As in previous years, SwimSwam’s Power Rankings are somewhere between the CSCAA-style dual meet rankings and a pure prediction of NCAA finish order. SwimSwam’s rankings take into account how a team looks at the moment, while keeping the end of the season in mind through things like a team’s previous trajectory and NCAA scoring potential. These rankings are by nature subjective, and a jumping-off point for discussion. If you disagree with any team’s ranking, feel free to make your case in our comments section.
James Sutherland, Braden Keith, Spencer Penland, Robert Gibbs, Yanyan Li, and Anya Pelshaw contributed to this report.
Previous Rankings:
It’s been almost two months since our last Power Rankings. And while we’ve seen plenty of fast swimming already, there hasn’t been a lot of movement in our top 25 rankings. After the writer ballots were in, only nine teams had moved from their pre-season ranking. Despite the fast times, it’s an odd time for programs as a whole–some schools like LSU have raced a lot, while some, like USC, have barely raced before the upcoming midseason invites.
We expect those invites to tell us more about where teams are at, so it’s possible that more movement will come after November. But while there wasn’t a lot of change, especially at the top, more schools got votes this time around as South Carolina and Florida State earned nods for the first time this season.
Honorable Mentions: Utah Utes, South Carolina Gamecocks, Miami (FL) Hurricanes, Florida State Seminoles, Northwestern Wildcats
#25: Virginia Tech Hokies — (Previous Rank: 25)
Carmen Weiler Sastre has been great so far this season, swimming lifetime bests in all three backstroke disciplines. -SK
#24: Arizona State Sun Devils + (Previous Rank: NR)
Newcomers Miriam Sheehan, Julia Ullmann, and Caroline Bentz have teamed up with returner Iza Adame to break the 200 medley relay program record twice already this season. Bentz broke the 100 freestyle school record — the newcomers have been huge for the Sun Devils and injected life into their sprint relays. -SK
#23: Minnesota Golden Gophers — (Previous Rank: 23)
Diving’s going to be big for the Golden Gophers in the postseason but they’ve also been solid in the pool so far this season, only dropping a single dual meet against Wisconsin. -SK
#22: Alabama Crimson Tide — (Previous Rank: 22)
The sprinters continue to boost the Alabama women. -SK
#21: UCLA Bruins — (Previous Rank: 21)
UCLA has only had one official dual meet so far this season (against Arizona, which they won). We’ll hopefully get a better sense of where they’re at at the Ohio State Invite in a couple weeks. -SK
#20: LSU Tigers — (Previous Rank: 20)
LSU’s divers will be crucial for the Tigers’ NCAA standing hopes, but their swimmers are more than pulling their weight and look ready to take a step forward this season. -SK
#19: Purdue Boilermakers — (Previous Rank: 19)
Status quo for the Boilermakers as it’s the divers that will score the bulk of their NCAA points and that’s why they’ve maintained their place in these rankings. -SK
#18: Auburn Tigers -1 (Previous Rank: 17)
Auburn’s relays have come through for them early this season–not only have they been fast, but they’ve been key for them in several dual meet wins. I still think that to push further up the standings they’ll need more individual NCAA swims but this team looks like one ready to convert. They’ll get their first test on earning second swims at mid-season. -SK
#17: UNC Tar Heels — (Previous Rank: 17)
Aranza Vazquez Montano will be key for UNC come the postseason, that hasn’t changed. So far this regular season, the Tar Heels dropped dual against Auburn and Virginia, but managed to win against cross-border rivals South Carolina.
#16: —
(Tie) #15: Ohio State Buckeyes -3 (Previous Rank: 12)
Ohio State is one of two teams that dropped three places in the standings from pre-season to now. They lost a lot of NCAA points to graduation and other teams have made leaps so far this season that push the Buckeyes down. -SK
(Tie) #15: Duke Blue Devils +1 (Previous Rank: 16)
Ali Pfaff right on her lifetime best in the 100 back in an October dual meet against South Carolina? It’s shaping up to be another record-setting season for the Blue Devils in year 2 under Brian Barnes, even after graduating their long-time leader Sarah Foley. -BK
#14: Texas A&M Aggies +1 (Previous Rank: 15)
Texas A&M’s new head coach Blaire Anderson comes from Virginia, where the women’s program far outpaced the men’s. Perhaps it’s unsurprising, then, that the women’s program has been the first to react to the new training. The Aggies have put up some really fast relay times so far this season that are greater than the sum of their parts. -BK
#13: Georgia Bulldogs +1 (Previous Rank: 14)
Georgia’s freestyle crew is dangerous. They’re strongest in the 200 freestyle and above, but their sprint group has shown sparks too through the early part of the season. -SK
#12: USC Trojans -3 (Previous Rank: 9)
The USC women won the Trojan Invite in October, then beat Arizona in a dual meet last weekend. Their opponents so far haven’t been the main competition they’ll face in the postseason. It’s hard to get an indication of where they’re at this season and it’s hard to keep them in the same placement while teams like Louisville and Wisconsin have looked so strong. -SK
#11: Wisconsin Badgers +2 (Previous Rank: 13)
The Wisconsin women are a team built better for big invite meets than dual meets right now, so don’t read too much into their lopsided loss to Michigan vis-a-vis NCAA Championship potential. Getting both Wanezek sisters peaking before Phoebe Bacon graduated could mean new highs for the Badgers. They’ve had a lot of good swimmers in the last 20 years, but it’s been rare to have this many of them overlap. -BK
#10: Michigan Wolverines — (Previous Rank: 10)
I like what Michigan has shown so far in their first couple meets of the season. The return of Letitia Sim after her Olympic gap year is already proving to be critical, and the Wolverines are showing some really solid depth across the other strokes. -SP
