2025 W. NCAA Previews: Gretchen Walsh Leads A 50 Free Field Front Loaded With ACC Swimmers

2025 Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 19-22, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center — Federal Way, Washington
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Official Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Live Stream

Women’s 50 Freestyle — By The Numbers

• NCAA Record: 20.37 — Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• American Record: 20.37 — Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• U.S. Open Record: 20.37 — Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• Championship Record: 20.37 — Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2024)

The race for gold in the women’s 50 freestyle is all about one woman: Gretchen Walsh. After placing second in this event during the 2022 and 2023 NCAA Championships, she took over this event during the 2023-24 season and did not look back. She’s pushed the bounds of what we thought was possible in the event, lowering the NCAA record to a blistering 20.37, which is .42 seconds than the next fastest performer in history (Maggie MacNeil, 20.79). 

She owns nine of the top ten performances in event history, all of which she’s done in the last two years. 

All-Time Top Performances – Women’s 50 Free (SCY)

1. Gretchen Walsh — 20.37 (Mar. 2024)
2. Gretchen Walsh — 20.41 (Mar. 2024)
3. Gretchen Walsh — 20.54 (Nov. 2024)
4. Gretchen Walsh — 20.57 (Mar. 2024)
5. Gretchen Walsh — 20.60 (Feb. 2025)
6. Gretchen Walsh — 20.73 (Jan. 2025)
7. Gretchen Walsh — 20.74 (Jan. 2025)
8. Gretchen Walsh — 20.77 (Feb. 2024)
9. Gretchen Walsh/Maggie MacNeil — 20.79 (Nov. 2023/Mar. 2023)
10. (Tie)

Though she’s seeded with the 20.60 she swam at the 2025 ACC Championships, she’s been as fast as 20.54 this season, which she swam at the Tennessee Invitational. Even though she’s ceded six hundredths on the psych sheet, Walsh still has a whopping .48-second lead on her competitors. That’s in part because the #2 Torri Huske of Stanford (.44 seconds back) is skipping this event.

In this race, it’s less about whether Walsh will win and more about what her final time will be. She’s looked strong all season—including a historic short-course meters performance at the 2024 Short Course World Championships—and will no doubt be aiming to reset her NCAA record at her final NCAA Championships and leave behind a record that will last a long time. 

ACC Dominance 

Walsh’s control in this event leads a wave of ACC dominance, which is a trend we’ve seen develop over the past NUMBER NCAA Championships. Last year, seven of the eight ‘A’ finalists were ACC swimmers. Six ACC swimmers made the ‘A’ final in 2023, five in 2022, and four in 2021, meaning that you have to go back to before the COVID-19 pandemic to 2019 to find a women’s 50 freestyle NCAA ‘A’ final that wasn’t at least half ACC swimmers. On paper, the trend should continue for another year, as seven of the top ten seeds are from ACC programs, even with Torri Huske opting for the 200 IM instead of the 50 freestyle on day two.

The Louisville Effect  

The Louisville women have been huge contributors to the ACC’s stranglehold on this event in recent seasons. Last year, they earned fourth through sixth in the ‘A’ final, matching the Cavaliers with three ‘A’ finalists. 

They remain heavily involved in the action this season with three swimmers seeded to score, led by Julia Dennis. The junior had a breakthrough meet at the 2025 ACC Championships, ripping a lifetime best of 21.08 and backing it up with a 20.78 relay split. The swim makes Dennis a heavy favorite for silver as she aims to improve on a fifth-place finish last season. 

Dennis isn’t alone in hitting a 50 freestyle lifetime best this season. Nine of the top ten swimmers’ seeds are lifetime bests they’ve swum this season. That includes Dennis’ freshman teammate Caroline Larsen, the Cardinals’ second highest-seeded swimmer in a tie for eighth with Indiana’s Kristina Paegle (21.63). Gabi Albiero has been a consistent presence in Louisville’s sprint squad; she took sixth last year and will be a threat to return to the ‘A’ final, though she’ll need to move up from her 11th place seed to do so. Albiero enters the meet with a 21.71 season-best and has been as fast as 21.30. 

ACC Newcomers 

Virginia had three ‘A’ finalists in this event last year. Though they graduated Jasmine Nocentini, matching (or exceeding) that number is within reach with the additions of Claire Curzan and Anna Moesch. Both have been excellent in their debut Cavalier seasons. Curzan swam her first 50 free PB since 2022 earlier this season and continued to improve, dropping to a 21.26 for third at the ACC Championships. She’s ranked fourth on the psych sheet, while Moesch’s 21.84 ranks 21st. The freshman has been as fast as 21.73 and after dropping head-turning splits on Virginia’s record-setting relays, looks to carve out some individual success at NCAAs. 

Maxine Parker was Virginia’s third 50 freestyle ‘A’ finalist last season. She tied for seventh in the event and arrives at this year’s championships with a season-best 21.75. Her lifetime best is a 21.61, which should put her right in the fight for an ‘A’ final lane. 

