22 Women’s Teams Have At Least 1 NCAA Relay ‘A’ Cut, 3 Away From 2024 NCAAs Total Qualifiers

The holiday break in the NCAA calendar is fast approaching. With two NCAA records already broken in Division I women’s swimming, it’s safe to say that this has been a fast start to the season. That fast start isn’t just in the individual events—it’s carried over to the relays. So, like we did with the men, it’s time to take a look at the NCAA relay qualification picture through the first half of the 2024-25 NCAA season.

In case you missed the men’s article or just need a refresher, here’s a quick digest on how relays qualify for NCAAs:

• The simplest way to qualify relays for NCAAs is to hit the “A” cut, formally known as the “Qualifying Standard” (QS) in a relay.
• Once a team has the qualifying standard in one relay, it can enter all relays where it’s earned the “B” cut, formally known as the “Provisional Standard” (PS).
• Teams with four swimmers qualified in individual events can swim relays in which they have the “B” cut.
• Relays are qualified “to the team” not the individual swimmers. That means teams can take whichever swimmers they want to use on the relay.
• Teams must have at least one individual invite to send relays.

In general, NCAA relay qualification is an important marker for all teams. Relays score double the points of an individual event, so it’s crucial for any team that wants to finish highly in the standings to qualify and score in all five relays. It’s also important for teams further down the standings. Relays point to a program’s overall success as it shows that more than one swimmer is contributing to the team and qualifying a relay for NCAAs can be a signal of a program on the rise.

Taking the time to look at the relay qualification picture now as opposed to only after the qualification period is over gives insight into a season’s trends, as well as a look into a program’s early strengths and weaknesses.

And an undeniable trend this season? Teams are going fast. After the midseason invites, 22 women’s programs have swum at least one “A” cut. That’s significantly up from the 18 at this point last season and just three away from the total number that qualified a relay for NCAAs at all last season, which includes teams that qualified by having four swimmers punch their tickets in individual events.

Four schools have all five “A” relay cuts—Cal, Indiana, Stanford, and Tennessee. Don’t let that trick you into thinking that Virginia isn’t the frontrunner in the relays, though. The Cavaliers don’t swim the 800 freestyle relay until conferences, so they will never hit all five “A” cuts by December. They lead the NCAA in the other four relays though, and will field an 800 freestyle relay team that will compete heavily for the NCAA title.

Interestingly, none of these four schools were among the teams that had five “A” cuts at this point last season. Those schools were Texas, Florida, and USC; this year, Florida and Texas have four “A” cuts and one “B” cut, while USC has two “A” cuts and two “B” cuts. So, while the women’s programs have seen an uptick in schools with all five “A” cuts like the men’s side, rather than adding schools to the existing list like the men’s side, there was a complete shuffle among the women’s programs.

Stanford, of course, got a bump from Torri Huske returning to the NCAA team, while Anna Peplowski, Miranda Grana, and Kristina Paegle have been big for the Hoosiers. Tennessee has picked up ground with Camille Spink really coming into her own in the sprints and still has room for improvement once breaststroker and sprinter Mona McSharry returns for the second term.

The schools that didn’t have an “A” cut at this point last year that now do are UNC, Auburn, Florida State, Notre Dame, and Pitt. The UNC women have matched the men by making big improvements in their relays this season, as Skyler Smith, Greer Pattison, Georgia Nel, and Ali Pfaff have impressed. After earning only one “A” cut in the 2023-24 season, the Tar Heels already have three, hitting the marks in the 200 free, 200 medley, and 400 medley relays. They also picked up a “B” cut in the 400 free relay.

Auburn’s relays have been strong all year as the Tigers have relied on them to hand them more than one dual meet win.

Neither the Notre Dame nor Pitt women qualified a relay for the 2024 NCAA Championships, marking big steps forward for both programs. A strong group of underclassmen have highlighted Notre Dame’s start to the season, suggesting this isn’t just a one-off for the Fighting Irish. Meanwhile, Pitt’s 200 medley relay swam an “A” cut at midseason, qualifying the program’s first relay for NCAAs since 2006—a significant accomplishment for Claire Jansen, Cecilia Viberg, Sophie Yendell, and Avery Kudlac but also second-year head coach Chase Kreitler.

While the Sun Devil women had an “A” cut at this point last season, they’ve also made big progress this season. Highlighted by several new additions, the ASU women’s relays have reset school records multiple times this fall and have now swum two “A” cuts and two “B” cuts. That surpasses what they achieved last season, when they qualified three relays for NCAAs with an “A” cut in the 800 free relay and had “B” cuts in the 400 free and 400 medley relays. This year, they’ve got “A” cuts so far in the 200 freestyle and 200 medley relays, marking another shift for the program towards the sprints as Herbie Behm, who ran the sprint group under Bob Bowman, took control as the head coach of the program

On the men’s side, the two schools that had “A” cuts at this point last season that now don’t are the currently suspended Notre Dame team and Texas A&M. That’s a theme in the women’s qualification as well—Texas A&M is the only school that had an “A” cut after invites last season that now doesn’t. The program underwent big changes this offseason, switching to a combined program under first-year Director of Swimming Blaire Anderson.