2025 W. NCAA Previews: Battle of the Freshmen in the 1650

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

The women’s mile is one of the races that has seen a significant dip in the last few years, but we might be seeing the end of that post-Ledecky decline with this year’s mile group, many of whom are freshman or sophomores. Coming into the meet, there are already two athletes under last year’s winning time, and even more under the time that finished 8th overall.

Last year’s winner Abby McCulloh from Georgia finished in 15:37.74, coming in four seconds ahead of Stanford’s Aurora Roghair in 2nd place at 15.41.11. Ching Hwee Gan from Indiana finished 3rd at 15:46.90. All three medalists are returning for this year’s race, but there is plenty of talent in the race, making it much harder for them to repeat these placements.

The speed isn’t just present on the top end, however. 8th place last year was 15:55.71, swam by Gena Jorgenson from Nebraska. This year, the 8th seed is Florida’s Emma Weyant, who sits at 15:53.23. You can see the same trend at 16th, where last year three athletes over 16:00.00 scored in the event as 16th place went to Wisconsin’s Elle Braun in 16:02.47. Alexandra Bastone from Harvard is sitting just outside of scoring position this year with her 15:59.70 seed time.

Texas Freshman Pair

One of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of last year’s medalists is Texas standout freshman Jillian Cox.

Cox is coming into the meet as the top seed with her time of 15:30.33. Not only is this six seconds faster than anybody else has been this season, it is faster than the winning time from the last five conference meets, and from the last two pre-Ledecky meets. In order to find a non-Ledecky winner who went faster than Cox’s seed time, we have to travel all the way back to 2014, where Georgia’s Brittany MacLean swam 15:27.84 to win.

She also had an excellent performance in the event at the 2024 SC World Championships where she earned the bronze medal in 15:41.29.

Previous Winners

• 2024: Abby McCulloh, Georgia- 15:37.74
• 2023: Kensey McMahon, Alabama- 15:43.84
• 2022: Paige McKenna, Wisconsin- 15:40.84
• 2021: Paige Madden, Virginia- 15:41.86
• 2019: Ally McHugh, Penn State- 15:39.22
• 2018: Katie Ledecky– 15:07.57
• 2017: Katie Ledecky– 15:07.70
• 2016: Leah Smith– 15:32.72
• 2015: Leah Smith– 15:34.46
• 2014: Brittany MacLean, Georgia- 15:27.84

Cox is joined in the mile by Texas teammate, and fellow freshman, Kate Hurst. Hurst comes in as the 5th seed, behind Cox and the three medalists from last year’s championships, just a second-and-a-half behind Indiana’s Ching Hwee Gan at 15:47.93. She could easily find her way onto the podium with the right swim. Hurst has already dropped more than 20 seconds in the event this season, coming in at 16:08.25 pre-college, which could impact her ability to drop a ton more time at the meet.

Last Year’s Podium

All three of last year’s podium winners are back this year, and they have all had good seasons. Last year’s runner-up Aurora Roghair has swam the best, and is currently seeded 2nd in the event in 15:36.43. This is faster than McCulloh’s winning time from last season by a little over a second. It is also almost five seconds faster than Roghair went at last year’s meet.

Abby McCulloh is seeded 3rd with her season best time of 15:45.77. McCulloh dropped about three seconds from her seed time last year to win the event, going from 15:40.96 to 15:37.74. The same drop wouldn’t move her up in the placements, but as last year’s champion she will be looking to repeat and anything can happen in a mile.

Ching Hwee Gan, the bronze medalist from Indiana, is coming into the meet as the fourth seed. She has been a smidge faster this year than her 3rd place time of 15:46.90. At the Big 12 Championships last month, she won the event in 15:46.22, which has her seeded 3rd in the event, about half-a-second behind McCulloh.

Virginia Duo

Before midseason additions, this event was seeming pretty cut-and-dry, at least when it came to the champion… that is no longer the case. Virginia picked up Olympic medalist Katie Grimes in January, and it is hard to bet against her in the event.

Grimes’ best time stands at 15:26.17 from the Winter Junior Championships in 2022, which would place her four seconds ahead of Cox, were they both to swim best times. She did not swim the event at ACCs, which makes it difficult to predict what she could actually go. She had a very strong meet at the CA/NV Sectionals at the end of December, where she set a new personal best in the 1000 freestyle of 8:05.90, which is a good sign for what she could be capable of here. She currently sits in 9th at 15:53.40.

