The 2nd week of Division I NCAA conference championships wrapped up on Saturday, and the number of NCAA qualifiers soared over the last week with 56 women and 46 men earning automatic qualifications via conference title.
The final day of the week saw nine new women and eight new men earn qualifications with five women and five men coming from mid-major programs.
On the women’s side, the Mountain West led the totals, earning two new swimmers. Wyoming’s Macey Hansen won the mile in 16:16.41, coming in more than 10 seconds under the qualifying time of 16:25.29. Her lifetime best in the event stands at 16:07.75 from last year’s conference championships.
The Mountain West also saw Colorado State’s Tess Whineray earn an NCAA swim with her 200 backstroke winning time of 1:52.82. She came in almost two seconds under the standard of 1:54.80, and she came in half-a-second under the 2025 invite time of 1:53.31.
On the men’s side, the Patriot League saw the most new qualifiers for the 2nd day in a row. Navy’s Chase Maier picked up an invite in the mile with his swim of 14:54.68. He was 12 seconds under the qualifying time of 15:06.60. This was a huge drop for Maier, with his former best coming in at 15:09.69 from December of 2024.
In the 200 breaststroke, Navy’s Michael Phillips earned an invite in the 200 breaststroke, swimming 1:52.82 to crush the standard of 1:54.95, and squeak in under the 2025 invite time of 1:52.89.
After two weeks of conference meets, there are 56 women and 46 men qualified for the meet. Of those, 32 women and 25 men are mid-major swimmers while the rest come from power-four conferences.
*Note: Swimmers are only listed under the first event they earned an Auto Qualification in. This list is compiled entirely by hand, so there may be mistakes. If you know of someone else who qualified that we missed, let us know.
New Women’s NCAA Qualifiers
| Swimmer Name | School | Conference | Event | Time | 2025 Invite Time | ||
| 1 | Ava Topolewski | George Washington | A-10 | MM | 1650 Free | 16:23.28 | 16:09.37 |
| 2 | Sydney Bergstrom | Penn | Ivy | MM | 1650 Free | 16:02.63 | 16:09.37 |
| 3 | Macey Hansen | Wyoming | Mountain West | MM | 1650 Free | 16:16.41 | 16:09.37 |
| 4 | Tess Whineray | Colorado State | Mountain West | MM | 200 Back | 1:52.82 | 1:53.31 |
| 5 | Catriona Gilmore | Army | Patriot League | MM | 200 Breast | 2:10.28 | 2:09.58 |
| 6 | Gena Jorgenson | Nebraska | Big Ten | 1650 Free | 15:45.36 | 16:09.37 | |
| 7 | Catie Choate | Florida | SEC | 200 Back | 1:49.94 | 1:53.31 | |
| 8 | Angie Coe | Texas | SEC | 200 IM | 1:53.90 | 1:56.69 |
New Men’s NCAA Qualifiers
| Swimmer Name | School | Conference | Event | Time | 2025 Invite Time | ||
| 1 | Carter Perkins | La Salle | A-10 | MM | 100 Free | 42.37 | 41.95 |
| 4 | Logan Kelly | IU Iny | Horizon League | MM | 200 Breast | 1:52.21 | 1:52.89 |
| 5 | Chase Maier | Navy | Patriot League | MM | 1650 Free | 14:54.68 | 14:48.80 |
| 7 | Michael Phillips | Navy | Patriot League | MM | 200 Breast | 1:52.82 | 1:52.89 |
