2025 Women’s SEC Fan Guide: Newcomer Texas Crashes Florida’s Party

2025 SEC Championships – Women

• February 17-22, 2025
• Gabrielsen Natatorium – Athens, GA
• Defending Champions: Florida (2x)
• Start Times (ET): 9:30 am Prelims/ 5:30 pm Finals
  • Day 1: (Diving Only)- 12 pm prelims/ 5:10 pm finals
  • Day 2: 12 pm prelims (diving)/ 5 pm finals (diving and relays)
• Championship Central
• Major Conference Roster Limits and Scoring Rules
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Video

Schedule

Day 1: Monday, February 17

• Women’s 1-Meter

Day 2: Tuesday, February 18

• Men’s 3-Meter
• 200 Medley Relay
• 800 Free Relay

Day 3: Wednesday, February 19

• 500 Freestyle
• 200 IM
• 50 Free
• Women’s 3-Meter
• 200 Free Relay

Day 4: Thursday, February 20

• 400 IM
• 100 Fly
• 200 Free
• Men’s 1-Meter

Day 5: Friday, February 21

• 200 Fly
• 100 Back
• 100 Breast
• Women’s Platform
• 400 Medley Relay

Day 6: Saturday, February 22

• 200 Back
• 100 Free
• 200 Breast
• 1650 Free
• Men’s Platform
• 400 Free Relay

2024 Final Scores

1. Florida — 1391.5
2. Tennessee — 1190
3. Texas A&M — 926.5
4. Auburn — 879.5
5. Georgia — 822
6. Alabama — 686
7. South Carolina — 629
8. LSU — 579
9. Kentucky — 446
10. Arkansas — 373
11. Missouri — 332.5
12. Vanderbilt — 194

Swimmers to Watch

Alabama– Emily Jones (JR- Free/Back/Fly), Cadence Vincent (SO- Free), Avery Wiseman (SR- Breast)

Junior Emily Jones has been with the Crimson Tide for three years, but she did not compete last year. Something clicked for her this year, and she is having an exceptional season for Alabama, leading the way with three potential A Finals swims. Jones has never swam in an SEC ‘A’ final. This year, she could be in three. Her 100 and 200 backstroke times currently rank her 2nd and 4th in the SEC respectively. She also sits in 9th in the 100 fly and 12th in the 50 free.

Sophomore Cadence Vincent had a disappointing SECs last year, not making a single ‘A’ final, despite coming in seeded 3rd in the 50 free, but she has already seen some improvements this season, setting new personal bests in the 50 and 100 free. Again, she will come in seeded 3rd in the 50 and will be 8th in the 100. These are both potential ‘A’ finals swims for the Crimson Tide, and will make impacts on their sprint relays, if she can replicate the performances.

Finally, senior Avery Wiseman has been a staple in Alabama breaststroke for the last three seasons, and this year is not shaping up to be any different. She was Alabama’s highest point scorer at this meet last year, bringing in 54 points, along with a silver medal in the 100 breast. She has not been as fast this season, but is still seeded well in her events coming in at 7th in the 100 and 3rd in the 200.

Arkansas- Bella Cothern (GR- Free/Fly), Holly Robinson (FR- IM/Back), Sydney Craft (JR- Free)

Arkansas is returning their highest point scorer from last year’s SEC Championships, Bella Cothern. At last year’s meet, Cothern scored 54 points for Arkansas, her highest finish coming in 4th in the 50 freestyle. She is a threat in the sprint free events this year, sitting in 13th in the 50 free and 27th in the 100 free.

After Cothern, Arkansas’ is only returning two other swimming point scorers, as most of their points came from diving. Junior Sydney Craft scored 10 points last year, finishing 19th in the women’s mile. This year she is coming in ranked 30th in the mile. Graduate Student Bradi Jones is the other returning scorer, bringing in three points in with her 22nd-place finish in the 100 breast, where she is seeded 24th in this year.

The Razorbacks also have a new freshman standout, who could be a point threat in the IM events, Holly Robinson. She is from England, making this her first-ever SCY season, but she is already making an impact on the Razorbacks team, finishing 3rd in both the 200 and 400 IM events at the Hawkeye Invitational. She is seeded 23rd in the 200 IM and 41st in the 400 IM coming into the meet.