Virginia is not going to only put one swimmer in the event, however. They also have sophomore Cavan Gormsen who is seeded tied for 10th, just behind Grimes at 15:54.05. She swam this time at ACCs, dropping more than eight seconds from her previous best of 16:02.97. Last year, she added five seconds from her ACC time to her NCAA time, finishing 32nd in the event, but if she stays where she is, she is a solid threat for the top-eight.

The Rest:

Florida senior Emma Weyant is coming in as the 8th seed, just squeaking into the final heat of the event with the 15:53.23 she went at SECs. At last year’s championships she finished 5th in 15:49.51. This time would only move her up one spot in the rankings this season. Historically, Weyant has gotten faster in her mile at the NCAA Championships. In 2022, back when she swam for Virginia, she went 16:15.14 at the ACC Championships before dropping to 16:08.34 at NCAAs. She did not swim the event in 2023, but at last year’s meets she had a similar improvement, dropping from 15:54.62 to her 15:49.51. A 5-7 second drop this year could put her in podium contention, depending on performances from other athletes.

Mila Nikanorov is yet another freshman who has burst onto the NCAA mile scene this season, coming in as the 6th seed thanks to her 15:49.26 from the Ohio State Invite in November. She was just a smidge off this time at the Big Ten Championships last month, swimming 15:50.54, but she could also be a strong podium contender at her first NCAAs.

Maya Geringer, from Cal, comes in just behind her as the 7th seed thanks to her 15:51.01 from ACCs. Last year, she finished 12th in the event at 15:59.60, which was four seconds faster than her Conference Championship time of 16:03.63.  She has dropped in the event every single year since 2022 between her conference meet and NCAAs, so we are likely looking at another slight drop this year. Two seconds would put her ahead of Nikanorov, and five seconds would put her in podium position.

Indiana’s Mariah Denigan has had a kind of rough season in the event, after finishing 7th at last year’s Championships. This season, she hasn’t been faster than 16:06.12, which currently has her seeded 30th in the event, but her best time of 15:52.18 would easily place her in the top eight in the event..

Eliot Kennedy, a Minnesota sophomore, comes in as the 10th seed thanks to her 15:54.05 that she went at Big Tens. She has seen a significant amount of improvement in the event this season, dropping from the 16:10.13 she went at NCAAs last year to finish 27th. She dropped about a second between Big Tens and nationals last year, and while the podium would take a huge swim, she could easily find her way into the top eight.

The Verdict

As fast as Aurora Roghair has been this season, this race seems like it will come down to the freshmen battle between Jillian Cox and Katie Grimes for the gold. After them and Roghair, the rest of the field is so close together, it is difficult to predict where they will come in, especially in a race as long as the mile, where anything can happen. It is also the kind of race, where if an athlete is having an off day, they could easily add 20 seconds which can be difficult to account for.

When it comes to the champion, it is difficult to bet against Katie Grimes, as we discussed in the 500 free preview. Her international performances have proven that she has what it takes to go best times in high stress environments, and she has beaten Cox in this event numerous times in long course races. On top of all of that, her personal best time is four seconds faster, giving her a bit of wiggle room to add, even if Cox swims right on her best time.

The mile has a few more factors to consider, though, that could push it in Cox’s favor. The biggest is the fact that Grimes has to swim the event in prelims. She has only swam the event one-time this season, at the Cavalier Invitational in February where she went 15:53.40. This time has her seeded 9th in the event, just two tenths behind Weyant in 8th, and just two tenths out of the final heat.

Grimes has won events without competition before, but this is a slightly different circumstance. She will likely win her heat easily, with a best time almost 30 seconds faster than her seed, but Cox has a clear advantage. Not only does she get to race in the fastest heat in finals with her whole team and the whole crowd in attendance, but she also gets to know what she needs to swim to win. Knowing the time Grimes swam, Cox has the ability to pace exactly what she needs to win, and her coaches can help her stay on track for it. In a straight head-to-head, it likely goes to Grimes pretty easily, but this will make it interesting, as the two top swimmers will be racing each other from different heats.

After Cox and Grimes, it seems like Roghair comes in 3rd pretty easily, though she always has the potential to throw a wrench in the game and win the event in her own right. The rest of the event should be an exciting race, with only eight seconds separating the rest of the field

SwimSwam Picks

Dark Horse:

Rachel Stege from Georgia is currently seeded 28th in the event with the 16:03.73 she went at the SECs. In 2023, she finished 8th at the meet with a personal best time of 15:54.55 in the event. Last year, she finished 17th in the event, and she has not been able to match this performance again, but for her senior year, it wouldn’t be shocking if she found herself in the top eight.