The first year of a new system will always have its bumps. In the zero-sum game of NCAA qualification, where the creation of auto-qualifying spots for conference champions this year means the loss of spots elsewhere. That affects the cutlines, meaning that there are some swimmers who fall outside this year when they would not have done so under the previous qualification system.
On the women’s side, there are a total of 16 women who fall into that group – which does also mean that there are 16 women entered who would not have had the opportunity previously. Thanks to an exhaustive processing of the data by Andrew Mering, we can outline those swimmers, which events they ranked in, and where they are from.
The fact that there are 16 women who would have made the meet under the old system means that there are 16 conference champions this year who qualified thanks to the new system. In a pool of 281 swimmers, that translates to 5.7% of the entrants.
Those 16 conference champions come from 13 different schools, of which six are only at the meet thanks to the new auto-qualification system.
- UNLV (2)
- Hawai’i (1)
- Northern Colorado (1)
- UNC-Wilmington (1)
- Miami (Ohio) (1)
- UMBC (1)
| Name | School | Event | Time | Row |
| Cameron Snowden | UNC-Wilmington | 100 fly | 52.06 | 41 |
| Casadie Dibetta | Ohio | 200 breast | 2:09.33 | 42 |
| Eva Boehlke | UC San Diego | 200 IM | 1:57.43 | 42 |
| Lauren Walsh | Navy | 100 breast | 59.78 | 45 |
| Jinjutha Pholjamjumrus | Nevada-Reno | 400 IM | 4:10.97 | 47 |
| Maria Erokhina | Northern Colorado | 100 breast | 59.96 | 49 |
| Sabrina Johnston | Princeton | 50 free | 22.07 | 52 |
| Chrisna Bezuidenhout | Miami (Ohio) | 200 back | 1:54.28 | 52 |
| Rachel Wiggington | UNLV | 200 fly | 1:57.08 | 53 |
| Asia Kozan | UC San Diego | 200 free | 1:45.20 | 54 |
| Ava Olsen | UNLV | 500 free | 4:43.08 | 57 |
| Alexia Duncan | Houston | 100 back | 52.31 | 59 |
| Catriona Gilmore | Army | 200 breast | 2:10.28 | 61 |
| Reese Cole | Rice | 400 IM | 4:12.61 | 66 |
| Ashley Gutshall | UMBC | 50 free | 22.25 | 71 |
| Holly Nelson | Hawai’i | 50 free | 22.28 | 76 |
Only two of these swimmers has qualified individually for NCAAs before. Sabrina Johnston swam the 50 free and 100 free at 2024 NCAAs and was a relay-only swimmer for Princeton at the meet last year, and Cameron Snowden qualified in the 100 fly in 2025.
With only 16 swimmers moving either in or out due to the new system there are not any clear scorers left out of the meet, and only one finalist from 2025 NCAAs in Florida’s Addison Reese.
*Priority is for this list, not for the list of alternates, which is due to the differences between the two systems
| Name | School | Event | Time | Row | Overall Priority* |
| Sarah Bennetts | UCLA | 100 breast | 59.55 | 35 | 1 |
| Tyler Driscoll | NC State | 50 free | 21.93 | 37 | 2 |
| Shea Furse | Georgia | 200 free | 1:44.31 | 37 | 3 |
| Bridget McGann | Wisconsin | 200 breast | 2:09.00 | 38 | 4 |
| Julia Wozniak | Arizona | 50 free | 21.93 | 38 | 5 |
| Fernanda de Goeij | Kentucky | 400 IM | 4:09.43 | 38 | 6 |
| Addison Reese | Florida | 200 fly | 1:56.28 | 38 | 7 |
| Roni Black | San Diego | 200 breast | 2:09.08 | 39 | 8 |
| Jessica Eden | OSU | 400 IM | 4:09.45 | 39 | 9 |
| Maddy Parker | SMU | 100 free | 47.94 | 39 | 10 |
| Sabrina Lyn | LSU | 100 breast | 59.61 | 39 | 11 |
| Sage Miller | 200 fly | 1:56.30 | 39 | 12 | |
| Miriam Sheehan | ASU | 100 back | 51.83 | 40 | 13 |
| Payton Flowers | Iowa | 50 free | 21.94 | 40 | 14 |
| Ava Muzzy | NC State | 400 IM | 4:09.45 | 40 | 15 |
| Xeniya Ignatova | Louisville | 200 back | 1:53.35 | 40 | 16 |
The first alternate for the meet this year is UCLA’s Sarah Bennetts, who has a season-best of 59.55 in the 100 breast, over half a second away from what it took to score in 2025. The junior only dipped below 1:00 for the first time this season, and sliced 0.31 seconds off her best at Big Tens to come within 0.02 seconds of San Diego State’s Moa Bergdahl, the final non-conference-champ (NCC) qualifier in the event.