On the diving side, Arkansas is returning 70 points in junior Malea Martinez (40), sophomore Isa Perreira (17), and sophomore Bryze Sanchez (13).

Auburn- Lexie Mulvihill (SR- Free), Laura Komoroczy (FR- Fly/Back), Polina Nevmovenko (SR- Free), Julia Strojnowska (FR- Free)

Auburn only lost five of their 18-point scorers from last year’s conference meet, but they did lose the whole top three. Fourth-place scorer Ellie Waldrep is back this year. She scored 55 points at last year’s SECs and she is looking to do the same this year. She is currently seeded 14th in the 100 back, 22nd in the 200 back, and 28th in the 100 fly.

The Tigers have a large class of freshmen that have come in, and many are poised to do well at SECs, filling crucial depth and relay slots, namely Hungary’s Lora Komoroczy. Komoroczy is a freshman who has already significantly helped Auburn’s relays, and she has the potential for a few ‘A’ finals swims as well. Her 100 backstroke time has her seeded 6th in the event, and her 100 fly comes in at 10th. She is also seeded well in the 50 freestyle, coming in at 17th. Julia Strojnowska is another freshman who is poised to score at conference, being seeded 21st in the 1650 and 28th in the 500.

Returning swimmers to watch are seniors Lexie Mulvihill and Polina Nevmovenko. Mulvihill scored 25 points at last year’s conference meet, swimming crucial legs on the Auburn relays and finishing 8th in the 50 free. Coming into this year’s meet, Mulvihill is ranked 9th in the 50, 31st in the 100 free, and 33rd in the 100 fly. Nevomenko scored 43.5 points at last year’s meet. This year, she is seeded slightly slower at 34th in the 50 free, 13th in the 100 free, and 26th in the 200 freestyle.

They also have two divers returning who scored more than 30 points, junior Kyliegh Kidd brought in 46 and senior Abigail Farrar scored 37.

Florida- Bella Sims (SO- Free/IM/Back), Emma Weyant (SR- Free/IM), Anita Bottazzo (FR- Breast)

The Florida women have won the last two SEC Championships, and they didn’t lose that many high point-scorers from last year. Their biggest challenge is dealing with Texas and the depth and speed they are bringing for their first year in the SEC, and Florida has the potential to challenge them for their 3rd straight title.

Florida is returning their top point scorer for last year, sophomore Bella Sims. At last year’s championships, Sims won all three of her individual events, the 200 back, 200 fly, and 200 IM and then went on to swim an almost entirely different lineup at the NCAA Championships the next month, the 200 free, 500 free, and 200 back, winning the 200 and 500 freestyles. Sims’ versatility cannot be overstated and she would be a legitimate threat to win the conference in at least seven different events. She currently sits in the top three in the six events, 1st in three (100 back, 200 back, and 400 IM), 2nd in two (100 free and 500 free), and third in one (200 free). Her 200 IM comes in at 6th in the SEC this season, but she won the event last year in a time that would be first.

They have a few other potential event winners. Olympic medalist Emma Weyant won two events at last year’s meet, the 500 free and 400 IM. She currently sits in 2nd in the 400 IM in the SEC season rankings, about half a second behind Sims and almost three seconds ahead of the 3rd ranking swimmer, teammate Zoe Dixon. Weyant also sits 6th in the 1650, and Dixon ranks 5th in the 200 IM. The Gators also have a new freshman Anita Bottazzo, whose 57.49 100 breast time sits in first this season by exactly two-tenths. Her 200 breaststroke is not ranked quite as high at 10th, but she is a potential ‘A’ finalist in the event.

Florida also has strong relay potential. At last year’s meet, they won all but one relay, the 400 medley, and while they haven’t been quite as fast this year, they still rank well among the other SEC teams, holding the fastest times in the 800 free relay and the 400 medley relay.

