2025 W. NCAA Previews: Sticklen Rematches Walsh As She Vies For Three-Peat In 200 Fly

2025 Women’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships

• March 19-22, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center – Federal Way, Washington
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Live Results
• Live Stream

Women’s 200 Fly – By The Numbers

• U.S. Open Record: 1:48.33 – Regan Smith, Sun Devil Swimming (2023)
• American Record: 1:48.33 – Regan Smith, Sun Devil Swimming (2023)
• NCAA Record: 1:49.16 – Alex Walsh, Virginia (2024)
• Championship Record: 1:49.95 – Emma Sticklen, Texas (2023)
• 2024 NCAA Champion: Emma Sticklen, Texas – 1:50.99

Texas’ Emma Sticklen repeated as NCAA champion in the 200 fly at last year’s meet. She was slower in 2024 than in 2023, however, Sticklen still holds the meet record with the 1:49.95 she swam to win in 2023. Her win came in interesting fashion, as Virginia’s Alex Walsh broke the NCAA record in the 200 fly at the ACC Championships last season, but didn’t end up competing in it at NCAAs.

Last year’s final was notably littered with seniors and 5th years, which isn’t the case in many events. Six of the eight ‘A’ finalists last year were either 5th years or seniors. Sticklen and teammate Olivia Bray were the only swimmers out of the six to return this season.

Emma Sticklen

Emma Sticklen (photo: Jack Spitser)

We’re going to give Texas fifth-year Emma Sticklen her own section in this preview since she is the two-time defending champion in this event. Sticklen won the race in 1:49.95 in 2023, which stands as the meet record in the event. Last year, she won in 1:50.99, which was slower, yes, but still got the job done. This year, however, Sticklen has been on an absolute tear. She’s gone under 1:50 a whopping five times already this season, culminating in her season best (career best as well) of 1:49.17 at the SEC Championships. To put that in context, Sticklen is 1 of only five swimmers in history to have gone under 1:50 in the event. Though five swimmers have gone under 1:50, Regan Smith is the only other swimmer in history to have done so multiple times, but she’s only done it twice, while Sticklen has been under six times now.

Moreover, Sticklen’s 1:49.17 from the SEC Championships clocked in just 0.01 seconds off the NCAA record, which is held by Virginia’s Alex Walsh from last year’s ACCs. It would seem Sticklen has a very real chance of taking that record this week. The American Record is held by Smith with a 1:48.33. Sticklen is within a second of that time, but it would still be pretty surprising to see her get all the way down there.

Alex Walsh

We also have to give Alex Walsh her own section in this preview, as she is the NCAA record holder in the event. As covered in the above section, Walsh holds the record with the 1:49.16 she swam at last year’s ACC Championships. That time, of course, stands as her career best in the event, and she’s been 1:50.43 so far this season, which she also swam at ACCs. While we could read into Walsh being slower at ACCs this year than last, it would be much ado about nothing, as she has a very strong history of showing up big at NCAAs.

Alex Walsh (photo: Jack Spitser)

Walsh didn’t swim the 200 fly at last year’s NCAAs, even though she swam broke the NCAA record at the conference championship meet. Instead, she swam the 200 breast. Walsh did, however, swim the 200 fly at the 2023 NCAAs, where she posted a 1:50.23, coming in 2nd to Sticklen.

In truth, while Walsh has been one of the most exceptional NCAA swimmers we’ve ever seen, she hasn’t had the most luck when it comes to racing Sticklen head-to-head in this event. Of course, we already went over their last NCAA matchup in 2023, where Sticklen won and broke the meet record. The duo also met in the 200 fly back in January at the Eddie Reese Texas Showdown, where Sticklen won in 1:49.87, while Walsh came in 2nd with a 1:52.11. Those are only two examples, which is a small sample size, but those were the last two times these two met in this event, and one was at NCAAs, while the other was recent and saw Sticklen come out on top decisively.

Still, that doesn’t mean we don’t think there’s a way for Walsh to win this race, of course, there is. She and the UVA staff elected to race this event when Walsh could have been the runaway favorite in the 200 breast had she wanted to. Their choice to swim the 200 fly knowing that Sticklen was going to be there would seemingly indicate they have a degree of confidence in Walsh’s prospects at winning. Given the success of the Virginia staff and Walsh’s success as a swimmer, we have to put a lot of stock in that.

Other Returning ‘A’ Finalists

As we discussed at the top of this preview, there are only four returning ‘A’ finalists from last year in this event. Sticklen is obviously one of those, fellow Longhorn 5th year Olivia Bray is another, and the other two are Virginia’s Tess Howley and Stanford’s Lillie Nordmann.

Bray has been a mainstay in the 200 fly ‘A’ final at NCAAs for years now. Last year, she came in 5th with a 1:52.45, in 2022 she came in 8th with a 1:52.31, and her best finish actually came as a freshman at the 2021 NCAAs, where she went a 1:52.87 for 2nd. Bray

Olivia Bray (photo: Jack Spitser)

switched to the 200 back instead of the 200 fly at the 2023 NCAAs, as Texas was thin in backstroke and had several other flyers. Still, Bray has been on the podium three times in her career in the 200 fly, having swum 1:52-something in all three of those years.

This year, Bray comes in as the 7th seed with her season best of 1:52.61, which she swam for 3rd at the SEC Championships, finishing behind teammates Sticklen and Campbell Stoll. While she’s had a history of swimming 1:52s in finals of the 200 fly at NCAAs, Bray has been excellent in prelims in the event. Her career best of 1:51.51 was swum in the prelims of last year’s NCAAs. That being said, bray is a strong bet to make it into the ‘A’ final once again this year.

