2025 Women’s Big Ten Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

2025 BIG TEN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Dates: Wednesday, February 19 – Saturday, February 22
• Location: McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Columbus, OH
• Teams: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
• Defending champions: Indiana (1x)
• Championship Central
• Live Results
• Live Video: B1G+
• Results: Day 1 | Day 2
• Recaps:
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
  • Prelims: Day 2 | Day 3
• Day 3 Ups/Mids/Downs

Team Scores After Day 3

1. Ohio State- 904.5
2. Indiana- 777.5
3. Michigan- 771
4. USC- 584
5. Wisconsin-555
6. Minnesota- 402
7. UCLA- 379.5
8. Purdue- 357
9. Northwestern- 273
10. Nebraska- 256.5
11. Rutgers- 211
12. Penn State- 208
13. Illinois- 176
14. Iowa- 129

Saturday Prelims Heat Sheets

Heat Sheets – Early Miles Heats

As a big performance from the Ohio State freshman class is carrying the Buckeye women back to the top of the standings at the Big Ten Championships, a big relay DQ from Michigan on Friday evening has dramatically swung the momentum of the meet – likely eliminating them from title contention and putting them in third place behind the defending champions from Indiana.

There are four races on Saturday morning: the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, and 200 fly, plus prelims of platform diving. Then the early heats of the timed-finals in the 1650 free will begin at 3:15 Eastern Time, with the fastest heat to be swum with finals starting at 5:30.

All of the defending champions from last year return in their respective races with the exception of Katie Crom, who still has eligibility left but who hasn’t raced for Michigan since the Olympic Trials; and Amy Fulmer in the 100 free.

In spite of lots of returning champions, that doesn’t mean that there will be title defenses. With the addition of swimmers like Kaitlyn Dobler from USC in the 200 breaststroke, and performances like that of Stephanie Balduccini from Michigan, the only defending champion who is the top seed is Phoebe Bacon in the 200 back.

Bacon is both a two-time NCAA Champion in that event  (2021, 2024) and a three-time Big Ten Champion (2021, 2022, 2024) in the 200 back.

200 Back Prelims

• Big Ten Meet Record – 1:48.47, Beata Nelson, Wisconsin (2019)
• Big Ten Record – 1:47.24, Beata Nelson, Wisconsin (2019)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut – 1:50.50
• 2024 NCAA Invite time: 1:54.01
• 2024 Champion: Phoebe Bacon, Wisconsin – 1:50.05

Top 8:

1. Miranda Grana, soph, Indiana – 1:50.64
2. Krista Marlin, junior, Ohio State – 1:51.29
3. Phoebe Bacon, 5th year, Wisconsin – 1:51.54
4. Paige Hall, senior, Ohio State – 1:52.24
5. Maggie Wanezek, freshman, Wisconsin – 1:53.10
6. Kacey McKenna, senior, Indiana – 1:53.77
7. Casey Chung, 5th year, Michigan – 1:53.87
8. (SWIM-OFF REQUIRED) Mya Dewitt, junior, Indiana/Anna Freed, 5th year, Indiana – 1:53.88

While Bacon is chasing a historic fourth Big Ten title in the 200 back, Indiana sophomore Miranda Grana is the hot hand at this meet and she takes the top seed into finals with a 1:50.64 in the 200 back.

That’s .14 seconds short of her lifetime best of 1:50.50 done midseason that ranks her third in program history.

Grana won the 100 fly on Friday and then, on the back half of a double, finished 2nd behind Bacon in the 100 backstroke. Bacon is stronger in the 200 back than the 100 back, so that would paint her as the favorite coming into the day. She was 3rd in prelims in 1:51.54.

The potential spoiler is Krista Marlin of Ohio State, who qualified 2nd in 1:51.29. She didn’t swim the 100 back. Her teammate Paige Hall qualified 4th in 1:52.24.

Wisconsin also put two into the A-Final, with freshman Maggie Wanezek qualifying 5th in 1:53.10. Wanezek was able to avoid her mistake from Friday, where a slow heats swim left her in the B Final of a crowded 100 back, which she wound up winning in 51.38. Wanezek, a National Age Group Record setter in her youth, had the third-best seed time coming into the meet at 1:50.62.

At the back end of the A-final, teammates Mya Dewitt  and Anna Freed of Indiana will have a swim-off for the 8th spot. Either result will give the Hoosiers three in the A-Final, more than anyone else, as they try and close the gap with Ohio State.

100 Free Prelims

• Big Ten Meet Record – 46.57, Maggie MacNeil, Michigan (2020)
• Big Ten Record – 46.02, Maggie MacNeil, Michigan (2021)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut – 47.10
• 2024 NCAA Invite time: 48.34
• 2024 Champion: Amy Fulmer, Ohio State – 47.48

Top 8:

1. Anna Peplowski, senior, Indiana – 47.37
2. Stephanie Balduccini, sophomore, Michigan – 47.43
3. Lindsay Flynn, senior, Michigan – 47.53
4. Kristina Paegle, junior, Indiana – 47.66
5. Teresa Ivan, senior, Ohio State – 47.82
6. Nicole Venema, 5th year, Northwestern – 47.90
7. Minna Abraham, sophomore, USC – 48.10
8. Brady Kendall, junior, Michigan – 48.20

A big showdown is set in the women’s 100 free, with the spread between the top eight in prelims being less than nine-tenths of a second.