Georgia- Eboni McCarty (SR- Free/Back), Abby McCulloh (SR- Free), Rachel Stege (JR- Free) Ieva Maluka (Free/Breast/Fly/IM)

Georgia lost a few crucial swimmers last year, namely top point scorer and huge relay swimmer Zoie Hartman. This year, they are trying to fill the gaps, but their prowess lies primarily in the freestyle events.

Senior Eboni McCarty has three potential ‘A’ final swims in the sprint freestyle and backstroke events. She currently sits in 7th in the 50 and 100 freestyle, and 5th in the 100 back. Last year she finished 4th in the 100 back, 8th in the 50 free and 25th in the 100 free. She will also make a significant impact on Georgia’s relays.

Abby McCulloh, a senior, and Rachel Stege, junior, have distance freestyle scoring positions practically locked down. Reigning NCAA Champion McCulloh comes in at 2nd in the mile with her 15:46.99 from the UGA Invite. She also sits in 5th in the 500 with her 4:36.18. Stege is ranked 3rd in the 500 and 8th in the 1650. She scratched the 1650 at last year’s championships, but went on to swim it at NCAAs finishing 16th.

Georgia also picked up ASU transfer Ieva Maluka last year, and Maluka has high point scoring potential, filling UGA’s gaps. At ASU she primarily swam freestyle and IM events, but this year she has transitioned to swimming fly, back, and even breaststroke events seeing significant improvement in them. She has four top 16 swims currently. She ranks 9th in the 200 free, 15th in the 200 breast, 11th in the 200 fly, and 8th in the 200 IM. She has serious scoring potential in all these events, especially if she sees more drops.

Kentucky- Bridget Engel (GR-Breast), Grace Frericks (JR- Free/Back), Victoria Buerger (GR- IM/Back), Kristy Pfaff (SO-Diver)

Kentucky is coming off a rebuilding year and a 9th place finish at the SEC Championships last year, their worst finish since they came in 10th at the 2014 Championships. They have not finished rebuilding the program, but they are returning their top two individual point scorers from last year.

Graduate students Bridget Engel and Victoria Buerger were their highest point scorers, Engel was first, raking in 40 points, earning two ‘B’ finals breaststroke swims, and a ‘C’ final in the 400 IM. This season, she is poised to score in both breaststroke events again, ranking 11th in the 100 and 9th in the 200. Buerger scored 34 points in 2nd for Kentucky, competing in three ‘B’ finals in the 100 back, 200 back, and 200 IM. In the season’s rankings she is not positioned incredibly well to repeat this performance, coming in 24th in the 200 IM, 41st in the 100 back and 39th in the 200 back, but she is still one to watch.

Junior Grace Frericks has had a good season so far. Last year, she made two ‘C’ finals and an ‘A’ final, and she is in the range of that again. She currently sits in 27th in the 100 free, 21st in the 100 back and 14th in the 200 back, so she does have a slight uphill climb if she is wanting to make the ‘A’ final in her 200 backstroke for the third year in a row.

Kentucky is bringing back a few of their high-scoring divers, including sophomore Kristy Pfaff who brought in 20 points for the Wildcats. They also have Claire McDaniels (19) and Abigail Devereaux (18).

LSU- Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant (GR- Diving), Sofia Sartori (Jr- Back/Fly), Grace Palmer (FR-Breast), Zoe Carlos-Broc (FR- Back/Fly)

LSU is in an excellent position coming into this meet. They are returning almost all of their top point earners from last year, and they have brought in a class of freshmen that can make big moves in point scoring.

The Tigers are led by a very strong junior class, and an even stronger diving team. Last year their top three scorers all came from diving, and all three are back for more this year. Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant, a 5th year, scored 87 points on the boards. She should rack up huge points for the team along with fellow graduate student Helle Tuxen, who scored 75 points, and senior Maddie Buckley, who scored 44.

On the swimming side, the juniors are running the program with the top three scorers from last year all competing as juniors this year. Sofia Sartori was the 2nd highest individual earner after Megan Barnes, but Sartori has had an excellent season so far, and is looking at three potential ‘B’ final or higher swims. She is currently ranked 19th in the 100 fly, 12th in the 200 fly, and 18th in the 100 back. Barnes also has a potential finals swim, as she currently sits in 14th in the 200 free.

