Swim of the Week is brought to you by arena, a SwimSwam partner.
Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Julia Dennis parlayed a successful NCAA Championship performance in late March with a standout showing at the Sacramento Pro Swim two weeks later, kicking off the long course season with a bang in the 50 freestyle.
Dennis, who placed 3rd in the 50 free at Women’s NCAAs in Federal Way, had back-to-back personal best swims in the long course event at the Pro Swim Series in Sacramento, breaking 25 seconds for the first time in the prelims in 24.97.
The 20-year-old rising senior at Louisville followed up by clocking 24.79 in the final, finishing a close 2nd to France’s Beryl Gastaldello (24.75) to mark a drop of nearly three-tenths (0.27) from her personal best coming into the meet.
Prior to the Sacramento Pro Swim, Dennis’ best time stood at 25.06, set back at the 2023 U.S. National Championships.
In 2024, her fastest swim came in at 25.28 at the U.S. Olympic Trials, earning her 20th place.
With her swim in Sacramento, Dennis moves into a tie for 9th in the world this season, matching Simone Manuel‘s 24.79 to sit as the 2nd-fastest Americans in 2024-25, only trailing Kate Douglass‘ 24.62 from the Westmont Pro Swim.
2024-2025 LCM Women 50 Free
Qingfeng
24.44
| 2 | Cheng Yujie | CHN | 24.47 | 03/20 |
| 3 | Milou van Wijk | NED | 24.48 | 03/14 |
| 4 | Florine GASPARD | BEL | 24.53 | 03/14 |
| 5 | Kate Douglass | USA | 24.62 | 03/08 |
| 6 | Meg Harris | AUS | 24.63 | 03/08 |
| 7 | Beryl GASTALDELLO | FRA | 24.75 | 04/04 |
| 8 | Kasia Wasick | POL | 24.76 | 03/08 |
| 9 | Julia DENNIS | USA | 24.79 | 04/04 |
| 9 | Simone Manuel | USA | 24.79 | 03/08 |
Dennis also set a personal best time of 27.36 in the 50 fly in Sacramento, placing 5th, and she was also 4th in the 100 free in 55.55, just shy of her personal best 55.43 from 2023.
At the 2025 NCAA Championships, Dennis placed 3rd in the 50 free (21.20), 8th in the 100 free (47.41) and contributed on four of Louisville’s relays, three of which finished in the top three (including a runner-up finish in the 200 free relay).
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