2026 Women’s Big Ten Championships: Ups/Mids/Downs; Badgers Get 5 100 Breaststrokers into Finals

2026 WOMEN’S BIG TEN SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Dates: Wednesday, February 18–Saturday, February 21
• Location: Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Defending champions: Ohio State women (1x)
• Live Results (also available on Meet Mobile: “2026 B1G Women’s Swim & Dive Championships”)
• Live Video ($): B1G+
• Championship Central
• SwimSwam’s Meet Preview
• Teams: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
• SwimSwam Live Recaps
  • Day 1 Timed Finals | Day 2 Prelims

For those unfamiliar with swimming terminology, the concept of “Ups” and “Downs” is a good way to track which teams performed best at prelims. In prelims, swimmers qualify for one of three finals heats: the top 8 finishers make the A final, places 9 through 16 the B final and places 17 through 24 the C final. In finals, swimmers are locked into their respective final, meaning a swimmer in the B heat (spots 9-16) can only place as high as 9th or as low as 16th, even if they put up the fastest or slowest time of any heat in the final.

With that in mind, we’ll be tracking “Ups,” “Mids” and “Downs” after each prelims session. “Up” refers to swimmers and divers in the A final, “Mid” to B finalists, and “Down” to C finalists.

*these scores and projections do not factor in points from diving

Scores after Day 1:

1. Michigan- 128
2. Ohio State- 108
3. Wisconsin/Indiana- 106
4. –
5. USC- 96
6. Northwestern- 94
7. Minnesota/UCLA- 92
8. –
9. Purdue- 74
10. Nebraska- 72
11. Illinois/Iowa/Penn State-62
12. –
13. –
14. Rutgers- 54

Day 2 Ups/Mids/Downs

The Wolverines will see eight ‘A’ finalists hit the water tonight along with five ‘B’ and three ‘C’ finalists, bringing the team total to 16 for session. Among those finalists will 400 IM top seed Bella Sims, 100 breast #2 seed Letitia Sim, and 100 fly #2 seed Brady Kendall, all fighting for their spot at the top of the podium.

One of the stories of the morning was the showing from the Wisconsin breaststroke group, landing five finalists in the 100 breast final. Freshman Brooke Corrigan made a splash this morning, lowering her own program record in 59.01, one hundredth of a second faster than her previous best time. Joining her in the championship final will be her teammate Hazal Ozkan, who won the first circle seeded heat this morning to claim the 5th fastest time of the prelims. The Badgers will also be well represented in the ‘B’ final in the forms of Catherine Hughes (10th), Bridget McGann (12th), and Arianna Zelen (16th).

Indiana’s Liberty Clark will look to continue her decorated freshman campaign with the Hoosiers as the top seed in the 200 free, where she sits over a second better than the field.

Day 2 Prelims Scoring:

Projected Scores