Grace Palmer and Zoe Carlos-Broc are both freshmen this year, and they are definitely ones to watch going into their first SEC Championships. Palmer is coming in ranked 5th in the 200 breaststroke, and she also has potential scoring swims in her 100 breast and the 1650. Carlos-Broc also has three potential finals swims. Her highest ranking swim comes in the 100 back, where she is 12th, but she also sits in 21st in the 100 fly, and 25th in the 200 back. These newcomers could be crucial in helping LSU move up from their 8th-place finish last year.

Missouri- Karolina Bank (JR-Breast), Zara Zallen (SO-free), Zoe Schneider (SO-free)

Missouri lost their highest individual point scorer, diver Kamryn Wong, to the transfer portal at the end of last season. She brought in 45 of the Tigers 332.5 points, and they are in a tough spot trying to replace her. Their other seven individual scorers are back for this year and could help make up those points.

Karolina Bank brought in 16 individual points last year, and she has the potential to significantly increase that total this year. The junior is coming into the meet ranking 10th in the 100 breast and 17th in the 200 breast thanks to the new best times she has already gone this season. She could be joined in the 100 breast by sophomore Zara Zallen who scored 16 points last year, in just the sprint freestyle events. Zallen has also seen some significant improvement this season, dropping a second-and-a-half in her 200 freestyle to go 1:46.02 for 32nd in the SEC. She’s also dropped time in her 100 free to rank 14th, and her 100 breast to rank 22nd.

The Tigers weren’t just victims of the transfer portal, they also picked up sophomore Zoe Schneider from George Washington and she is another potential high-scorer, coming into the meet 16th in the 1650 freestyle and 15th in the 400 IM.

South Carolina- Greta Pelzek (SR- Fly/IM), Amy Riordan (JR- Free/Back), Breckin Gormley (JR- Free/Fly), Meaghan Harnish (JR-Breast/IM)

Greta Pelzek scored 66 points at last year’s SEC meet, and she seems to be gearing up to do the same this year. Her 100 fly is coming in 8th and her 200 fly is ranked 5th in the SEC. She is also a finals contender in the 200 IM, where she sits in 25th.

South Carolina also kept their 2nd and third highest point scorers in juniors Amy Riordan and Dylan Scholes. Riordan has a few potential finals swims, including a 5th-place ranking in the 200 backstroke. She is also sitting in 13th in the 200 free and 23rd in the 100 back.

Breckin Gormley and Meaghan Harnish were both scorers at last year’s meet, both bringing in 17 points, and they are looking at potential improving those totals this year. Gormley is coming in ranked 14th in the 200 fly and 29th in the 500 freestyle, after swimming in two finals last year. Harnish only earned one finals swim at last year’s meet, but she could end up in three this year. This year she ranks 14th in the 400 IM, the one event she scored in last year. Her 200 IM and 200 breast are both in ‘C’ final scoring position as well.

Tennessee- Camille Spink (SO- Free), Josephine Fuller (SR- Back/IM), Mona McSharry (GR- Free/Breast), Ella Jansen (FR- Free/Fly/IM), McKenzie Siroky (FR-Breast)

The Lady Vols were the runner-ups at last year’s conference meet, coming in 200 points behind the champions Florida, and they are looking even stronger this year. They have their top six point scorers returning for this season, including their highest scorer sophomore Camille Spink. Spink had an exceptional meet as a freshman last year, winning both the 50 and 100 freestyle titles, and coming 2nd in the 200 free. She has already been faster in her 100 and 200 this season, and is coming into the meet with the top time in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyles, so she will be looking for a perfect meet this year

They are also returning their 2nd and 3rd scorers, Mona McSharry and Josephine Fuller. McSharry is coming off a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in the 100 breaststroke, but she took the fall semester off, so her rankings this year are not as high as one would expect. She currently sits in 14th in the 100 and 34th in the 200 with times she went in the last month. At last year’s meet she won both of these events, and finished 3rd in the 50 free, and she can’t be counted out. Fuller could realistically earn high placements in five different events. She is coming into the meet at 6th in the 200 free, 3rd in the 100 back, 2nd in the 200 back, 6th in the 100 fly, and 2nd in the 200 IM.

