Ranking The 2024 Women’s Recruiting Classes: #1-4

With many schools going back to campus in a few weeks, it is time for NCAA preview season. Here are the final rankings of the women’s incoming recruiting classes for the 2024-2025 campaign.

See also:

• Women’s #5-8
• Women’s #9-12
• Women’s #13-16
• Individual Recruit Rankings- Girls Class of 2024

A few important notes on our rankings:

• The rankings listed are based on our Class of 2024 Re-Rank. “HM” refers to our honorable mentions and “BOTR” refers to our Best of the Rest section for top-tier recruits.
• Like most of our rankings, these placements are subjective. We base our team ranks on a number of factors: prospects’ incoming times are by far the main factor, but we also consider potential upside in the class, class size, relay impact and team needs being filled. Greater weight is placed on known success in short course yards, so foreign swimmers are slightly devalued based on the difficulty in converting long course times to short course production.
• Transfers are included, though weighed less than recruits who came in with four seasons of eligibility.
• For the full list of all verbally committed athletes, click here. A big thank you to SwimSwam’s own Anne Lepesant for compiling that index – without it, rankings like these would be far less comprehensive.
• Some teams had not released a finalized 2024-25 team roster at the time these articles were published, meaning it’s possible we missed some names. Let us know in the comments below.

BEST NCAA SWIMMING & DIVING RECRUITING CLASSES: WOMEN’S CLASS OF 2024

Previously Ranked:

• #16 Georgia
• #15 Virginia Tech
• #14 Auburn
• #13 Northwestern
• #12 Indiana
• #11 Florida
• #10 Michigan
• #9 Ohio State
• #8 Wisconsin
• #7 Cal
• #6 Louisville
• #5 Stanford

#4 Tennessee

• Top Tier Additions: #6 Jillian Crooks (back/sprint free), #18 Emily Brown (IM/fly/mid-d free), Ella Jansen (free/IM), McKenzie Siroky (Deferred 2023- breast)
• The “Rest”: BOTR Emily Armen (sprint free), BOTR Lexi Stephens (back), BOTR Hannah Marinovich (breast)

The younger sister of Jordan Crooks, Jillian Crooks arrives this fall and already is in NCAA ‘A’ final territory in the 100 free as well as a 51.54 in the 100 back, NCAA scoring range as well. Crooks has relay value with her sprinting abilities for both the medley and free relays.

Emily Brown arrives with NCAA invite times in the 200 fly (1:55.80) and 200 IM (1:56.49). Sara Stotler was the team’s only finalist in the 200 fly at NCAAs as he was 15th (1:54.52) so a small improvement will bring depth in that scoring event.

McKenzie Siroky originally was committed to play hockey in college but switched her commitment to swim at Tennessee. She’s a true sprint breaststroker with a best time of 58.81 that she swam at Winter Juniors in December 2023 while taking her gap year. She made the US Olympic Trials A final in the long course 100 breast with a 1:07.71 and has the potential to develop into a swimmer such as Mona McSharry did with the Lady Vols.

Ella Jansen made the Canadian Olympic Team in the 400 IM and has a lifetime best 4:37.35 in the long course event which converts to a 4:04.09, a time that would already have made the NCAA ‘A’ final. She also has already been sub-2:00 in the long course 200 free with a 1:58.09, a time that converts to a 1:43.50. The 200 free got much faster this past season so that would have made the ‘B’ final but it also adds relay value alongside Camille Spink and Brooklyn Douthwright.

Armen helps boost the sprint free group with a flat start best of a 22.2 in the 50 free. That gives her 21-point potential with a flying start, a valuable time for the team’s relay. Stephens is just off NCAA invite range with a 52.4 in the 100 back (it took a 52.28 this past season) and a 1:54.9 in the 200 back as it took a 1:54.0 this year. Marinovich is close to breaking the 1:00 mark in the 100 breast with a 1:00.7 and her 200 breast is a 2:13.7, a time that also has the potential to drop into NCAA invite range with improvement.

#3 Texas

• Top Tier Additions: #9 Piper Enge (breast), #14 Lillie Nesty (mid-d free, back), HM Kate Hurst, HM Campbell Chase, Abby Arens (NC State Transfer- fly, breast, sprint free)
• The “Rest”: Jaiden Lynch (diving), Taylor Fox (diving), Morgan Robson (diving)

Piper Enge is the top breaststroker in the class with a 58.95 100 breast. It’s rare to get a breaststroke under the 1:00 out of high school and to be under-59 already is even more impressive. She also has a 2:09.09 best time in the 200 breast, a time that also is in NCAA invite range already. With Lydia Jacoby at Texas for another two years, Enge might not be the team’s medley relay breaststroker yet, but she has the potential to develop into that position.

Lillie Nesty had a huge improvement this past year and dropped to a 1:43.87 in the 200 free, a time that is on the border of scoring but well within NCAA invite range. She already looks to be an addition to the 800 free relay and has the opportunity to train alongside US Olympian Erin Gemmell.

Originally committed to Northwestern, Kate Hurst flipped her commitment to Texas and arrives as a distance freestyler, with the 1650 free as her strongest event. Her best time of a 16:08.25 is over 6 seconds within what it took to make 2024 NCAAs and she has a best time of a 4:43.46 in the 500.