Another important freshman to keep an eye on is Cal’s Mary-Ambre Moluh. She’s been the backbone of the Golden Bears’ sprint crew all season, announcing her presence early this season and not letting her foot off the gas. She’s swum lifetime bests multiple times this season as she’s continued to adjust to the yards format, swimming a lifetime best of 21.57 last month at the Stanford vs. Cal rivalry meet. 

Familiar Faces, New Places 

While graduate student Sophie Yendell is a familiar face on the Pitt roster, she finds herself in a new position heading into the NCAA Championships. Two years ago, Yendell earned 18th in the 50 freestyle, marking the highest NCAA finish for a female Pitt swimmer since 2017. Last year, she improved that with a 17th-place finish in the 100 fly. Now, she’s seeded to make the ‘A’ final in the 50 freestyle after cutting .53 seconds from her lifetime best with a 21.30 at the ACC Championships. 

Miami-Florida’s Giulia Carvalho is in a similar position. She made the 100 butterfly ‘B’ final at NCAAs last season as a junior. And though she finished 22nd in the 50 freestyle, she made program history as her 21.99 made her the first swimmer to break 22 seconds in Hurricanes’ history. Carvalho has lowered her program mark already this season, clocking 21.69 at the ACC Championships, and will be eager to add a second swim in another event as the Hurricanes continue one of their strongest seasons in recent years. 

The Rest of the NCAA  

Of course, the ACC doesn’t have a complete monopoly on the sprint freestylers. Tennessee sophomore Camille Spink has continued to level up in her second year as a Volunteer. She swept the 50/100/200 freestyle at the 2025 SEC Championships—becoming the first swimmer since 2007 to complete that treble—with three lifetime bests. 

Spink popped a 21.23 in the 50 freestyle final, improving from the 21.33 she swam at the midseason Tennessee Invite. Last season, Spink was at her best during the SEC Championships and couldn’t match her times at the NCAA Championships. But, if she’s able to apply the lessons she learned last season, she could be a huge threat in all three sprints, not just the 50 freestyle. 

Also from the SEC, Alabama’s sprint crew has been on fire this season as Cadence Vincent, Kailyn Winter, and Jada Scott have all lowered their 50 freestyle lifetime best at least once. Of the three, it’s the sophomore Vincent who’s got the best chance to score; she’s seeded seventh after swimming a lifetime best 21.59 for silver at the SEC Championships. 

Aside from Spink and Vincent, Paegle, an Indiana junior, is the other non-ACC swimmer in ‘A’ final position on the psych sheet. She won the Big Ten title in the event with a 21.64, just a hundredth off the lifetime best 21.63 she swam in prelims. Paegle finished 12th in this event last year; the Hoosiers will be in a close race with Cal, Louisville, and Michigan in the team race, and it would be a boost for them if Paegle can earn an ‘A’ final lane. 

Speaking of Michigan, junior Brady Kendall aims to book an ‘A’ final spot for the second straight season. Kendall tied for seventh last season with a lifetime best of 21.69. She’s approached that mark this season, clocking 21.76 as she grabbed silver at the Big Ten Championships last month. Michigan’s sprinters looked strong at that meet, especially in the relays, and Kendall looks to continue that success in Federal Way. Another Big Ten swimmer to watch is Wisconsin sophomore Hailey Tierney. She’s seeded 13th–tied with Kendall–after swimming a lifetime best 21.76 at Wisconsin’s Last Chance meet a week ago. 

Arizona State and the other Big 12 teams return to Federal Way after swimming there for their conference championships last month. The Sun Devil women won their first title in program history this season and graduate transfer Caroline Bentz contributed heavily to that effort, sweeping her individual events. That includes a win in the 50 freestyle, where she hit a lifetime best 21.77. Bentz is seeded 15th, on the right side of the cut line for a second swim. She’ll need to be at her best in the morning, but the Arizona State women have swum fast all season and have more goals to meet after winning the Big 12 title. 

Other returning 2024 finalists include the ‘B’ final winner Grace Cooper, Teresa Ivan, Caroline Famous, and Amy Tang. Cooper is the highest seed among these returning ‘B’ finalists in a tie for 17th (21.81). But as returning finalists, they’re swimmers to keep an eye on. 

SwimSwam Picks 

Dark Horse: Lindsay Flynn, Michigan — We discussed Michigan’s sprinting earlier in this article, and it’s why we’ve picked Flynn as our Dark Horse in this race. She isn’t seeded to score, but she hit a lifetime best of 21.83 at the Big Ten Championships. If she’s got more left in the tank, she could jump a few swimmers and earn a second swim, which would be welcome points for the Wolverines. While Flynn has consistently improved in the 50 freestyle during her college career, she swam her first 100 freestyle best in three years to win the Big Ten title last month.