It’s that time of the year again. SwimSwam will be previewing the top 12 men’s and women’s teams (and then some) from the 2025 NCAA Championships. Follow along with the College Swimming Preview Channel. Want to read even more? Check out the latest edition of the SwimSwam magazine.
Women’s #8: California Golden Bears
Key Losses: Lea Polonsky (38 NCAA points, 4 NCAA relays), Isabelle Stadden (18 NCAA points, 4 NCAA relays), Maya Geringer (17 NCAA points), McKenna Stone (3 NCAA relays), Margaux McDonald (NCAA qualifier), Lizzy Cook (NCAA Qualifier)
Key Additions: #2 Teagan O’Dell (CA – back/IM), #3 Claire Weinstein (NV – free), #5 Annie Jia (PA – fly/free), #12 Elle Scott (NC – breast/IM), #18 Ella Cosgrove (AZ — free), BOTR Alexa McDevitt (WA – IM/free), Gracyn Aquino (CA – free/back), Airi Mitsui (Japan – fly/IM), Silje Slyngstadli (Norway – breast)
GRADING CRITERIA
Over the years, we’ve gone back and forth on how to project points, ranging from largely subjective rankings to more data-based grading criteria based on ‘projected returning points.’ We like being as objective as possible, but we’re going to stick with the approach we’ve adopted post-Covid. The “stars” will rely heavily on what swimmers actually did last year, but we’ll also give credit to returning swimmers or freshmen who have posted times that would have scored last year.
Since we only profile the top 12 teams in this format, our grades are designed with that range in mind. In the grand scheme of college swimming and compared to all other college programs, top 12 NCAA programs would pretty much all grade well across the board. But in the interest of making these previews informative, our grading scale is tough – designed to show the tiers between the good stroke groups, the great ones, and the 2015 Texas fly group types.
- 5 star (★★★★★) – a rare, elite NCAA group projected to score 25+ points per event
- 4 star (★★★★) – a very, very good NCAA group projected to score 15-24 points per event
- 3 star (★★★) – a good NCAA group projected to score 5-14 points per event
- 2 star (★★) – a solid NCAA group projected to score 1-4 points per event
- 1 star (★) – an NCAA group that is projected to score no points per event, though that doesn’t mean it’s without potential scorers – they’ll just need to leapfrog some swimmers ahead of them to do it
We’ll grade each event discipline: sprint free (which we define to include all the relay-distance freestyle events, so 50, 100 and 200), distance free, IM, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and diving. Use these grades as a jumping-off point for discussion, rather than a reason to be angry.
Also, keep in mind that we are publishing many of these previews before teams have posted finalized rosters. We’re making our assessments based on the best information we have available at the time of publication, but we reserve the right to make changes after publication based on any new information that may emerge regarding rosters. If that does happen, we’ll make certain to note the change.
2024-25 Lookback
Last season saw Cal begin climbing the NCAA rankings, after earning their lowest finishes since 1996 in 2023 and 2024.
At the 2025 NCAA Championships, they jumped three spots to finish 8th overall after back-to-back 11th-place finishes. They brought in a total of 202.5 points, coming in just seven points behind 7th-place Louisville.
They also had their first season in the ACC, after claiming the last-ever Pac-12 Championship in 2024. At the ACC Championships, they finished 4th, behind Virginia, Stanford, and Louisville who all went on to beat the Golden Bears at NCAAs.
Their top point scorer at NCAAs was senior Lea Polonsky, who brought in 38 points with her 3rd place finish in the 200 IM, 4th place finish in the 200 free, and 10th place finish in the 200 fly. Isabelle Stadden brought in the 2nd most points for the team as a graduate student, scoring 18 points with her 10th place finish in the 100 back and 8th place in the 200 back.
After only three athletes scored double-digit points in 2024, Cal had six individual point scorers bring in double-digit points with Maya Geringer (17), Mary-Ambre Moluh (14.5), Abigail Herscu (11), and Lilou Ressencourt (10) joining Polonsky and Stadden.
The ACC scoring breakdown looked slightly different, with freshman Mary-Ambre Moluh scoring the most points with 73 total. Moluh had a very strong season across the board, bursting onto the rankings at the Minnesota Invitational when she won the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 backstroke.
