How Many NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Teams Have Won Every Event in Their History?

Thanks to user swimy22 for inspiring this article with their comment.

Only two women’s NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving teams have won a national championship in every (current) swimming event in program history. The Stanford women have won every race (and the diving sweep too), while the Florida women have won every swimming event and all-but-one diving event.

The Stanford women finished their swimming sweep in 1993 when Lea Loveless (now USC head coach Lea Maurer) won the title in the 200 backstroke. They completed the diving trifecta in 2007 when Cassidy Krug won the women’s 1-meter diving event.

The Florida Gators took considerably-longer to complete their sweep. Florida got within one event by 1989 (thanks in part to powerhouse teams in the first few years of NCAA women’s swimming that included sisters Amy and Tracy Caulkins), but it wasn’t until their NCAA Championship run in 2010 that they added the 200 free relay to their register.

The Florida women still have yet to win a platform title.

Several other programs are creeping closer to this honor. The Georgia women have won everything but the 400 IM and platform diving (though their last ‘new’ event wins in swimming came in 2006). Texas has won everything but the 200 free, surprisingly, in spite of having names like Karlee Bispo, Madisyn Cox, Kim Linehan, Tiffany Cohen, and Whitney Hedgepeth in those events.

They added the 200 fly this year when Emma Sticklen won, and have all of the diving titles, so they’d just need that 200 free to join Stanford in the all-events sweep.

Arizona is just a few events shy thanks to a deep run of success in the 1990s and 2000s, including only one swimming event (200 fly).

The team that’s running up the table to join them is Virginia. They have no diving titles, but are just two swimming events away from a clean sweep in the lanes: they’ve never won the 200 back or the 100 breast.

See the table below for the top teams in NCAA history and their event breakdown.

The NCAA sponsored its first women’s swimming & diving championship in 1982. The men’s championships have been running for much longer, since the 1920s.

All-Time Event Titles

Stanford Florida Georgia Cal Texas Arizona USC Auburn Virginia
50 free 1984 1988 2000* 1985 1988 1995 XXX 2011 2021
100 free 1986 1982 2000* 2009 1989 2008 XXX 2011 2022
200 free 1982 1988 2000* 1986 XXX 1995 1983 2004* 2021
500 free 1982 1986 2006 XXX 1985 2005 1996 2007 2015
1650 free 1982 1986 1989 XXX 1985 1997 2013 2006 2001
100 back 1992 1989 2000* 1999 1985 2005 XXX 2006 2023
200 back 1993 1989 1999 2001 1985 2000* 1996 2004* XXX
100 breast 1991 1982 1998 2006 1985 2010 2008 XXX XXX
200 breast 1984 1982 1998 1988 1985 2001 1994 XXX 2022
100 fly 1986 1982 1996 1985 1983 1991 2018 1997 2022
200 fly 1990 1982 2003 1983 2023 XXX 2011 XXX 2022
200 IM 1986 1982 2000* 2012 1985 2007 1994 2001 2021
400 IM 1989 1982 XXX XXX 1986 2006 1994 2001 2022
1-meter diving 2007 1982 2014 XXX 1997 2013 2002 1993 XXX
3-meter diving 1992 1982 2014 XXX 1989 XXX 2005 XXX XXX
Platform diving 1992 XXX XXX XXX 1997 2023 2002 XXX XXX
200 free relay 1982 2010 1995 2011 1984 1996 XXX XXX 2022
400 free relay 1982 1984 2002 2007 1983 1998 2016 2003 2022
800 free relay 1982 1984 2001 2004* 1987 1998 1994 2003 2021
200 medley relay 1983 1982 2005 2000* 1985 2007 XXX 1994 2022
400 medley relay 1987 1982 2005 2007 1984 2006 XXX 2003 2022

Note: we’ve included the 2000 and 2004 short course meters titles in this list, though they technically aren’t current events.

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Sherry Smit
1 year ago

Has there ever been a swimmer who lost their american record and then got it back?

Swim Alchemist
Reply to  Sherry Smit
1 year ago

Townley Haas is the first swimmer to come to mind. There’s likely many others.

PNW
Reply to  Sherry Smit
1 year ago

Katie Ledecky and Ella Eastin both rebroke the 400 IM AR after the other broke it (Ledecky-Eastin-Ledecky-Eastin in chronological order)

Joel Lin
1 year ago

Fascinating list…just blown away the list is only Stanford alone because Texas has never had an NCAA women’s champion in the 200 free.

After so many greats for the Longhorns over so many decades it is simply mind boggling that the one event they’ve never had a winner in is the plain old 200 yard free. Go figure.

JoeSwimmer
1 year ago

While the Texas women may not have won the 200 free in NCAA competition, Jill Sterkel won the 200 free at the 1981 AIAW (Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) national swimming championships. This is before the NCAA sponsored women’s sports.

Swim Alchemist
1 year ago

For the men, after Will Licon won the 400IM in 2015, I think Eddie Reese had coached a swimmer to win every single event. Texas has won all the diving events, too.

Pau Hana
Reply to  Swim Alchemist
1 year ago

Stanford men seem to have won everything except the platform.

Last edited 1 year ago by Pau Hana
CavaDore
1 year ago

Alexis Wenger (100 Breast) and Courtney Bartholomew (200 Back) were oh so close for UVA. In fact, before the last three years UVA had a little bit of a curse; a handful of close 2nd place finishes for the women (relay and individual).

Timothy
1 year ago

Braden, how about for each event and among these schools, how many titles they have won over those years and which years did they win?

tea rex
1 year ago

That’s it, next year Alex Walsh has to swim the 100 breast, 200 back, and 1m diving.
Seriously though, she could be a title contender in two of the three (at least).

ArtVanDeLegh10
Reply to  tea rex
1 year ago

You think she’s going 1:47 200 back?

jeff
Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
1 year ago

I think so if she seriously trained for it. her PBs coming into college were 1:45.02 in the 200 free, 2:05.87 in the 200 breast, 1:51.42 in the 200 back, and 1:53.69 in the 200 IM.

Breast was her strongest stroke coming in so she dropped the least time there (not counting backstroke), “only” 2.9 seconds, but in free and IM she’s dropped around 3.5 seconds in each and who knows how much in the 200 fly given that her best before college was a 2:08 in middle school.

I might be biased by how Rowdy is always talking about how strong Alex’s middle 100 in the 200 IM is though

Last edited 1 year ago by jeff
Sam M
Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
1 year ago

No but she could score at least 400+ in diving haha

Last edited 1 year ago by Sam M
TH.
1 year ago

Nerding out, love these articles

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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