| 9 | Alexander Parkinson | USD | Summit League | MM | 1650 Free | 15:04.40 | 14:48.80 |
| 2 | Brendan Whitfield | Virginia Tech | ACC | 100 Free | 40.93 | 41.95 | |
| 3 | David King | Virginia | ACC | 200 Back | 1:38.14 | 1:40.13 | |
| 6 | Jere Hribar | LSU | SEC | 100 Free | 40.42 | 41.95 | |
| 8 | Jonny Marshall | Florida | SEC | 200 Back | 1:36.38 | 1:40.13 |
All Women’s NCAA Qualifiers As of 2/21
| Swimmer Name | School | Conference | Event | Time | 2025 Invite Time | |
| 1 | Sara Curtis | Virginia | ACC | 50 Free | 21.09 | 22.01 |
| 2 | Brady Kendall | Michigan | Big Ten | 50 Free | 21.09 | 22.01 |
| 3 | Darcy Revitt | Washington State | Mountain West | 50 Free | 21.84 | 22.01 |
| 4 | Sabrina Johnston | Princeton | Ivy | 50 Free | 22.07 | 22.01 |
| 5 | Ashley Gutshall | UMBC | America East | 50 Free | 22.25 | 22.01 |
| 6 | Aly Bozzuto | Liberty | American | 50 Free | 22.26 | 22.01 |
| 7 | Holly Nelson | Hawaii | Big West | 50 Free | 22.28 | 22.01 |
| 8 | Anna Moesch | Virginia | ACC | 200 Free | 1:39.72 | 1:44.74 |
| 9 | Liberty Clark | Indiana | Big Ten | 200 Free | 1:40.84 | 1:44.74 |
| 10 | Camille Spink | Tennessee | SEC | 200 Free | 1:41.71 | 1:44.74 |
| 11 | Morgan Lukinac | Brown | Ivy | 200 Free | 1:44.20 | 1:44.74 |
| 12 | Tara Joyce | Wyoming | Mountain West | 200 Free | 1:44.43 | 1:44.74 |
| 13 | Asia Kozan | UC San Diego | Big West | 200 Free | 1:45.52 | 1:44.74 |
| 14 | Katie Grimes | Virginia | ACC | 500 Free | 4:33.78 | 4:39.47 |
| 15 | Hannah Bellard | Michigan | Big Ten | 500 Free | 4:34.60 | 4:39.47 |
| 16 | Anna Bastone | Harvard | Ivy | 500 Free | 4:40.94 | 4:39.47 |
| 17 | Molly Webber | Army | Patriot League | 500 Free | 4:42.07 | 4:39.47 |
| 18 | Ava Olson | UNLV | Mountain West | 500 Free | 4:43.08 | 4:39.47 |
| 19 | Ava Portello | Rice | American | 500 Free | 4:42.67 | 4:39.47 |
| 20 | Jillian Cox | Texas | SEC | 1650 Free | 15:32.75 | 16:09.37 |
| 21 | Gena Jorgenson | Nebraska | Big Ten | 1650 Free | 15:45.36 | 16:09.37 |
| 22 | Sydney Bergstrom | Penn | Ivy | 1650 Free | 16:02.63 | 16:09.37 |
| 23 | Macey Hansen | Wyoming | Mountain West | 1650 Free | 16:16.41 | 16:09.37 |
| 24 | Ava Topolewski | George Washington | A-10 | 1650 Free | 16:23.28 | 16:09.37 |
| 25 | Claire Curzan | UVA | ACC | 100 Back | 48.38 | 51.68 |
| 26 | Maggie Wanezek | Wisconsin | Big Ten | 100 Back | 49.72 | 51.68 |
| 27 | Jillian Crooks | Tennessee | SEC | 100 Back | 50.50 | 51.68 |
| 28 | Catie Choate | Florida | SEC | 200 Back | 1:49.94 | 1:53.31 |
| 29 | Tess Whineray | Colorado State | Mountain West | 200 Back | 1:52.82 | 1:53.31 |
| 30 | Eneli Jefimova | NC State | ACC | 100 Breast | 56.77 | 59.51 |
| 31 | Anita Bottazzo | Florida | SEC | 100 Breast | 57.11 | 59.51 |
| 32 | Letitia Sim | Michigan | Big Ten | 100 Breast | 57.90 | 59.51 |
| 33 | Mackenzie Lung | Fresno State | Mountain West | 100 Breast | 58.17 | 59.51 |
| 34 | Chloe Braun | UC San Diego | Big West | 100 Breast | 58.95 | 59.51 |
| 35 | Lauren Walsh | Navy | Patriot League | 100 Breast | 59.78 | 59.51 |
| 36 | Catriona Gilmore | Army | Patriot League | 200 Breast | 2:10.28 | 2:09.58 |