Polonsky had the 2nd most ACC points at 71, and grad student Maya Geringer scored 53 for 3rd.
After falling down the NCAA finish ladder every year since 2019, Cal began climbing their way back up last year, but their 8th-place finish is still far from where the Bears want to be at the end of the season.
Sprint Freestyle: ★★★½
Cal will retain their top sprint freestyler from last season, Mary-Ambre Moluh. She brought in 14.5 points at the 2025 NCAA Championships, with 2.5 of those points coming in the form of her 14th-place finish in the 50 freestyle. Moluh also swam the 100 free, coming in 25th at 48.12.
Moluh struggled slightly at the NCAA Championships, however. If she had equaled her best times in the events, she would have been 5th in the 50 free and 12th in the 100 free. Now that she has one NCAA season and a double taper under her belt, she has the potential to be a double finalist in the 50 and 100 free.
Junior Ava Chavez had the 2nd fastest time in the 200 freestyle last season at 1:44.24. She finished 18th in the individual event at NCAAs, just two places out of the consolation final in the event, making her another potential scorer among returners.
They also have rising sophomore Mia West coming back as a potential point scorer. At last year’s ACC Championships, she swam the 200 free (14th), 200 fly (20th), and 200 IM (18th), and she didn’t qualify for the NCAA Championships in any of her events.
Despite her more distance-oriented line-up, she had a few monster relay splits for the Bears at ACCs and NCAAs. On the 200 freestyle relay at ACCs, she split 21.48, one of the fastest splits in the field. She followed that up at NCAAs by splitting 21.63 and 47.35 on the freestyle relays. If we add half a second for relay starts to both of these swims, she would find herself under the cutline and in scoring position in both events.
They are also bringing in a hoard of freshmen that will participate in varying distances of freestyle, though they tend to be slightly more distance-oriented.
Claire Weinstein and Teagan O’Dell are both coming in this year and are both potential ‘A’ finalists in the 200 freestyle. Weinstein comes in at 1:41.10 from December, and is the best LCM 200 freestyler in the country right now. Her time would have been 4th in the “A’ final last year behind two seniors. O’Dell is also coming in under the ‘A’ final cutline at 1:42.27, which would have been 5th last year, though O’Dell has a potential conflict with the 100 back or 400 IM.
They are also strong 100 freestylers with Weinstein coming in at 47.95 and O’Dell at 47.74, which are potential scoring swims, but it seems unlikely that either one will swim the 100 freestyle.
Annie Jia is another incoming freshman who is under the NCAA cutline in the 100 free with her 48.07, which would have been 21st last year. Her 50 free of 22.05 is another potential swim, especially if she can drop under 22 in the coming season.
Distance Freestyle: ★★★★
Cal’s distance freestyle group is going to be very strong this year, which seems like an odd thing to say for a group that returns zero points from last year’s NCAA Championships. The fastest distance swimmer last year, Maya Geringer, brought in 17 points in the 500 free and 1650, finishing 5th in the 1650. Geringer graduated last season, but the distance group coming in will easily step into her role.
The top returning NCAA 500 freestyler on the roster is Ava Chavez. Chavez did not earn a qualification in the 500, but she was invited in the 200 and swam the 500 as well. She ultimately finished 34th in the event at 4:41.29, a new best time but not under the NCAA cutline. The 2nd fastest 500 freestyler last year, Camille Henveaux will also be back this year after her 4:40.14 at ACCs was just over half a second off the cutline. They are a bit away from scoring position in either distance event, but the freshman coming in will help that cause.
The incoming group will be led by #3-ranked Claire Weinstein, who has the potential to walk away with national titles in both the 500 and 1650 freestyle events. Her 500 freestyle time of 4:29.38 makes her the 5th fastest American in history and would have won the event at last year’s championships. That time comes from 2023, but in March, she dipped back under 4:30 to swim 4:29.42, which will still make her one of the favorites for the title.
Weinstein will also be a favorite in the 1650, though her lifetime best would have finished 7th last year. She finished 2nd in the event at the 2025 USA Swimming Nationals in long course, defeating reigning NCAA champion Jillian Cox head-to-head. It is not clear if her long course prowess in the event will effectively translate, but she clearly has the skill set required to do well.