The Vols also have some high-powered freshmen, one of whom will be challenging McSharry for breaststroke points. McKenzie Siroky filled the incredibly large shoes left by McSharry the first semester, and currently sits in 3rd in the 100 breast and 2nd in the 200 breast in the SEC rankings. Either way, it seems safe that Tennessee has breaststroke medals locked up, especially with sophomore Emelie Fast ranking 4th in both. Ella Jansen has been another standout freshman, holding potential scoring times in five different events. Her highest ranking comes from her 4th place in the 500 free. She also sits in 6th in the 400 IM for another ‘A’ finals swim. Her 3rd event is up in the air, as she sits 10th in the 200 fly and 14th in the 200 free, but she is a threat in both.

Texas- Emma Sticklen (GR- Free/Fly/IM), Jillian Cox (FR- Free), Hailey Hernandez (SR- Diving), Piper Enge (FR- Breast)

This is the first year we will see Texas in the SEC, but they won 13 straight Big 12 championships before making the transition this year, and this year looks like it will end in the same way.

The Longhorns have a lot of swimmers who are looking to ‘A’ final in multiple events, and it would be impossible to name them all, but some are looking for NCAA titles or multiple SEC titles, starting with graduate student Emma Sticklen. Sticklen is coming in with multiple SEC top times in the 100 fly, 200 fly, and 200 IM. She also sits in 2nd in the 50 free, 3rd in the 100 back, and 4th in the 100 free. Regardless of what she swims, she is a serious threat to the title. Joining Sticklen are some other returners and potential point scorers including Grace Cooper, Ava Longi, Erin Gemmell.

They also brought in a few significant freshman swimmers. Jillian Cox has the fastest SEC times in the 500 and 1650 freestyle, and she sits in 19th in the 200 free. Piper Enge is seamlessly filling the empty breaststroke spots left by Lydia Jacoby and Anna Elendt, coming in as the 2nd seed in the 100 and 200. Unlike Elendt and Jacoby, however, her path to a title will not be smooth with the rest of the breaststroke talent in the SEC. Lillian Nesty is another freshman who is coming in with the potential to ‘A’ final in multiple events, including the 200 free, where she ranks 4th, the 500 free, where she ranks 11th, and the 200 back, 6th. These freshmen are definitely athletes to watch as they approach their first college championship season.

Hailey Hernandez, a multi-time Big 12 diving champion, is also back for this year, providing crucial diving points to Texas, along with fellow DiversCaroline Kupka, Bayleigh Cranford, and Taylor Fox.

Texas A&M- Chloe Stepanek (GR- Free), Hayden Miller (JR- Free), Giulia Goerigk (JR- IM/Breast)

A&M had many of their point scorers return from last year, but their highest point scorer, Miranda Grana, did not come back. This leaves Chloe Stepanek as the highest Aggie earner by more than 25 points, scoring 78 points to Hayden Miller’s 52. Stepanek has been a staple of the Aggie team since she arrived for the 2020-2021 season. This year, she is going into the meet seeded slightly lower than she has been in previous years, coming in at 9th in the 100 free, 7th in the 200 free, and 22nd in both the 50 and 500 free. Last year, Stepanek finished in the top 5 in all three of her individual events, coming in 5th in the 50, 4th in the 100 and 3rd in the 200.

Hayden Miller and Giulia Goerigk are a pair of juniors who will also be back as legitimate scoring threats. Miller scored the 3rd most points of the Aggie swimmers in the distance free events. Miller is coming in seeded 17th in the 500 free and 7th in the 1650 free. At last year’s meet, she finished 5th in the 500 and 3rd in the 1650. Goerigk scored a significant number of points in the IM events, finishing 12th in the 200 IM and 3rd in the 400 IM. She is coming into this meet at 16th in the 200 IM and 10th in the 400 IM. Both swimmers are ones to watch going into the meet.

Vanderbilt- Kailia Utley (SR- Fly), Mercedes Traba (SR- Free/IM), Emily Constable (FR- Breast)

Vanderbilt had a rough dual meet lineup this season, and they have struggled with it, finishing their regular season 0-8. They also graduated their 2nd highest point scorer Faith Knelson after the season.

