.56) and Anna Moesch (21.34) finished up UVAs relay in 1:24.45. Louisville had Gabi Albiero (21.38) and Ella Welch (21.23) to finish in 2nd overall at 1:25.04, and Stanford finished up with Gigi Johnson (21.31) and Amy Tang (21.86) to hold onto 3rd in 1:25.69.

Other notable rolling splits came from Kristina Paegle anchoring Indiana’s relay in 21.05 and Michigan’s Lindsay Flynn, who went 21.29 on the anchor leg.

Updated Team Scores:

1. Virginia – 225
2. Stanford – 178
3. Texas – 152
4. Louisville – 106.5
5. Indiana – 102
6. Tennessee – 93
7. Michigan – 92
8. California – 89.5
9. Florida – 71
10. NC State – 54
11. Wisconsin – 53
12. Miami (FL) – 42.5
13. Georgia – 38
14. Southern California – 35
15. UNC – 34
16. Alabama – 33
17. Arizona State – 31.5
18. Ohio State – 23
19. LSU – 15
20. Arizona – 15
21. Pittsburgh – 14
22. Kansas – 12
23. South Carolina – 9
24. Duke – 7
25. Texas A&M – 6
26. Auburn – 6
27. Virginia Tech – 6
28. Purdue – 5
29. Minnesota – 2