Ella Cosgrove is also coming in as a likely finalist in the 500 freestyle with her 4:37.98 from December placing her comfortably in ‘B’ finals position, and it would have been 12th at last year’s NCAAs. She has some improvements to make in the 1650 if she wants to finish in the top 16 there as well, with her best time of 16:19.08 putting her over the cutline in the event and more than 20 seconds out of scoring position.
Backstroke: ★★★½
The Bears will return their top 100 backstroker from last season in Mary-Ambre Moluh. She finished 7th in the event at NCAAs in 50.13, which was about half a second off her lifetime best of 49.68 from the Minnesota Invite. If she had swum that time in March, she would have been 4th overall, bringing in 15 points.
Finley Anderson is also returning, and she swam the 100 and 200 backstroke individually at NCAAs, finishing 45th in the 100 and 36th in the 200. She had the 2nd fastest 200 backstroke time on the team last year at 1:52.88, which is about a second out of ‘B’ finals in the event.
They did lose 10th place finisher in the 100 back, Isabelle Stadden, who was also their fastest 200 backstroker in 1:49.96. She was 8th at NCAAs in the event, but they have swimmers coming in who will help replace those points.
Teagan O’Dell is the fastest 100 and 200 backstroker from the incoming freshman class with best times of 50.70 and 1:49.16, respectively. Her 200 backstroke time is a near lock for the ‘A’ final, with 8th place out of prelims clocking in at 1:50.55. Her swim would have been 5th overall in the final, ahead of Stadden’s 8th-place performance.
O’Dell’s participation in the 100 backstroke seems unlikely because her time is a comfortable ‘B’ finals swim, but she could be an ‘A’ finalist in the 200 freestyle or the 400 IM, which are the same day. Her schedule seems to be leaning more towards the 200 free/back/IM instead of the 100 back, but if she does swim it, she will likely score points.
Breaststroke: ★★★
Cal had one individual breaststroke scorer last year in rising senior Abigail Herscu. Her 2:08.47 in the 200 breaststroke was 8th place overall, making her one of three returning NCAA scorers for the Bears this season.
In the prelims, she had set a new best time of 2:07.60 to qualify for the final, but even if she repeated that swim, she still would have been 8th overall. She also swam the 100 breast, finishing 28th with a new personal best of 59.97
They also had Margaux McDonald in the breaststroke events last year, but she did not bring in any points, finishing 31st in the 100 (59.57), and 24th in the 200 (2:09.45). McDonald graduated after last season, and will not be returning.
The Bears didn’t bring in any points in the 100 breaststroke, but they have two very strong 100 breaststrokers coming in who could shake up the rankings. The #12-ranked recruit, Elle Scott, had the fastest 100 breaststroke time in the class at 58.56. This will make her the only swimmer on the Cal team under 59 seconds in the event, and puts her just outside of ‘A’ final scoring position at NCAAs, coming in at 13th overall with 58.30 placing 8th.
Scott’s 200 breast of 2:08.62 would have been first alternate last year, less than a tenth outside of finals scoring position.
They also have Norwegian Worlds qualifier Silje Slyngstadli in the breaststroke events. She was 29th in the 100 breast at the World Championships in Singapore and her best time of 1:07.53 converts to 59.83, which is about three tenths over the cutline.
Butterfly: ★★★★
Lilou Ressencourt was the top butterfly swimmer for the Bears last year. She should have one more year of eligibility with the team, and she will be crucial in leading the young talent coming in.
Ressencourt scored points in both butterfly events last year, finishing 13th in the 100 fly at 51.19 and 11th in the 200 fly at 1:53.41. Her 100 fly was a personal best time, but her 200 fly was a slight add from her best of 1:53.12. That time would have been 9th in the final.
Lizzy Cook and Lea Polonsky also swam the fly events at NCAAs, but both swimmers have graduated and will not be returning.
There are two strong freshmen butterflyers coming in, and each will take one of the distances. Annie Jia was our #5 recruit, and her 100 fly time of 50.35 would have been the fastest on the Cal team last year, and it would have been 5th overall at NCAAs with two seniors ahead of her. She will likely not swim the 200 fly at the meet, since her 100 freestyle is also a potential ‘A’ finals swim.