| 37 | Alex Shackell | Indiana | Big Ten | 100 Fly | 49.95 | 51.87 |
| 38 | Anya Mostek | Harvard | Ivy | 100 Back | 51.31 | 51.68 |
| 39 | Scarlet Ferris | Nevada | Mountain West | 100 Fly | 51.34 | 51.87 |
| 40 | Angie McKane | Army | Patriot League | 100 Fly | 51.34 | 51.87 |
| 41 | Kamry Cannings | Liberty | American | 100 Fly | 51.77 | 51.87 |
| 42 | Victoria Novinskiy | Delaware | ASUN | 100 Fly | 51.92 | 51.87 |
| 43 | Sydney Lu | Harvard | Ivy | 100 Fly | 51.97 | 51.87 |
| 44 | Campbell Stoll | Texas | SEC | 200 Fly | 1:50.60 | 1:55.82 |
| 45 | Mia West | Cal | ACC | 200 Fly | 1:51.52 | 1:55.82 |
| 46 | Samantha Banos | UCSB | Big West | 200 Fly | 1:56.44 | 1:55.82 |
| 47 | Rach Winnington | UNLV | Mountain West | 200 Fly | 1:57.08 | 1:55.82 |
| 48 | Torri Huske | Stanford | ACC | 200 IM | 1:51.27 | 1:56.69 |
| 49 | Angie Coe | Texas | SEC | 200 IM | 1:53.90 | 1:56.69 |
| 50 | Eleanor Sun | Princeton | Ivy | 200 IM | 1:55.62 | 1:56.69 |
| 51 | Eva Boehlke | UC San Diego | Big West | 200 IM | 1:57.43 | 1:56.69 |
| 52 | Lucy Bell | Stanford | ACC | 400 IM | 3:59.11 | 4:09.53 |
| 53 | Bella Sims | Michigan | Big Ten | 400 IM | 4:00.57 | 4:09.53 |
| 54 | Ella Jansen | Tennessee | SEC | 400 IM | 4:01.97 | 4:09.53 |
| 55 | Moji Pholjamjumrus | Nevada | Mountain West | 400 IM | 4:11.07 | 4:09.53 |
| 56 | Reese Cole | Rice | American | 400 IM | 4:12.61 | 4:09.53 |
All Men’s NCAA Qualifiers As of 2/21
| Swimmer Name | School | Conference | Event | Time | 2025 Invite Time | |
| 1 | Quintin McCarty | NC State | ACC | 50 free | 18.63 | 19.02 |
| 2 | Yassin Abdelghany | IU Indy | Horizon League | 50 Free | 18.91 | 19.02 |
| 3 | Karol Ostrowski | Hawaii | Big West | 50 Free | 19.13 | 19.02 |
| 4 | Nicholas Rounds | USD | Summit League | 50 Free | 19.15 | 19.02 |
| 5 | Felix Jedbratt | La Salle | A-10 | 50 Free | 19.18 | 19.02 |
| 6 | Owen Watkins | Georgetown | Big East | 50 Free | 19.21 | 19.02 |
| 7 | Ben Denman-Grimm | Navy | Patriot League | 50 Free | 19.28 | 19.02 |
| 8 | Daniel Laureyssens | FAU | ASUN | 50 free | 19.43 | 19.02 |
| 9 | Jere Hribar | LSU | SEC | 100 Free | 40.42 | 41.95 |
| 10 | Brendan Whitfield | Virginia Tech | ACC | 100 Free | 40.93 | 41.95 |
| 11 | Carter Perkins | La Salle | A-10 | 100 Free | 42.37 | 41.95 |
| 12 | Henry McFadden | Stanford | ACC | 200 Free | 1:31.05 | 1:32.27 |
| 13 | Camden Taylor | Texas | SEC | 200 Free | 1:31.53 | 1:32.27 |
| 14 | Dylan Felt | Davidson | A-10 | 200 Free | 1:33.46 | 1:32.27 |
| 15 | Rex Maurer | Texas | SEC | 500 Free | 4:08.46 | 4:14.13 |
| 16 | Max Carlsen | NC State | ACC | 500 Free | 4:09.44 | 4:14.13 |
| 17 | Dean Jones | Navy | Patriot League | 500 Free | 4:16.73 | 4:14.13 |
| 18 | Ahmed Jaouadi | Florida | SEC | 1650 Free | 14:25.14 | 14:48.80 |
| 19 | Chase Maier | Navy | Patriot League | 1650 Free | 14:54.68 | 14:48.80 |
| 20 | Alexander Parkinson | USD | Summit League | 1650 Free | 15:04.40 | 14:48.80 |
| 21 | Hubert Kos | Texas | SEC | 100 Back | 43.86 | 45.26 |
| 22 | Evan Petty | Cal | ACC | 100 Back | 44.21 | 45.26 |