*Bennetts has been called up after Ashley McMillan scratched out of the meet
Arizona’s Julia Wozniak and NC State’s Tyler Driscoll were even closer based purely on time. Their season-best times, tied at 21.93, were a single hundredth of a second off Carrie Furbee’s 21.92 which saw the freshman make the meet as the penultimate overall swimmer in, only ahead of Inez Miller in the 200 free.
There is just one swimmer on this list who scored at NCAAs last year, Florida’s Addison Reese. She placed 13th in the 200 fly last year in 1:54.30 after going 1:54.14 in prelims, but has only been 1:56.28 this season and was 12th at SECs in 1:56.64.
There are some other swimmers who have competed previously at NCAAs, either individually or as a relay-only swimmer. Miriam Sheehan swam the 50 free and 100 back at 2024 NCAAs back when she was at NC State, and was a relay-only swimmer for ASU at 2025 NCAAs.
Tyler Driscoll, her former teammate at NC State, swam the 50 free and 100 free at 2025 NCAAs, and Sarah Bennetts, the first alternate this year, swam on UCLA’s 200 free and 400 free relays at 2025 NCAAs. Georgia’s Shea Furse had qualified in the 200 free in both 2024 and 2025, placing 24th and 22nd respectively at NCAAs, but was slower in-season this year than in either of the previous two.
There are some big cutline changes under the new system in the 400 IM, where it moves from 4:08.80 to 4:09.45 and pushes out three swimmers from the meet – Fernanda de Goeij, Ava Muzzy, and Jessica Eden. The 50 free cutline only gets 0.02 seconds quicker, from 21.94 to 21.92, but that range also encompasses three swimmers – Tyler Driscoll, Julia Wozniak, and Payton Flowers.
There were a total of 107 conference-winning swims in times under the auto-qualification marks, coming from 74 swimmers. That made up 26.3% of the total qualifiers for the meet, and 81 of those conference-winning times – 75.7% – would have qualified under the old system regardless.
This article seems like an attempt to humiliate those who earned their way to NCAA’s based on the current system. Do you really think the 10th fastest 100 free swimmer at VT (example)or the new swimmer is scoring at NCAA’s – possibly but doubtful. Look at NCAA March Madness- basketball. Not the best 64 teams get in, but conference champions with loosing records do. It’s not unique to swimmers. It creates massive excitement at all conference championships. Everyone has stats showing this and that- great. This is about growing the sports optics outside the iron curtain and its excitement. I say well done to those conference champions who earned their way in and shame on those trying to humiliate them.… Read more »
Why are swim parents so ridiculous? “Humiliating” – like mama bear we all know your kid’s time, if you feel humiliated that is an internal conversation to have with yourself.
The rest of us don’t have to pretend they qualified by being one of the best 40 in the country just because you lie to your neighbors about it.
Toughen up a little bit and maybe your kid will too.
Why don’t you tell us which of the AQs is your child? This comment would almost definitely humiliate them if they knew it was about them.
Awe that’s cute. Trigger warning! We all know people like you who have a monolithic thought process and screaming insults is the only way to respond to those not in our silo. I feel sorry for your anger and inability to cope. We all know the last qualifiers don’t win the NCAA’s and rarely score. Maybe the committee said, let’s just shrink the field. Or- let’s set some time, pull in some conf. champs and pic a time to do it and make those championship way more exciting. Oh gee . No need to respond we already know what your going to say- grrrrr
Snowden made the meet last year so you left her out in the section about previous qualifications? Am I not understanding what you’re trying to say in this section?
Great list! An ignored aspect of the new system is the follow-on impact of the new qualifying process. The new system prioritizes mid-major programs over lower P4 teams.