The 200 fly will be covered by Olympic semifinalist Airi Mitsui. The Japanese butterflyer is coming in with a LC lifetime best of 2:06.54 from the Olympic Trials in 2024, which converts to 1:51.79. This would have tied for 4th at last year’s NCAAs, and makes her a very strong point scorer for Cal. Her 100 fly time of 58.67 converts to 51.70, which is just outside of scoring position in the event.
With Ressencourt projected to reprise her finals swims in both events and Jia and Mitsui splitting ‘A’ finals swims, the Cal butterfly group could be very strong.
IM: ★★½
The IM events are the weakest spot for Cal, which may seem odd given that they have Teagan O’Dell coming in as the World University Games silver medalist in both events.
The Bears graduated their only NCAA IMers in Lea Polonsky and Margaux McDonald last season, and they don’t have any returning swimmers who are within a second of the NCAA cutline in either event.
O’Dell will be their strongest IMer and her 200 IM time of 1:52.61 from Winter Juniors would comfortably qualify for the ‘A’ final and would have finished 8th overall.
The 400 IM is where there are question marks with O’Dell and her schedule. The event is on the same day as the 200 freestyle, where her best time would easily qualify for the ‘A’ final, bringing in at least 11 points for the Bears.
Her 400 IM time of 4:05.22 would have tied with Campbell Stoll for 9th, which puts her one spot out of the ‘A’ final. If she doesn’t swim the event, Cal doesn’t appear to have anyone else who is in a finals position. If she does swim it, though, they could be sacrificing a top-five finish, and the associated points.
They will also have Elle Scott in the 200 IM at 1:56.25, which is less than a second from a ‘B’ finals swim, and is under the NCAA cutline.
The other IMers will be incoming freshman Alexa McDevitt (1:58.65/4:12.57) and rising sophomore Mia West (1:57.05).
Diving: ★
Cal had one diver, Violet Williamson, at last season’s NCAA Championships. Williamson finished 43rd in both events, scoring no points.
This was an improvement from 2024, though, where they had no divers entered at the meet, though they don’t seem poised to improve this finish a ton this year. They did not bring in any divers for their recruiting class, but they also didn’t graduate anyone.
They will have the same four divers on the roster this year who came together to bring in 22 points at the ACC Championships.
Relays: ★★★★
Note that the grading system doesn’t align perfectly for relays as double points.
Relay grading system:
- 5 star (★★★★★) – 31+ points per relay event
- 4 star (★★★★) – 22-30 relay points per event
- 3 star (★★★) – 12-21 relay points per event
- 2 star (★★) – 5-11 relay points per event
- 1 star (★) – 0-4 relay points per event
Cal’s relays are interesting, and have the potential to be very high scoring events for the team. They scored 94 points in relays last year, with one top five finish in the 200 medley relay, where they were 4th overall.
They are losing at least two swimmers from all of their relays, and their 200 medley relay is losing three of the four.
Here is a breakdown of the relay finishes and lineups from last year:
| Relay | 2025 NCAA Result (Time) | Lineup | Losing | Potential Adds | Season-Best Time |
| 200 FR | 7th (1:26.96) | Moluh, West, Stadden, Stone | Stadden, Stone | O’Dell, Jia, Weinstein | 1:26.69 |
| 400 FR | 10th (3:11.22) | Moluh, West, Polonsky, Stone | Polonsky, Stone | Weinstein, O’Dell, Jia | Same |
| 800 FR | 10th (6:55.79) | Chavez, Polonsky, Stadden, Ressencourt | Polonsky, Stadden | O’Dell, Weinstein, Cosgrove | Same |
| 200 MR | 4th (1:33.54) | Stadden, Polonsky, Stone, Moluh | Stadden, Polonsky, Stone | O’Dell, Jia, Scott | Same |
| 400 MR | 11th (3:28.23) | Stadden, Polonsky, Ressencourt, Moluh | Stadden, Polonsky | Jia, O’Dell, Scott, Slyngstaldi, Weinstein | Same |
Despite major losses, Cal’s relays look really strong and could perform significantly better than they did last year.
Their biggest improvement will likely come in the 800 freestyle relay, where they are bringing in two 1:42 or faster 200 freestylers along with Chavez and Ressencourt who have both been 1:44. This could cut more than three seconds off their 10th place time from last season. A three-second drop could put them in the bronze medal position. They also have the option to use Ella Cosgrove as a member of the 800 freestyle relay with her lifetime best flat start of 1:45.07 making her likely to split 1:44 from a flying start.