Campbell Chase would have earned an NCAA invite with a 1:56.80 in the 200 IM and has a 4:12.09 best time in the 400 as well. In true IMer fashion, she still searches for a 3rd event (or not) but either way, she is an instant boost to the IM group.

Abby Arens arrives for her 5th year and swam at NCAAs in all four years of undergrad with NC State. She has bounced around in her selection of championship events but settled with the 50 free, 100 fly, and 200 breast this past year, finaling in the 100 fly at NCAAs.

#2: NC State

• Top Tier Additions: #2 Erika Pelaez (back, free, fly), #3 Leah Shackley (back/fly), #13 Lily Christianson (sprint free), Lisa Nystrand (Sweden, IM/breast), Chase Travis (Virginia Tech transfer-distance free), Betti Fabian (Hungary, distance free)
• The “Rest”: Katya Ivanov (breast/IM), Emily Way (sprint free), Sophie Scadron (fly/sprint free)

The rich get richer as NC State brings in the top backstroker in the class Leah Shackley along with Erika Pelaez. Shackley leads the class with times of a 50.53 and 1:50.21, both of which would have made the NCAA ‘A’ final this season. Pelaez has a best time of a 51.12 in the 100 and a 1:51.54 in the 200. Both swimmers also provide the option in another aspect of a medley relay, with Shackley having a class-leading 50.29 in the 100 fly and Pelaez having a 47.78 in the 100 free.

With the team’s biggest scorer Katharine Berkoff graduating, the arrival for the two is timely. In addition, Lily Christianson brings a 21.72 50 freestyle, the top in the class along with 48.45 100 free. That brings another sprint freestyle replacement they need as well.

Although she has not swum yards events yet, Lisa Nystrand of Sweden enters with converted times of 1:56.26 in the 200 IM and 4:09.60 in the 400 IM. Both times are well within NCAA invite range based on this past season. She also has her strength in the breaststroke events which the team needs to fill after Abby Arens, their top breaststroker in both distances, graduated and is taking her 5th year at Texas.

Chase Travis arrives from Virginia Tech and made NCAAs in all four years with the Hokies. She also was the ACC runner up in the 1650 free as a sophomore. She will only be with the team for a year so her value is not as great but the team only had 1 swimmer at NCAAs in the 1650 free so she fills a much needed gap.

Emily Way brings in a sub-50 100 freestyle with a 49.81 while Sophie Scadron has a best time of a 54.43 in the 100 fly. Katya Ivanov has a best time of a 2:13.97 in the 200 breast.

#1: Virginia

• Top Tier Additions: Claire Curzan (Stanford transfer – Back/Fly), #4 Leah Hayes (IM/Free/Breast), #5 Anna Moesch (sprint free), #11 Bailey Hartman (Mid-D free, Fly), #12 Katie Christopherson (breast, IM)
• The “Rest”: Elise Clift (BOTR, Distance Free), Charlotte Wilson (BOTR, backstroke), Emma Redman (BOTR, breaststroke), Aspen Gersper (BOTR, butterfly), Kayleigh Duffy (sprint free), Alena Lotterer (diving)

Virginia had the #3 recruiting class last year but leads the way this year and looks primed to go for their 5th-straight NCAA title.

Claire Curzan will be able to make her debut for Virginia at the collegiate level this year after training in Charlottesville for almost the past year. Curzan won the 200 backstroke as a freshman at Stanford and has three years of eligibility left. She scored 51 points back at 2023 NCAAs and brings the ability to shift the medley relays around, filling in the void that Jasmine Nocentini leaves on the breaststroke leg as she has graduated. The medley relay could look something like Curzan-A. Walsh-G. Walsh-Parker or Curzan-Weber-G. Walsh-Parker (or A. Walsh). Either way, Curzan’s arrival gives the potential for Virginia to have an all-USA Olympian relay with Curzan, Weber, A. Walsh, and G. Walsh and let’s not forget that Maxine Parker swam at the 2023 World Championships for the US.

Curzan has the ability to swim on the sprint free relays, but the question is, will she even need to? Anna Moesch holds a best time of a 21.73 flat start in the 50 and a 47.11 in the 100 and swam both times as a senior in high school, showing a solid improvement even before she arrives at Virginia.

Leah Hayes boosts the IM group with a 1:53.57 200 IM, the fastest in the girls class of 2024. That time also would have made the ‘A’ final along with her 4:03.05 in the 400 IM. It’s hard to see exactly what her 3rd event might be as she is a classic IMer that has so much versatility (see Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh).

Hayes is not the only IMer arriving as Katie Christopherson arrives with a best time of a 1:55.46, a time that is only 0.01 off of the NCAA cutline but the good news is she would have earned the cutline with her 2:07.81 200 breast, the fastest in the class. Only a few girls break the 1:00 mark in the 100 breast entering college, something that Christopherson has done so as well.

Bailey Hartman has the ability to score in the 500 freestyle already with a best time of a 4:33.72, and a season best of a 4:39.53 during her senior season. She also has the 200 butterfly with a 1:54.82, a time that would have ‘B’ finaled at 2024 NCAAs. She adds depth to the fly group alongside someone such as Tess Howley who just finished up her freshman season.

Most of the rest of the class enters with decisions to make as they all have versatility. Charlotte Wilson enters as a 52.22 and 1:54.50 backstroker, with a 52.28 and a 1:54.01 in the 200 to make NCAAs this past season.