Howley was highly impressive last year as a freshman, taking 4th in this event with a time of 1:52.41. That swim came after Howley popped a 1:51.95 in prelims, which still stands as her career best in the event. Howley clocked her season best for this year at the ACC Championships last month, where she swam a 1:52.72 for 4th. That time has earned Howley the 9th seed for this meet.

Adding to what Howley has going for her coming into this meet, she swam very well last year in her first NCAAs. At last year’s meet, Howley came in with a season-best of 1:54.75 before going 1:51.95 in prelims, marking a huge improvement from her seed. As long as she can just match her seed time in prelims this week, she should make it into the ‘A’ final, at which point anything could happen.

Tess Howley (photo: Jack Spitser)

Lillie Nordmann is now a senior at Stanford and has been swimming quite well this season. At last year’s meet, Nordmann came in 8th with a 1:52.83. She was slightly faster in prelims, where she swam a 1:52.41, and she had a season-best of 1:52.38 last year. Fast forward to this year, and Nordmann enters the meet as the 4th seed with her season best of 1:51.85, which stands as her career best in the event as well. She was slightly off that time at ACCs, but was still strong, swimming a 1:52.44 for 3rd.

Nordmann has also been very solid in the 200 fly in her career with Stanford. Of course, she was an All-American in the event last year, and back in 2023, she won the ‘B’ final with a 1:53.90. Given that track record and that she’s been swimming faster than ever this season, Nordmann looks to be in a very good spot heading into the meet.

Breakout Sophomores

Outside of Howley, there are another three sophomores who have had exceptional seasons this year and look ready to make a lot of noise this week. Leading the way in that group is Texas sophomore Campbell Stoll, who comes in as the 3rd seed with a 1:51.64. She swam that time at the SEC Championships, finishing 2nd behind teammate Sticklen. That time also marks a career-best for Stoll.

As a freshman last year, Stoll saw a good bit of success in her first NCAAs. She was the winner of the ‘B’ final in the 400 IM, and was a ‘B’ finalist in the 200 fly, where she came in 12th with a 1:53.84. Stoll has already blown that time away this season, and, adding to the momentum she has, she dropped time in both prelims and finals in the 200 fly at last year’s NCAAs, so she’s shown she can race at her best at this meet.

Hannah Bellard (photo: Jack Spitser)

Coming in as the 5th seed is Michigan sophomore Hannah Bellard. The Big Ten champion in this event, Bellard clocked her season and career best of 1:52.04 to win the Big Ten title last month. Bellard has been on fire in her sophomore season with the Wolverines, posting career bests in the 200 free, 500 free, 200 fly, and 400 IM.

Bellard earned some experience as a freshman at last year’s NCAAs, making the ‘B’ final of the 200 fly. She wound up taking 11th overall with a 1:53.68, which was just off last year’s season best of 1:53.21.

Stanford’s Caroline Bricker is the other sophomore seeded in the top eight. Bricker comes in as the 6th seed with her season best of 1:52.21, which she swam at Stanford’s dual meet with UCLA back in January. She was just a hair off that swim at the ACC Championships, where she took 2nd with a 1:52.37. Bricker’s career-best stands a 1:52.07, which she swam in a time trial at last year’s Pac-12 Championships.

At last year’s NCAAs, Bricker didn’t compete in the 200 fly, instead racing the 200 breast on Saturday, so we don’t have last year’s results to look at. That being said, Bricker was very successful in her first NCAAs, taking 4th in the 400 IM and 10th in the 200 IM. If she’s able to match her seed time in prelims, she’ll find her way into the ‘A’ final of the 200 fly this year.

Seniors Looking To Go Out With A Bang

Tennessee’s Sara Stotler enters the meet as the 8th seed with her season best of 1:52.66, which she swam in prelims at SECs last month. That time represents her career best in the event as well. Stotler was a ‘B’ finalist in the 200 fly at last year’s NCAAs, taking 13th in 1:54.28. She was also a ‘B’ finalist in the event at the 2023 NCAAs, where she came in 10th with a 1:53.94. Stotler has the experience at NCAAs and she’s been swimming faster than ever this season, so it may well mark her highest finish ever at NCAAs this time around.

South Carolina senior Greta Pelzek is another high-profile returner in this field. Pelzek came in 10th in the 200 fly at last year’s NCAAs, swimming a 1:53.47. That time came after Pelzek swam a 1:53.44 in prelims, which put her 9th, one spot out of the ‘A’ final. Pelzek enters the meet this year as the 10th seed with a 1:52.80. She swam that time for 4th at the SEC Championships, and it stands as her career best.

Cal senior Lilou Ressencourt comes into the meet as the 11th seed with her season best of 1:53.12. Ressencourt’s class status is noteworthy, as this is her first season at Cal and in the NCAA. That being said, Cal has her listed as a grad student on their roster, and the NCAA has her labeled a senior on the psych sheets. Either way, Ressencourt has been strong for Cal this season, having gone 1:53 on two separate occasions, once in a dual meet and once at the ACC Championships.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse Pick: Emily Brown, Tennessee – A freshman with the Volunteers, Brown comes in as the 12th seed in this event with her season best of 1:53.31. She came in 6th at the SEC Championships with that swim. Brown has improved greatly in the 200 fly in her first season at Tennessee, coming in with a best time of 1:55.50 and already having taken more than 2 seconds off it. All it would likely take for Brown to make it into the ‘A’ final this week would be to got just a hair faster than her seed time.