On the 200 freestyle relay, they have O’Dell, Weinstein, and Jia coming in all with best 50 freestyle times that make them serious threats for very strong relay swims on top of the fact that they are returning Moluh and West at 21.73 and 21.63, respectively.
The 400 freestyle relay is a similar story with Moluh and West both returning but the freshman trio of O’Dell, Jia, and Weinstein will be fighting for relay positions as well.
The medley relays is where the orders will see the most change. The 200 medley was their highest finishing relay at last year’s NCAAs, while the 400 medley was their lowest.
In the 200 medley, they lose three of their four swimmers, but they gain Jia’s incredible speed in either the free or fly leg. O’Dell can’t swim every relay, and this is the one that seems to be her most likely skip which puts Moluh and Jia in an interesting spot.
The Bears could use West on the freestyle leg, which opens Jia up for the fly and Moluh for the backstroke. Jia could also swim free and Ressencourt could swim fly, which again opens Moluh up to swim the backstroke leg.
If O’Dell does swim it, she would likely take the backstroke position, leaving Jia on fly and Moluh on free.
The breaststroke leg will likely go to Elle Scott with Lea Polonsky graduating. Scott has been 26.74 on the breaststroke leg before, which isn’t at the top of the NCAA, but should keep Cal in a strong position with really strong splits surrounding her.
The 400 medley relay is a similar story, though O’Dell is more likely to participate in this one on the backstroke leg, leaving Jia to the fly and either West or Moluh to the freestyle, depending on who has relay swims left. The breaststroke leg will probably be a battle between Scott and Slyngstald,i depending on who is stronger in the 100.
Cal is looking to massively improve their relay scores from last year, potentially earning top five finishes in a few relays over the course of the meet.
Total Stars: 25.5/40
2025-26 Outlook
Cal had the top recruiting class for 2025, and they will be looking to make a massive jump in the NCAA rankings this season.
Mary-Ambre Moluh, Lilou Ressencourt, and Abigail Herscu will be huge in leading a very young team through the NCAA season as the only returning individual point scorers from last year’s NCAAs.
Their Championship placement will rely a lot on a group of freshmen that, while young, have a lot of international experience under their belts. They don’t have any NCAA experience, though, which can be a whole different beast. If the class is on, Cal could be a top-five team this year.
Weinstein could walk home with multiple NCAA titles as a freshman, and O’Dell is looking at ‘A’ finals swims across the board, which will be huge for point totals.
When it comes to their performance at the ACC Championships, Virginia and Stanford will still be a tough mountain to climb, but they have their sights set on Louisville and a 3rd place finish.
They still have some areas for improvement if they want to walk home with a title, and one of their toughest challenges is going to be determining event placements for some of their top swimmers.
WOMEN’S 2025-26 COLLEGE PREVIEW INDEX
| RANK (2024) | TEAM | SPRINT FREE | DISTANCE FREE | BACK | BREAST | FLY | IM | DIVING | RELAY | TOTAL |
| 1 | Virginia Cavaliers | |||||||||
| 2 | Stanford Cardinal | |||||||||
| 3 | Texas Longhorns | |||||||||
| 4 | Indiana Hoosiers | |||||||||
| 5 | Tennessee Volunteers | |||||||||
| 6 | Florida Gators | |||||||||
| 7 | Louisville Cardinals | |||||||||
| 8 | Cal Golden Bears | ★★★½ | ★★★★ | ★★★½ | ★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★½ | ★ | ★★★★ | 25.5/40 |
| 9 | Michigan Wolverines | ★★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★ | ★★½ | ★ | ★★★★★ | 26.5/40 |
| 10 | NC State Wolfpack | ★★★ | ★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★ | ★★ | ★ | ★★★★ | 23/40 |
| 11 | USC Trojans | ★★★★ | ★★★ | ★ | ★½ | ★ | ★★★½ | ★★ | ★★★ | 19/40 |
| 12 | Wisconsin Badgers | ★★ | ★ | ★★½ | ★★ | ★ | ★ | ★ | ★★ | 12.5/40 |
Teagan gives me Liz Pelton vibes from her freshman year. 200IM/2free/2back all top 5 at ncaas.
