2025 W. NCAA Previews: Opportunities Abound In The 200 Breaststroke

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
• Pre-Scratch Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Live Stream

Women’s 200 Breaststroke — By The Numbers: 

• NCAA Record: 2:01.29 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• American Record: 2:01.29 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• U.S. Open Record: 2:01.29 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• Championship Record: 2:01.29 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023) 

There have been major shakeups in the women’s 200 breaststroke this season. The biggest change is that Alex Walsh will not return to defend her title, instead focusing on the 200 butterfly. But she’s not the only 2024 NCAA finalist who won’t be in this field—only seven finalists from last season are entered in the race this year, three from the ‘A’ final and four from the ‘B’ final. 

Arguably, this is the most wide-open this race has been in years. And there are plenty of swimmers looking to take advantage. 

Let’s take it from the top. 

The Top Of The Call Sheet 

Walsh won this event at ACCs, but in her absence, it’s ACC silver medalist Lucy Bell who heads to Federal Way as the top seed in the 200 breaststroke. Before Stanford’s tri-meet against ASU and Cal in November, the last time Bell swam this race was in 2022. She put up a lifetime best of 2:06.32 at that meet and hasn’t looked back, swimming three more lifetime bests in the second half of the season, which culminated in a 2:04.60 at the ACC Championships. 

All told, Bell has taken 8.88 seconds off her 200 breaststroke best this season. Stanford historically swims well at NCAAs and Bell has been a big part of the reason they’ve rebuilt so quickly after losing household names to transfers/pro groups a couple of seasons ago. Bell is also slated to race the 200/400 IM this week, and her speed in the 400 IM (4:01.70, 6th seed) is an indicator that she won’t tire on the back half of this race the way some 100 breaststroke specialists might. 

While second seed Kaelyn Gridley has had a breakout year post-U.S. Olympic Trials, most of that has been in the 100 breaststroke as at the NCAA level, she’d already shown her capabilities in the 200 breaststroke. Gridley made the ‘A’ final in this race last year, taking fourth in a 2:04.94 that still stands as her lifetime best. 

This season, Gridley holds the #2 seed with a season-best of 2:05.71 from the Wolfpack Elite Invitational. In an ACC final that could look remarkably similar to the upcoming NCAA final, Gridley was fifth in a 2:07.71. She’ll be faster this week but will likely need to get back into the 2:04 range to claim the top step of the podium. 

Two-Pronged Attack 

Two schools, Virginia and Tennessee, are aiming to land multiple swimmers in the championship final. If Virginia does it, the most impressive part will be that neither of their ‘A’ finalists will be one of the three the team put into the championship final last season. 

In 2024, Walsh, Ella Nelson, and Anna Keating placed first, third, and eighth for the Cavaliers. This year, the team’s aspirations in this event rest with Olympians Aimee Canny and Emma Weber, who placed tenth and fifteenth last season. 

Canny, a mid-distance free/200 breaststroke specialist, began racing this event last season. This year, she swam a lifetime best 2:06.70 at the Tennessee Invitational, which she just missed with a 2:06.75 for third at the ACC Championships. Weber’s season has followed a similar pattern; she broke 2:07 for the first time at the Eddie Reese Showdown (2:06.97), then swam 2:07.47 at ACCs. No doubt, both were focused on NCAAs rather than ACCs and as the seventh and eighth seeds on the psych sheet, have a strong shot at the ‘A’ final. Last year, it took 2:07.30 in prelims to earn a lane in the championship final. 

Mona McSharry and McKenzie Siroky are the Volunteers aiming for spots in the ‘A’ final. McSharry, the Olympic bronze medalist in the long-course 100 breaststroke, was second in this race last season with a 2:04.07 and has been as fast as 2:03.84. In theory, that should make her the favorite to win, but the lingering question will be whether four months of training will be enough to push her to the win. It was enough at the SEC Championships; McSharry swept the breaststroke events in 57.26/2:05.85. She was the runner-up in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke last year and will certainly be looking to close out her collegiate career with her first individual NCAA crown. 