Their other two individual point scorers are both back this year as juniors. Kailia Utley was Vanderbilt’s highest point scorer last year, bringing in 22 points. She is poised to potentially score this year as well with her coming in with the 19th fastest time in the 200 fly and the 41st time in the 100 fly. Mercedes Traba scored 5 points with her 20th-place finish in the 400 IM. She will need to drop some time if she wants to score points again this year, as she came into the meet seeded 49th in the 500 and 50th in 400 IM.

They also have a freshman breaststroker, Emily Constable, who has the potential to score points. She is currently ranked 29th in the 100 breast and the right swim could get her into scoring position there as well.

Showdowns

500 free

The top two swimmers in the 500 freestyle are separated by less than half a second. Texas freshman Jillian Cox blasted a nation-leading 4:30.68 at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite, just minutes after Florida’s Bella Sims went 4:31.06. Both of these times were faster than the NCAA winning time in the event of 4:32.47. On top of that, Rachel Stege is coming in with a lifetime best of 4:32.87 and could throw herself into a tight race with the right swim. We don’t know if Sims will choose to swim the event, as there are two other Gators with times in the top 8, Julie Brousseau and Emma Weyant, but if she does it would be an exciting race.

100 breast

The 100 breaststroke made this list last year, and this year is shaping up to be even more exciting. The top four swimmers are all within a second of each other, and the top three are all freshmen within 0.31. Anita Bottazzo is coming in as the top seed for Florida in 57.49, just two tenths ahead of Texas freshman Piper Enge at 57.69. McKenzie Siroky from Tennessee comes in at 3rd just over a tenth behind Enge in 57.80. This would be an excitingly close race on it’s own, but reigning champion Mona McSharry is back this year, and she could either slot into this mix, or come out clearly on top, her time only ranks her 14th in the event, but the Olympic Bronze medalist and NCAA Champion shouldn’t be counted out. Five other ‘A’ finalists from last year will also be back for this year, but they have a steep mountain ahead of them to take over the top spot.

100 fly:

The champion in this event seems pretty clear-cut. Emma Sticklen from Texas is coming in as the top seed at 49.55, which is not only the only time under 50 in the SEC this season, it is also the only time under 51. After Sticklen, however, the next 11 spots are separated by 1.1 seconds, and the top 7 are separated by half a second. Fellow longhorn Abby Arens comes in 2nd at 51.01, 0.15 seconds ahead of last year’s champion Olivia Peoples of Florida in 3rd. Texas has two more swimmers at 4 and 5, Olivia Bray (51.26) and Campbell Stoll (51.44). A&M’s Olivia Theall and Tennessee’s Josephine Fuller are tied at 6th in 51.51. Even if all four of the Longhorns don’t swim the event, we are still looking at an incredibly close ‘A’ final.

SwimSwam Picks

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Tennessee
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. Texas A&M
7. LSU
8. Auburn
9. South Carolina
10. Kentucky
11. Arkansas
12. Missouri
13. Vanderbilt

Texas is the clear favorite to win for their first season in the SEC, overtaking two-time champion Florida. If any team were to be able to challenge them, however, it would be Florida or Tennessee.

We could see a close race for 2nd between those two teams, but the top three are pretty clear-cut.

Moving into 4th, however, we are questionable at best about how the next five teams will shake out. Georgia has been having a good season, and their mid-distance freestyle group is not one to be underestimated, hence their place in our Power Rankings as the next highest SEC team.

Alabama, Texas A&M, and LSU are wild cards and difficult to predict scoring. Alabama has the potential for some very high-placing finishes, but they were 6th last year, and some of their top swimmers struggled to perform. In last year’s fan guide, we predicted A&M would place 5th and they finished 3rd. They have not had an exceptional season thus far, but they seem to make it happen at championships. LSU has some of the highest-ranking swimmers, but their 8th-place finish last year makes it difficult to predict an enormous jump for them

Auburn and South Carolina could certainly capitalize on their points and move their way up the rankings significantly, especially with some of the talent they have this year.