2026 W. NCAA Previews: Curzan Eyeing 100 Back Repeat as Champ With Record-Setting Intention

2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Wednesday, March 18 – Saturday, March 21, 2026
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Defending Champions: Virginia (5x)
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results

Women’s 100 Backstroke

• NCAA Record: 48.10 – Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• American Record: 48.10 – Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• U.S. Open Record: 48.10 – Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• Championship Record: 48.26 – Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2023)
• 2025 Champion: Claire Curzan, Virginia – 49.11

The 2026 women’s 100 backstroke carries a good load of weight when it comes to the potential history that could be made; it is a field that is lacking a freshman presence, but still features seven of the top 25 fastest performers in history, including the defending champion in Claire Curzan of Virginia, who enters as the #2 performer in history (48.38), only behind her former Cavalier teammate Gretchen Walsh, who holds the NCAA, American, and US Open Records in 48.10, as well as the Championship Record at 48.26.

The rest of the field is still pops off the page, with the likes of 2025 runner-up Bella Sims of Michigan in the #2 seed (49.12), a trio of sophomores in NC State’s Erika Pelaez (49.54), Cal’s Mary-Ambre Moluh (49.64), and Wisconsin’s Margaret Wanezek (49.71). With the absence of a consolation final and the top 16 swimmers entered at these championships all under 51 seconds, the margin for error will be narrow if these athletes want a shot at the podium in Atlanta.

Sophomores/Juniors Reign Supreme

The top of this event field is overwhelmingly dominated by sophomores and juniors, with six of the top 12 entered seeds being sophomores (or redshirt sophomores) and five of those 12 in their junior (or redshirt junior) years. It is not until we get to the #8 seed that we see some senior representation: Pittsburgh’s Claire Jansen‘s 50.32, which she swam to finish 4th at the ACC championships. Of last season’s top 16 at NCAAs, five were either seniors or 5th-year swimmers who have since graduated.

Alabama’s Emily Jones is the next fastest senior, entering at 10th with her SEC runner-up performance of 50.59. Each of these seniors has managed to swim career-bests as of late, and will more than likely need to repeat that success if they want to be in contention for the final here.

As mentioned, the lack of a freshman is a bit of a shock, with the top-entered freshman here, #26 seed Alana Berlin of Stanford, at 51.40, over three seconds off Curzan’s top time. The sophomore class really amplifies the intrigue in this race. With Pelaez, Moluh, and Wanezek all sitting as top 12 performers in history, while #7 seed Leah Shackley of NC State also sneaks into the top 25 all time with her lifetime best of 50.06 from these championships last season at 50.06, a time that earned her a 6th place finish.

Potential for an All Sub-50 Final

Bella Sims (photo: Michigan Photography)

Last season, the championship final only had four sub-50 swims, courtesy of Curzan (49.11), Sims (49.12), Indiana’s Miranda Grana (49.62), and Southern Illinois’s Celia Pulido (49.77). This year, we have six under 50 so far, with another three within a half second of dipping under that mark. There are a few shoe-ins for this; Curzan, who will be hunting for Walsh’s slew of records after becoming the #2 performer all-time at ACC’s with her 48.38. Sims is another who has been under 50 12 times in her career, including a sub-49 swim at last season’s SEC Championships, where she went the now 11th fastest time ever.

Outside of those two near guarantees, we have Pelaez, who just broke 50 for the first time at ACCs, but did so in a big way, throwing down a major 49.54 best time, dropping nine tenths from her former top time from the NC State Invite in November. Grana, who was 3rd in this event last year, has been under 50 twice, most recently at the Ohio State Invite in November (49.89), but would’ve been 4th here with her NCAA Championships time from last season. Moluh really put herself in NCAA podium contention at ACCs, swimming a career-best 49.64 after not touching her previous best of 49.68 since December of 2024. This time is nearly half a second better than her NCAA Championships time from a season ago, when she finished 7th in 50.13.

While it’s no guarantee they will make the final, especially given the need for a big prelim swim to get into it. The finalist bubble is going to be enticing, with Shackley, Jansen, Tennessee’s Jillian Crooks, and Jones all entered within a half-second of each other. None of these four women has ever been under 50 in their careers, but with the stage set and the lights bright, any one of them could pop off a career-defining swim.

One other swimmer to keep a keen eye on is Cal’s Mia West, who is entered with a dual meet time from January, in which she swam a 50.78 against UCLA. The decision comes as a bit of a surprise, considering the fact that she only swam this event that one time this season, which was a huge time drop from her former best of 56.31 from September of 2024. She notably swapped out two of her events that she swam at ACCs, including the 200 fly, in which she won the ACC title. She could find herself dropping even more time and putting herself in a position to race in that top 8, especially racing this race at a championship meet.

Returning ‘A’ Finalists

The top three of Curzan, Sims, and Grana from 2025 all are back looking to repeat on the podium. As for the other championship finalists from that race, only Shackley (6th) and Moluh (7th) return. This paves the way for a lot of potential ‘A’ final suitors to step up and claim their spot.

Miranda Grana (photo: Jack Spitser)

Grana has had an up-and-down year in this event, dipping under 51 four times, most recently leading off Indiana’s Big Ten Championship 400 medley relay in 50.87. Individually, she was only as fast as 51.33 at those championships, which earned her a 3rd place finish. Last season, she was 2nd at Big Tens in 50.69 before a huge 49.62 at NCAAs.

Shackley has been very consistent, repeatedly swimming under 51 this season, with the exception of her prelims 51.04 at ACCs, later swimming 50.48. Her 50.09 at the NC State Invite earlier this season is a very positive sign, as it is the 2nd-fastest time of her career. She is on track to replicate a similar performance to last season; before her NCAA performance in 2025, Shackley swam her fastest time of that season in November of 2024 in a dual against Georgia in 50.22, and then swam a career best at NCAAs in 50.06. If she were to have a similar drop here, she would sit around the 49.9 range, which moves her into the top 18 all-time.

SwimSwam’s Picks:

Darkhorse Pick:

Anya Mostek (Harvard) – Mostek is a four-time Ivy League Champion in this event, most recently becoming the first sub-52 100 backstroker in Ivy League history, after breaking her own Ivy League and Meet records with a major 51.31 in the 100 back final, before touching under 52 again in the same night, leading off the Crimson’s 400 medley relay in 51.45. These swims destroyed her 2025 winning time of 52.05. Mostek is making her 2nd NCAA Championship appearance, after finishing 40th in this event in 2024 with a time of 53.84.

Anya Mostek (Photo courtesy Ryan Samson/Ivy League)

She enters as the #24 seed. With this being her final collegiate race, she will look to leave it all on the line here. Her seed time sits just three tenths of a second off the #16 seed (50.95 from Catherine Choate of Florida), and she could sneak her way into that top 16 and score some points in the prelims.