The Michigan women have shown their hand way more than the Michigan men early this season. I don’t know what to make of that yet. -BK
#9: Louisville Cardinals +2 (Previous Rank: 11)
Maybe a slightly-deeper Louisville team than last year? In 2024, it seemed like they were one short of a top 4 NCAA finish. West Virginia transfer Mia Cheatwood has already gone a best time in the 100/200 breaststroke, making her a huge under-the-radar addition for the Cardinals. -BK
Louisville has looked excellent through the first few meets. The addition of Israel’s Daria Golovaty looks huge, as she’s already been 4:38 in the 500 and 9:38 in the 1000 this season. -SP
#8: California Golden Bears — (Previous Rank: 8)
This Cal roster is well-rounded and Isabelle Stadden is putting up great times so far this fall. -SP
#7: NC State Wolfpack — (Previous Rank: 7)
Erika Pelaez is making the early case that she’s the most valuable freshman in the NCAA this season. 47.98 and 1:43.14 in her first collegiate meet, which not onyl shows that she’s going to be impactful individually, but that she’ll be a massive boost to the Wolfpack relays. Leah Shackley and Kennedy Noble are a phenomenal backstroke duo as well. -SP
#6: Indiana Hoosiers — (Previous Rank: 6)
There’s a lot to be encouraged by with this Indiana team at this early point of the season. Miranda Grana has been a godsend for the Hoosiers, already having gone 51.04 in the 100 back and 1:50.50 in the 200 back. It looks like Indiana has really great depth in most of the strokes, but we’ll really learn a lot about this team and what they’re capable of when they rest and suit for the mid-season invite. -SP
#5: Tennessee Volunteers — (Previous Rank: 5)
Tennessee is another team we haven’t seen a lot from so far. The Vols have only swum against Louisville so far this season, and that’s the only meet on their schedule until the Tennessee Invite, which starts on November 19. That being said, Tennessee showed in their dual against Louisville that they have depth across all the strokes. There were some highly encouraging swims out of Brooklyn Douthwright and Ella Jansen. Emelie Fast and McKenzie Siroky look like they’ll be a formidable breaststroke duo as well. -SP
#4: Florida Gators — (Previous Rank: 4)
We haven’t seen a ton out of this Florida team yet, so there isn’t too much to judge them on. They’ve looked good overall, but there are a couple areas they seem to be a little thin, which is keeping them behind Virginia and Texas for me. The Gators are going to need some people to step up on the sprint free end of things, as well as breaststroke. -SP
#3: Stanford Cardinal — (Previous Rank: 3)
We only just saw Stanford in their first meet of the season, so that’s really all we have to judge them off so far this season. That being said, Stanford looked very strong against Cal and ASU, enough so that I moved them ahead of Florida on my ballot versus the last round of rankings. -SP
#2: Texas Longhorns — (Previous Rank: 2)
If Virginia didn’t exist, Texas would be far and away the best team out there right now. What the Longhorns have down this fall has been downright impressive. Emma Sticklen, the back-to-back defending NCAA champion in the 200 fly, has already been faster this season than she went to win the 200 fly at NCAAs either of the past 2 years. Piper Enge was just the shot in the arm this breaststroke group needed after losing Lydia Jacoby and Anna Elendt. Angie Coe is looking fantastic early on in her sophomore season. -SP
#1: Virginia Cavaliers — (Previous Rank: 1)
There’s not much to say here, really. Gretchen Walsh has been incredible, even by her standards, in the first few meets. The additions of Claire Curzan and Leah Hayes look to be as massive as expected. Virginia remains the best team in the country. -SP
when will you do men?
Bentz also broke the ASU school record in the 50 with the first ever Sun Devil performance under 22 at :21.88.
Nice to see FSU get votes! Mid season will be exciting. Interesting how lower ranked teams seemingly rely more on divers during championships.
Go Bears!
Didn’t Louisville beat Tennessee head to head already? Not sure how you can have the Vols 4 spots ahead.
This is not a dual meet poll.
Coach Kredich has found the keys to great training and recruiting athletes who aspire to improve. He will have the Lady Vols firing on all cylinders at NCAAs – They WILL swim lights out and finish 3rd. BAM.
I feel like their taper history says otherwise. I think they’ve gone 1/7 the past 7 years hitting a taper at NCAAs.
Tennessee was also without McSharry, Rathwell, and Jillian Crooks…three NCAA scorers and huge pieces
South Carolina beat Duke in a duel meet and North Carolina beat South Carolina in the same weekend and Auburn beat North Carolina that same weekend on the road? Doesn’t seem like Duke belongs ahead of North Carolina or Auburn…perhaps time will tell. Alabama also beat LSU head to head last weekend. I know these are far from perfect rankings but I’d think any wins in duel meets would be a good factor to include in power rankings.
There’s a separate poll that focuses on dual meet results put out by the CSCAA. This ranking is focused on end-of-season/championships not dual meets, though of course dual meet times and results will influence how our staff feels about teams’ chances at the end of the year. It’s just not a ranking based on “which teams won the dual meet”.
That makes sense – so NCAA scoring ability is the focus of these rankings. Thx.
If you let each conference build an 18 person all star team to race against Virginia at NCAAs, the Hoos would still win at least 4 relays.
not a even an honorable mention for princeton…interesting…
Not that interesting. There’s definitely talent on that roster, but they had swimmers seeded to score points last year at NCs and they whiffed while there were 42 other scoring teams. You’d think second year with a staff that it goes better, but that’s not always the case.