| 23 | Johnny Crush | Army | Patriot League | 100 Back | 44.80 | 45.26 |
| 24 | Sam Lorenz | Wisconsin- Milwaukee | Horizon League | 100 Back | 45.81 | 45.26 |
| 25 | Kade Snyder | Delaware | ASUN | 100 Back | 46.00 | 45.26 |
| 26 | Holden Thomas | George Washington | A-10 | 100 Back | 46.24 | 45.26 |
| 27 | Jonny Marshall | Florida | SEC | 200 Back | 1:36.38 | 1:40.13 |
| 28 | David King | Virginia | ACC | 200 Back | 1:38.14 | 1:40.13 |
| 29 | Nate Germonprez | Texas | SEC | 100 Breast | 49.92 | 51.58 |
| 30 | Yamato Okadome | Cal | ACC | 100 Breast | 50.32 | 51.58 |
| 31 | Matevi Namakonov | Delaware | ASUN | 100 Breast | 51.51 | 51.58 |
| 32 | Kohen Rankin | Army | Patriot League | 100 Breast | 51.69 | 51.58 |
| 33 | Chris Palvadre | Oakland | Horizon League | 100 Breast | 52.20 | 51.58 |
| 34 | Logan Kelly | IU Iny | Horizon League | 200 Breast | 1:52.21 | 1:52.89 |
| 35 | Michael Phillips | Navy | Patriot League | 200 Breast | 1:52.82 | 1:52.89 |
| 36 | Carter Dooling | Grand Canyon | Big West | 200 Breast | 1:54.56 | 1:52.89 |
| 37 | Josh Liendo | Florida | SEC | 100 fly | 43.06 | 45.12 |
| 38 | Aiden Hayes | NC State | ACC | 100 Fly | 44.07 | 45.12 |
| 39 | Vili Sivec | CSUB | Big West | 100 Fly | 45.91 | 45.12 |
| 40 | Ben Irwin | Navy | Patriot League | 100 Fly | 46.11 | 45.12 |
| 41 | Luca Urlando | Georgia | SEC | 200 Fly | 1:38.46 | 1:41.45 |
| 42 | Logan Robinson | Florida State | ACC | 200 Fly | 1:38.78 | 1:41.45 |
| 43 | Arsenio Bustos | NC State | ACC | 200 IM | 1:40.39 | 1:42.65 |
| 44 | Tom Thalau | Hawaii | Big West | 200 IM | 1:43.93 | 1:42.65 |
| 45 | Baylor Nelson | Texas | SEC | 400 IM | 3:35.75 | 3:41.61 |
| 46 | Josh Zuchowski | Stanford | ACC | 400 IM | 3:38.58 | 3:41.61 |
You have hannah bellard listed twice on the automatic qualifiers, 500 free and 200 fly. Looks like you had a typo on her name in the 500 free.
Thank you! It’s updated now.
Does anyone know how the addition of swimmers with multiple AQ’s will work.
First one to come to mind is Karol Ostrowski from Hawaii. He has an AQ spot in the 50 Free, 100 Back, and 100 Free which all look like they would fall outside the cut line.
Would his AQ spot be filled in all these events and then have the faster swimmers without an AQ added thus being a 3x bid stealer or would his AQ spot be filled only for his highest ranking event (50 Free probably) and he swims the other AQ swims as a Bonus event being only a 1x bid stealer?
If you did not win, your are not in.
If you did not swim faster than the Q-time while winning your conference meet, you are not in (regardless of what your or anyone else prelim time was).
Am I the only one not a fan of this?? Look at the mens and womans 50 free qualifiers, 5+ spots already taken by times that wouldn’t have made it last year. I don’t wanna see slower people race at this meet, it’s supposed to be the very best of the best. You’re kicking out swimmers who outswam others and earned a spot just because they won their conference meet and met a (rather slow) cut time.