While McSharry aims to end her college career on a high note, her teammate Siroky’s is just getting started. Siroky chose swimming over hockey for her college sport and has looked strong all season after a great showing at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She swam lifetime bests in both breaststrokes at the SEC Championships and followed up her silver medal performance in the 100 breaststroke (57.27) with bronze in the 200 breaststroke (2:06.57). She dropped time in prelims and finals of the 200 breaststroke, taking .52 seconds off her prelims best with her finals swim. That’s a strong sign for Siroky, who holds the sixth seed. If she transitions well to NCAAs, then it seems likely that Tennessee could have two ‘A’ finalists in this race. 

More Returning Finalists 

Kaitlyn Dobler is much more known for her 100 breaststroke abilities—she is a former NCAA champion in the event—but she can bring it in the 200 breaststroke as well. Dobler placed sixth last year with a season-best 2:05.77 and has been as fast as 2:05.66, which she swam at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships.

USC is now part of the Big Ten and after winning the 100 breaststroke, Dobler tied with Indiana’s Brearna Crawford for gold in the 200 breaststroke (2:07.22). We expect Dobler didn’t rest fully for Big Tens with her full focus on her last NCAA Championships. She would likely need to swim her first lifetime best in two years to get involved in the race for first but is a solid pick for a top-eight finish. 

That wraps up the returning ‘A’ finalists from last season, but ‘B’ finalists Avery Wiseman and Emily Lundgren are back Wiseman has been Alabama’s staple breaststroker for nearly her entire career. She made the 200 breaststroke ‘A’ final in 2022 and has been in the ‘B’ final for the past two years. It’s been a long time since she clocked a lifetime best in this event as she hasn’t cracked the 2:05.46 she swam at the 2021 Tennessee Invitational. Still, she’ll be eyeing a return to the ‘A’ final after winning silver at SECs in a season-best 2:06.28. 

Lundgren, like Dobler, dealt with a conference change this season. Washington State is now part of the Mountain West and Lundgren shined at the conference championships, winning the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke. She swam lifetime bests in both, clocking 2:07.08 in the breaststroke. The fact that there are so few finalists returning could mean that the ‘A’ final qualifying time goes up from last year’s 2:07.30, but even so, Lundgren won’t have much breathing room as she hunts for an ‘A’ final appearance. 

Keep An Eye On…

• BYU’s MacKenzie Miller. She’s fifth on the psych sheet after swimming 2:06.53 to win the Big 12 Championship. She swam a lifetime best 2:09.20 in prelims, then cut another 2.67 seconds off her best with her finals swim. If she can back that swim up—in the same pool as her conference championships—she’ll find herself in the ‘A’ final. 
• Letitia Sim, who returned to the Michigan roster after a redshirt season. She was part of the thrilling race at the Big Ten Championships, though ultimately finished six-hundredths behind Dobler and Crawford with a 2:07.28. The swim was a lifetime best for Sim and Michigan has looked excellent all season. For Crawford’s part, the swim was the closest she’s been to the 2:06.86 lifetime best she swam in 2022, which could be a positive indicator for her NCAA hopes. 
• Freshmen Piper Enge and Leah Hayes. Enge has looked great for Texas this season and clocked a lifetime-best 2:07.90 at the Eddie Reese Invite. After a fifth-place finish at SECs (2:08.01) will Enge get back into the 2:07-range and sneak into the ‘A’ final? Hayes has had a quieter season at Virginia but has swum well during her first year on this high-powered roster. She swam a lifetime best 2:07.85 at ACCs and another drop would put her in ‘A’ final contention. 
• Florida State senior Maddy Huggins started off the season exceptionally well. She broke 2:08 for the first time this fall, then swam 2:07.96 at Florida State’s dual meet against Miami (FL). Her best at ACCs was a 2:08.30 but after finishing 19th last year, looks set to get involved in the fight for a finals lane. 

SwimSwam Picks

Dark Horse: Olivia Herron, SIU — Last year, the mid-major revelation of the NCAA Championships was SIU’s backstroke ace Celia Pulido. Can SIU pull the same feat two years in a row? This year, Olivia Herron accompanies Pulido to the NCAA Championships after a sensational season where she broke MVC conference records multiple times across a range of events. Herron’s seeded at 2:09.13, way out of the finals picture at 33rd. But after the season she’s had, it would not be surprising to see her make another big drop and earn a finals lane.