Bella Sims Opts For 400 IM At NCAAs, Setting Up Showdown With Grimes, Bricker & Bell

2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Wednesday, March 18 – Saturday, March 21, 2026
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Defending Champions: Virginia (5x)
• Championship Central
• Pre-Selection Psych Sheets
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Just two years after winning national titles in the 200 and 500 freestyle as a freshman, Bella Sims won’t swim any individual free events in her third NCAA Championship appearance later this month.

Sims, who transferred to Michigan in the offseason after two seasons at Florida, has opted to race the 100 back, 200 back and 400 IM at the 2026 NCAAs, a slight change after she contested both backstrokes and the 500 free last season.

After winning the 200 free (1:40.90) and 500 free (4:32.47) and placing 3rd in the 200 back (1:48.47) as a first-year at Florida, Sims transitioned from the 200 free to the 100 back last year and nearly won the NCAA title. She broke the SEC Record in February (48.97) and then was the runner-up to Virginia’s Claire Curzan by one one-hundredth at NCAAs, 49.11 to 49.12.

Sims was also 2nd to Curzan in the 200 back, becoming the #2 performer in history in 1:47.11, but missed out on earning a second swim in the 500 free, placing 17th.

Now at Michigan, Sims impressed by throwing down a Wolverine record and nation-leading time of 3:58.02 in the 400 IM at the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge in November, and though many thought the new NCAA schedule opened the door for her to return to the 200 free, she’s going with the 400 IM at NCAAs this year.

In the race, Sims will go head-to-head with former Sandpipers of Nevada teammate Katie Grimes, the Virginia sophomore who was 4th in the event last season, and the Stanford duo of Caroline Bricker and Lucy Bell. They’re the four swimmers who have been sub-4:00 so far this season.

2025-26 NCAA Rankings, Women’s 400 IM (SCY)

1. Bella Sims (Michigan), 3:58.02 – 2025 CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge
2. Lucy Bell (Stanford), 3:59.11 – 2026 ACC Championships
3. Caroline Bricker (Stanford), 3:59.70 – 2025 Texas Hall of Fame Invite
4. Katie Grimes (Virginia), 3:59.80 – 2026 ACC Championships
5. Ella Jansen (Tennessee), 4:01.97 – 2026 SEC Championships

Bricker is the defending champion after logging a lifetime best of 3:57.36 in the 2025 NCAA final, though Sims (3:56.59) and Grimes (3:57.02) notably own faster best times, though both were set more than three years ago prior to their collegiate careers.

Bell, the defending NCAA champion in the 200 breast, is coming off winning the ACC title in the 400 IM in a lifetime best of 3:59.11, with Grimes (3:59.80) earning the runner-up spot, while Bricker was back in 7th (4:04.69).

While the 400 IM looks like a competitive four-way battle for the title, the 200 free is even deeper, with an incredible 10 women under 1:42 so far this season. Sims ranks 4th after leading Michigan’s 800 free relay off in 1:41.15 at Big Tens, which is not far off her lifetime best of 1:40.78 from 2022 (she’s also split 1:39.55 with a relay takeover, done at the 2025 SECs).

Virginia’s Anna Moesch leads the NCAA in the 200 free after throwing down one of the fastest swims ever at ACCs in 1:39.72, while USC’s Minna Abraham (1:40.47) and Indiana’s Liberty Clark (1:40.84) have also been under 1:41.

Based on the psych sheets, Sims has a clearer path to the NCAA title in the 400 IM than she does in the 200 free. If she ends up having a slightly ‘off’ swim, she likely still advances to the final and finishes in the top four of the 400 IM, but there won’t be any margin for error in the 200 free.

Grimes has opted for the same event schedule she had last season, with the 500 and 1650 free in her lineup after winning ACC titles in both races last month. At her debut NCAAs, Grimes was 4th in the 500 free and 400 IM, and 13th in the 1650 free.

Bricker is swapping in the 200 breast in place of the 200 IM this season, with the new NCAA schedule allowing her to do so while keeping the 200 fly and 400 IM. Her teammate Bell will swim the same schedule as last season, coming in seeded 1st in the 200 breast, 2nd in the 400 IM and 3rd in the 200 IM.