Some of the people in the 50 Free are faster in other events and a few would even qualify in other events (even under the old system), but the first event they swum was the 50 Free.
That’s not really the point
I actually dont mind this too much
This article is missing information. There are no 100 FR women automatics listed…yet several have won their conferences under the time requirement. Ya’ll know that people rely on you guys for information… please update
Hey there SSS1234,
There are auto qualifiers in the 100 free, but we only added folks to the list the first time they qualified. All of the 100 free winners from P4 meets were already qualified (Liberty Clark, Camille Spink, Anna Moesch). If there was a mid-major who wasn’t already qualified that we missed, please let us know, but we didn’t see any!
If you hit a QT but still don’t get a meet invite, then what was the point of achieving the cut? Asking in and out of the context of these new invite rules.
This has never not been true. There were (hundreds?) of swimmers who hit “B” cuts in the past who didn’t get a meet invite.
What was the point of achieving the cut? IDK, swimming faster, scoring points for your team…
Having a second or third event at NCAAs if you manage to achieve an invited swim in another event?!
Correction on women’s automatic qualifier, Ava Portello, 500 free. Her winning time was 4:42.67, the posted time is her prelim time.
Also, Ava auto-qualified in the mile.
It’s turning out to be a brilliant move…the “losers” in this are the swimmers in the bottom 20-25% who would have qualified with the previous open system…. Toss out the handful of mid-major swimmers who would qualify regardless and the few who earn a night swim…
The “winners” are keeping the mid major conferences in the mix, a swimmer has to win conference + meet the qualifying time. Not a freebie but an opportunity.
99% of the swimmers being left out were never going to make it out of prelims vs an opportunity to rejuvenate the sport. This also opens the door for more tweeners, not quite fast enough to make a difference at a power 5 program… Read more »
The losers are also lower tier power 4 swimming programs. Some of their best swimmers end up sitting right around that cutline with a couple spots in each event going to the mid major auto bids. Not to say they won’t send anyone, but schools like Penn State, Purdue, South Carolina, or SMU are going to feel the impact of this the most.
How did we come up with 72nd place as the QT? Maybe that ranking will be adjusted in the future if the CSCAA feels there are too many AQs.
Yeah this is my instinct having gone through most of qualifying season. Though keep in mind that the numbers/athletes in this article….the majority of them would have qualified anyway so 57/46 isn’t a real representation of the impact of the new rule (once all the selections are done we’ll do a retroactive analysis of that).
I think especially bringing that cut line down on the men’s side is important where there are fewer swimmers invited.
Right now, by my count, 20 AQ women fall outside past year qualifying time. Of course adjustments in QT will happen.
Love this suggestion!
Going to a faster cut time (ex. 60th or 65th time) would also mean fewer bonus swims (2nd and or 3rd swims) by already qualified swimmers.
This is true, but 1) I’m not sure that’s a bad thing, and 2) could be solved by just reinstituting a second “bonus” cut.
Those on the bubble that don’t get an invite because of these changes may very well become relay only swimmers which affects the number of swimmers a team can bring.
This hurts teams who have skin in the game more than help mid majors who will also never score.
If a lower P4 school hits an A Relay time and can’t get the individual invite, this has real implications. Unlikely that the team won’t get a single swimmer in, but I can think of a few relays at this moment that don’t have a member with a likely individual invite from those 4 swimmers.
How is this brilliant? Ours is an individual sport within a team setting. This is not basketball. Excellence is based on getting from point A to B (and back) faster than others. This does not promote excellence. nor becoming elite. Getting mid-major swimmers to the meet at the expense of those who are faster, imo will not rejuvenate the sport. Nor will swimming one heat at night. (your 99% rule is already in play) So in our mid-major conference a 44.81 backstroker (45.29 went last year) who finished 2nd in the Conference meet gets to watch (4 guys and counting) slower swimmers go ahead of him. Imo, this is insanity.
Agree.
QT based on % within average of top 3 or 8 times may be the answer.
Let’s see who gets knocked out of the competition before passing judgment.