That is led by another clash between Indiana’s Anna Peplowski (47.37) and Michigan’s Stephanie Balduccini (47.43). Peplowski won the 500 free earlier in the meet, but Balduccini won the big clash in the 200 free. Balduccini has the best time of the two, but only by about a tenth – and Peplowski finished ahead of her at last year’s meet. Peplowski added between prelims and finals last season to finish 2nd.

The meet as a whole has gotten much faster this year, as has this 100 free – only four swimmers were under 48 seconds in prelims last year, as compared to six this year.

That includes three other swimmers who return as finals: Lindsay Flynn from Michigan (6th last year), Kristina Paegle from Indiana (3rd last year), and Teresa Ivan from Ohio State (7th last year).

Northwestern’s Nicole Venema also made the A-final, qualifying 6th in 47.90, which cuts .43 seconds off her lifetime best. The Princeton transfer climbs to 3rd in Northwestern’s all-time rankings behind Maddie Smith (47.71) and Jasmine Nocentini (47.76), and is Northwestern’s first individual A-finalist of the meet.

200 Breast Prelims

• Big Ten Meet Record – 2:04.03, Lilly King, Indiana (2017)
• Big Ten Record – 2:02.60, Lilly King, Indiana (2018)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut – 2:05.73
• 2024 NCAA Invite time: 2:09.55
• 2024 Champion: Brearna Crawford, Indiana – 2:07.25

1. Brearna Crawford, senior, Indiana – 2:08.33
2. Letitia Sim, junior, Michigan – 2:08.62
3. Ava DeAngelis, senior, Ohio State – 2:08.71
4. Mary Cespedes, freshman, Indiana – 2:09.23
5. Hazal Ozkan, junior, Wisconsin – 2:09.58
6. Ashley McMillan, sophomore, USC – 2:10.77
7. Kaitlyn Dobler, 5th year, USC – 2:10.81
8. Anna Jih-Schiff, senior, UCLA – 2:11.33

Indiana senior Brearna Crawford earned the pole position on Saturday morning in her 200 breaststroke title defense, swimming 2:08.33 in the heats. A native of New Zealand, Crawford is a two-time Big Ten champion in this event, having won as both a freshman and a junior.

In both instances, she dropped at least a second from prelims to finals; a similar performance on Saturday evening would put her ahead of the best times of all-but-one other swimmer in the field: USC 5th year Katilyn Dobler.

The All-American Dobler won the 100 breaststroke, the better of the two distances for her, earlier in the meet in 57.41, making her USC women’s swimming’s first Big Ten champion. In prelims, though, she just snuck in to the A-final with a 2:10.81.

Dobler was the Pac-12 Champion last year before moving over to the Big Ten with the Trojans, and finished 6th in this race at the NCAA Championship meet.

She will also be pursued by Singapore Olympian Letitia Sim, who was about half-a-second shy of her best time in prelims with a 2:08.62. Sim took 4.6 seconds off her best time in the 200 IM earlier in the week to finish 2nd in that race, but was about four-tenths off her best time in the 100 breaststroke on Friday.

Ohio State’s Ava DeAngelis, a transfer from George Washington, dropped nine-tenths off her best time to qualify third in 2:08.71 and punch a probable ticket to the NCAA Championships. That’s a 1.23 second improvement over her best time before coming to Ohio State this season. She likely already had an invite locked up with a 59.25 best time for 3rd in the 100 breast, but this 200 should remove any lingering doubt.

200 Fly Prelims

• Big Ten Meet Record – 1:51.83, Olivia Carter, Michigan (2022)
• Big Ten Record – 1:51.19, Olivia Carter, Michigan (2022)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut – 1:52.47
• 2024 NCAA Invite time: 1:55.88
• 2024 Champion: Katelyn Crom, Michigan – 1:54.61

Top 8:

1. Hannah Bellard, sophomore, Michigan – 1:53.95
2. Lucy Malys, junior, Ohio State – 1:56.07
3. Ava Whitaker, sophomore, Indiana – 1:56.20
4. Mackenzie McConagha, senior, Wisconsin – 1:56.31
5. Justina Kozan, junior, USC – 1:56.67
6. Campbell Scofield, freshman, Purdue – 1:57.02
7. Claire Renke, sophomore, Minnesota – 1:57.12
8. Ella Piersma, junior, Michigan – 1:57.32

While Katleyn Crom isn’t back to defend her title, Michigan sophomore Hannah Bellard is the significant favorite to win the 2025 title with a 1:53.95 in prelims. Nobody else in the field has been under 1:55 this season.

Bellard has been as fast as 1:53.45 this year, and her lifetime best is a 1:53.20 from Sectionals during her senior year of high school, but this swim is already almost two seconds better than she went at last year’s Big Tens.

The second seed is Ohio State junior Lucy Maly in 1:56.07, which breaks a long drought for her in this event. Her previous best time was a 1:57.42 done at NCSA Junior Nationals in March 2021 when she was still in high school.

Indiana’s Ava Whitaker qualified third in 1:56.20 to keep the Hoosiers matched up with Ohio State at one A-finalist each, but Indiana missed an opportunity with the 9th and 10th finishers in the morning: Katie Forrester at 1:57.60 and Avery Spade at 1:57.75.

1650 Free – Early Heats

• Big Ten Meet Record – 15:43.17, Molly Kowal, Ohio State (2020)
• Big Ten Record – 15:36.27, Ally McHugh, Penn State (2018)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut – 15:52.41
• 2024 NCAA Invite time: 16:14.82
• 2024 Champion: Ching Hwee Gan, Indiana – 15:54.83