This class is a mixed blessing with a lot of ramifications for the future. #s 2,3,5,18 is a monster vote of confidence in the program but they absolutely have to come through in March. Anything less than top five may be regarded as a failure. I recognize the past college freshman performances of Sandpiper women makes Weinstein kind of iffy at this point. Personally, I have confidence in her consistency.
After the post-McKeever recruiting and scoring collapse I think this is the year that can vault Cal back into the annual title discussion, but it’s far from a sure thing.
I think O’Dell will be their star over the new few years, and may develop into one of team USA’s stars ahead of LA. She’s akin to Ella Eastin, Kathleen Baker, and Alex Walsh with her versatility and range.
I am not going to hold my breath with a Sand Pipers swimmer. Not discrediting what Weinstein has done, but seeing Sullivan, Sims, and Grimes regress scares me.
not that you’re wrong at all, but it is worth mentioning that Weinstein was already an age group star before moving to Sandpipers, unlike the other three who were always there
yeah, fingers crossed Dave doesn’t screw it up.
Maybe the NCAA 20-hour training rule is prohibitive to middle- and long-distance swimmers preforming at their capabilities.
Sullivan battled injuries in college so you can’t really say she struggled in college due to that.
I think Grimes started struggling even before arriving at UVA, so it may not have been UVA. I realize she had a pretty big drop once after just 3 months of being at UVA, but some kids struggle their first year. Lets give her a little more time.
Sims is the one I’m not sure of. I thought she was swimming best times or right on them during her last season with Sandpipers, but for whatever reason her free really struggled at UF. Her back improved but that’s probably because she put more emphasis on back. I’m very interested to see… Read more »
Cal also looses 2024 NCAA A finalist Mia Kragh
I am curious about what happened to Kragh last year. Didn’t swim in any meets after the mid season invite.
Also so not underestimate the Magic Man Marsh and his ability to draw amazing mid-year talent to Cal. Anticipating a Marshesque mid-year haul, the Gal Bears could sneak into the top 4 at NCAAs.
I guess it makes sense given how the math works out, but I just feel like Cal is going to place better than the place the amount of stars is predicting for them. I expect Weinstein to win 2 events fairly easily. Moluh will do better this year now that she has an NCAAs under her belt. O’Dell is gonna get them a lot of points. They seem to be covered all over.
ok I will bite, what 2 events do you expect Weinstein to win easily? Yes, that is a rhetorical question. I might make her a slight favorite in the 500,but almost a co-favorite, and at best a co-favorite, actually I think tri-favorite if there is such a thing, in the 200. Abraham and Balduccini have both been faster.
I think she wins the 500/200. Her 200 free split from short course worlds (1:50.3) in the 800 free relay concerts to a 1:39.3 in yards
Obviously SCY and LCM are different, but I think we all assume Weinstein will be able to take the 200 at NCAAs. You’d think a 1:54 LCM would translate into a 1:40 or better in SCY. I don’t think her walls are bad.
I think she’s a bigger favorite in the 500.
No one else in the 200 has incredible walls either. Abraham and Balduccini both have average walls as well. All of their strengths come from their on-the-top speed, and Weinstein is faster than both of them LCM. If Sims and Shackell swim the 200 that makes things a little different but I don’t think Claire would be losing to someone because of a disadvantage on the walls.
200 and the 500, and she beat Cox in the mile at World Trials after an enormous schedule. So the 1650 could definitely make it a sweep. Just hope the post-Sandpipers regression doesn’t get her.
Sprint Free – NCSU -3*, Cal – 3.5* but USC with 4* ? 🤔
Yea, Minna Abraham. Plus their new Hungarian.
Cal loses some stars because Moluh was off at NCAAs.
USC 0-22-14 (36)
NC St 1-0-0 (1)
Cal 2.5-15 (grad)-0 (17.5)
I’m not quite sure what you’re complaining about here, the rankings match what happened last year. Abraham alone is almost a 4 star to herself.
The stars are only for NCAA points. So if you have a few stud swimmers who can score 20+ points at NCAAs going to do way better on this then a team that is really deep with NCAA qualifiers.