For example, I believe SMU had 2 relay teams that would’ve made the meet if they had a swimmer get in. So, this does not only impact their swimmer at 10 on the list, it really impacts 4-5 young ladies from having the opportunity to have a splash at NCAAs. And I believe giving swimmers a taste of success often leads to future success.
I am NOT a fan of the new system. Set time standards and reward kids for achieving success! Making this meet will be the highlight of many athletes’… Read more »
That is a great point on the relays, not one I’d considered either. Might have a look at that in more detail after the championships.
Regarding the athlete cap though, that isn’t something that can just be increased. The NCAA have to review any changes to this and then would revise the number as they see fit, and Swimming & Diving would likely end up with fewer spots than they have currently (there are fewer DI schools competing than when the cap was agreed). Remember that the NCAA fund the swimmers and institutions to compete at the championships, and have the final say over numbers.
Think to ncaa basketball, do the best 64 teams get in, absolutely not. It’s creating excitement and optics around the sport for those who by no fault of their own get in. Will the 8th fastest 200 IM swimmer at Cal or the swimmer who gets in because of the rule change score at NCAA’s- it’s possible but really doubtful. So why do it. Sport optics and growth. You’re getting more eyes on the sport and creating massive excitement at those other conference championships. I was at one of those meets. It was awesome. The top conference it changes nothing at those meets because the 72nd best swimmer in the country in an event wouldn’t know they were in, at… Read more »
Whether or not it’s growing the sport remains to be seen.
But even if it’s growing the sport, it can be both. It’s not a binary “either it favors mid-majors or it grows the sport.” It can both favor mid majors relative to the former system AND grow the sport.
I just don’t see it as favoring but changing. We all know a 72nd fastest qualifier isn’t going to be in a A final at NCAA’s, just like the small to mid-major conference winners in ncaa basketball, won’t advance very far, but they are allowing them in- why ? It creates excitement. Now does the team or swimmer that would make it in past years win anything- very very unlikely, but I’m sure chat GPT could find a few. Swimming has always been great because times don’t lie and aren’t subjective. Who knows why they changed it, could be to many with no chance of winning were invited in the past and this changes that to add excitement to other… Read more »
What you’re ignoring is that some kid’s dream might be crushed who is legitimately deserving to be at NCAAs because they finished 10th at the wildly competitive ACCs while a mid-major champion (who got all the fanfare of winning) gets to go instead with a slower time. Keep in mind, the ACCs have 15 schools. Most of the midmajors have less than 10 schools. And, the new rules required relays to have an individual qualifier to swim so, again, the worst AQ swimmer could help get a relay in over more deserving swimmers.
Your logic isn’t good for the sport. It is good for kids going to midmajors getting an unfair advantage when they already got glory.
What about the kids who went to Texas a couple of years ago, they had like 28 qualifiers, and could only take 22. Is that fair, is it dream crushing. Should the rules be changed because slower kids got in. Dream crushing, well if your dream is to get to NCAA and be #37 maybe a big school isn’t for you or the dream needs a dose of reality. If they change it back- I don’t care, if they keep it, I think it’s cool. Big picture, my option & yours don’t matter. I think it’s cool, the times aren’t horrible and some of the qualifiers made it last year. I say keep it. It makes mid majors much better.… Read more »
You get what you pay for.
The time standard is so exclusive, downright offensive.
The democratic organization will fix the disparities.
Open all the doors.
Disengage all the locks.
Amp up the excitement.
Its a win win proposition.
Because its fair.
Cracks in the pavement come naturally.
Amazing work. Can’t wait to see the men’s. This change will help some teams recruit better talent since they can sell the path to NCAA by winning a smaller conference.
Catriona Gilmore of Army West Point**
Two Big 12 swimmers getting in with new system. How many Midmajors, who didn’t win conference, getting left home with new system?
I still don’t understand how this boosts viewership…
It’s not that complicated. This doesn’t impact viewership of NCAAs one way or the other. This adds excitement/importance to conference meets – especially conference meets where event winners may be likelier to qualify under this system, but even makes, e.g., SECs more important because, e.g., Alex Painter needs to swim fast to qualify.
Pretty sure the swimmers already swim as fast as they can on the day…
Obviously they are trying to… but at the same time, maybe they could rise to the occasion (whether through prep, execution or just mentality) if they knew they needed to go faster. Regardless, it raises the stakes at conference meets both because an AQ spot may be on the line and because the non-AQ invite is marginally more competitive also.