College Swimming Women’s Top Times: Who Has Surprised This Season?
College swimming has just over a month to go until the beginning of conference championship meets, which can produce sensational efforts from all corners of the country. One month after that will be the NCAA Championships, with both the women’s and men’s meets scheduled to take place in Federal Way, Wash.
With these significant meets quickly approaching, here is the current status quo in women’s college swimming, the swimmers with the No. 1 spots in each individual event right now.
- 50 Freestyle: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia — 20.54
- 100 Freestyle: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia — 46.12
- 200 Freestyle: Stephanie Balduccini, Michigan — 1:41.85
- 500 Freestyle: Jillian Cox, Texas — 4:30.68
- 1650 Freestyle: Jillian Cox, Texas — 15:34.66
- 100 Backstroke: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia — 49.31
- 200 Backstroke: Claire Curzan, Virginia — 1:46.87
- 100 Breaststroke: Anita Bottazzo, Florida — 57.49
- 200 Breaststroke: Kaelyn Gridley, Duke — 2:05.71
- 100 Butterfly: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia — 47.35
- 200 Butterfly: Emma Sticklen, Texas — 1:49.54
- 200 IM: Emma Sticklen, Texas — 1:52.75
- 400 IM: Caroline Bricker, Stanford — 3:59.88
Plenty of the names will not be surprising: Walsh is unsurprisingly atop four individual events, all of which she owns the fastest time ever. She has already lowered one yards record this college season, in the 100 fly. After not racing a flat-start 100 free in the fall, she clocked 46.12 in Virginia’s dual-meet win over Virginia Tech this weekend. Following Walsh’s historic performance at the Short Course World Championships, it is widely expected that her NCAA swimming finale will be another breathtaking performance.
After a year away from college swimming and a transfer to the Cavaliers, Curzan has returned to her place atop the 200 backstroke rankings with a new American record at the Tennessee Invite. This is no surprise as Curzan was the NCAA champion in the event in 2023. Also expected is Sticklen ranking first in the 200 fly — although the three-and-a-half-second margin on the rest of the country is notable. Sticklen is the two-time defending NCAA titlist in the event.
Speaking of Longhorns, Cox has made a grand entrance to college swimming with strong performances in the distance events during the fall, and the freshman with significant international experience will score big points for Texas in March. It’s worth noting, however, that these rankings do not count the impact that newly-enrolled Virginia freshman Katie Grimes is expected to make.
Now for some of the more surprising top-ranked swims so far: Sticklen is ranked first in two different events, one of which is the 200 IM. The fifth-year swimmer clocked 1:52.75 at the Texas Invite in November to finish 14-hundredths ahead of Torri Huske, the 100-meter fly Olympic champion who ranks No. 3 all-time in the event. The performance was a huge jump for Sticklen, who was 11th at last year’s NCAA Championships in the event in 1:54.19. The top national contenders here are Huske and Alex Walsh, who did not race this fall, but Sticklen has now entered the mix.
In the breaststroke events, Bottazzo has made an instant impact upon arriving from Italy while Gridley has been steadily building toward national contention. She placed fourth in the 200 breast at last season’s NCAAs and then made the final in both long course breaststroke events at the Olympic Trials. However, Gridley will have a tough time getting to the top on the national level with Alex Walsh, the defending champion and No. 2 performer all-time, back in the mix.
That leaves two swimmers who have made big jumps this season: Bricker dropped more than two seconds from her 400 IM best time to lead the national rankings, ahead of the Florida duo of Bella Sims and Emma Weyant. Again, these rankings do not include Grimes, but Bricker could continue to make inroads during the spring semester.
Balduccini, meanwhile, was 11th in the 200 free at last season’s NCAAs, and she has dropped more than a second from her best time to claim the top spot here. Only Sims and Anna Peplowski surpassed this mark of 1:41.85 in last year’s NCAA final, and unlike the 400 IM or 200 breast, there will be no midyear additions poised to overshadow the field come March. If Balduccini can continue her track of rapid improvement, she could contend with the veterans and make a name for herself.