2026 Women’s NCAA Division I Championship: Day 3 Prelims 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
• Preview Index
• Psych Sheet
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2

Friday Morning Heat Sheets

Event Lineup:

• 100 back
• 200 breast
• 500 free
• 50 free
• 400 medley relay

The 100 backstroke will kick off the morning as Claire Curzan enters as the top seed with a 48.38. Curzan was 2nd in the 100 fly last night and swam fly on Virginia’s medley relay, so this will be her first backstroke swim of the meet. She will look to defend her title from last year as she won in a 49.11, only 0.01 ahead of Bella Sims who touched in a 49.12. Sims is the #2 seed with a 49.12 and is coming off of a win last night in the 400 IM.

Stanford’s Lucy Bell will look to set herself up to defend her NCAA title in the 200 breast. Bell is the top seed in the event with a 2:02.67, over a second and a half than her 2:04.28 that she won the event last year in. Virginia’s Aimee Canny was 7th last year but enters as the #2 seed after posting a huge lifetime best 2:02.97 at ACCs last month. Louisville’s Anastasia Gorbenko was 4th in the 100 breast last night, and enters the morning as the #3 seed with a 2:05.02.

After winning the 1650 freestyle on Wednesday night, Jillian Cox of Texas will be back in the pool for the 500 free. She is the defending champion in the event and looks to battle it out with Kennedi Dobson of Georgia. Cox earned the win at SECs last night and is the top seed with a 4:30.53 while Dobson’s entry time is a 4:30.70. Katie Grimes of Virginia was 3rd in the 1650 free on Wednesday and is the #3 seed here with a 4:33.78.

The 50 free will conclude the individual side of the session as Tennessee’s Camille Spink is the top seed with a 20.87. Spink was 6th in the 200 free last night and led off the team’s 200 free relay last night in a 21.00. That was the 2nd fastest lead off split as Curzan, who is not swimming the 50 free, led Virginia’s relay off in a 20.85. Torri Huske won the 100 fly last night and will look for another win as the #2 seed with a 21.01. Michigan’s Brady Kendall and Virginia’s Sara Curtis are both the #3 seed with a 21.09.

The 400 medley relay will conclude the morning with two heats. Texas once again is the #9 seed with a 3:26.37. They have been the #9 seed in both the 200 medley and 200 free relay so far this week and have moved into the top eight in both.