2026 Women’s NCAA Division I Championship: Day 1 Finals Preview

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
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• Live Results

Day 1 Heat Sheets

The first finals session of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Championships are here. With the changes to the lineup, the women’s 1650 free will kick off the evening with the top eight seeds. Then, the top eight seeds of the 200 medley relay and the 800 free relay will race. Awards will happen after each race on night 1, but nights 2-4 will have awards at the end of the session.

Event Lineup:

• 1650 free
• 200 medley relay
• 800 free relay

Jillian Cox of Texas will look to kick off the evening and defend her NCAA title in the 1650 free. Cox won last year in a 15:33.54, about three seconds off her lifetime best. She swam a season best 15:32.75 last month and is the top seed by almost 11 seconds in the event as Georgia freshman Kennedi Dobson is the #2 seed with a 15:43.72. Dobson swam alongside Cox at SECs, so the two are familiar with each other as opponents.

Virginia’s Katie Grimes will look to make the top eight as she enters as the #3 seed with a 15:45.20. Grimes was 13th last year in a 15:56.31. Her lifetime best is a 15:26.17 back from December 2022 when she was with the Sandpipers of Nevada. Her ACC-winning entry time is her fastest since she arrived at Virginia last January. Big Ten Champion Gena Jorgenson of Nebraska was 6th last year and will look to move up the ranks this year as she is the #4 seed with a 15:45.36.

The Virginia women enter the 200 medley relay as the top seed with a 1:31.91 that they swam at midseason but the team fell to Louisville in the event at last month’s ACC Championships. It looks to be a rematch as Louisville is the #2 seed with a 1:32.26 that they swam at ACCs while Virginia was 2nd at ACCs in a 1:32.46. The Stanford women were also not far behind at ACCs and enter as the #4 seed with a 1:32.94.

Virginia will look to defend their title in the event as they won last year in a 1:31.10, but they were they only sub-1:33 team at the time as Stanford was 2nd in a 1:33.00. They notably graduated three out of their four relay legs in the event as Claire Curzan is in her junior season.

The 800 free relay was the only relay at Virginia did not win a year ago as Stanford won in a 6:46.98, finishing four seconds ahead of Virginia’s 6:51.29. Virginia will look to take back the title as the top seed this year with a 6:45.34, while Stanford graduated two out of its four relay legs from last year and are the #5 seed with a 6:51.07. The Michigan women enter as the #2 seed with a 6:48.02 that they swam to win Big Tens last month.