NCAA Women’s Swimming: 5 Veterans Who Can Elevate Their Squads in 2024-25
As the next college swimming season begins, those with even a rudimentary knowledge of the sport understand that the Virginia women are set to dominate the country for a fifth consecutive year, with Gretchen Walsh returning from the Olympics to a format she absolutely dominated last year while older sister Alex Walsh swims her fifth year after winning three individual titles in 2024 and transfer Claire Curzan adds a third key member to the squad. But who will push for the top team finishes behind the Cavaliers?
We certainly expect Torri Huske to bring Stanford back into the conversation following her redshirt year while Bella Sims provided the spark in Florida’s third-place national finish last season. Here are some of the other key swimmers we expect to play big roles in their respective team’s success over the next six months.
Phoebe Bacon, Wisconsin
Phoebe Bacon — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
At two consecutive Olympic Trials, Bacon has used stellar closing splits to get herself onto the Olympic team as the runnerup in the 200 backstroke. However, Bacon has finished heartbreakingly short of the podium in the event at back-to-back Games. She touched less than a quarter-second away from bronze in Tokyo before ending up four hundredths behind Canada’s Kylie Masse this time around.
Bacon now returns for her fifth season of college swimming after winning two national titles in the 200-yard back and finishing as runnerup on two occasions, although the race looks to be quite competitive this year with Curzan, Sims and Cal’s Isabelle Stadden all expected to be in the running. Bacon also placed fourth in the 100 back and fifth in the 200 IM at last year’s national championships. Wisconsin has not finished higher than 15th nationally during Bacon’s career, but perhaps that changes this year as Wisconsin’s entire core, led by Bacon and freestylers Abby Carlson and Paige McKenna, is joined by talented freshman Maggie Wanezek.
Mona McSharry, Tennessee
Following an impressive fourth-place finish for the Volunteers last year, the team’s best swimmer returns to Knoxville after claiming Olympic bronze in the 100-meter breaststroke, with McSharry’s time of 1:05.59 putting her one hundredth up on co-fourth-place finishers Lilly King and Benedetta Pilato. McSharry was the runnerup in both breaststroke distances at last year’s NCAA Championships, and she will again team with Sweden-native Emilie Fast to provide the country’s best 1-2 punch in the stroke.
Also at last year’s NCAA Championships, McSharry paced four Tennessee relays that finished sixth place or better. It’s no surprise that she handled breaststroke on both medley relays, but she also contributed solid freestyle splits on the 200 and 400 free relays.
Anna Peplowski, Indiana
Peplowski scored her best NCAA performance to date last season when she nearly ran down Sims for the title in the 200 free while finishing third in the 500 free and seventh in the 100 free and playing a central relay role for the seventh-place Hoosiers. But her big breakthrough moment came a few months later, when Peplowski placed fifth in the 200 free at the U.S. Olympic Trials to qualify for her first Olympic team. Peplowski earned a silver medal for her relay efforts in Paris, and now, Indiana will depend on this returning Olympian along with sprinter Kristina Paegle to try to nail down another top-10 finish.
Emma Sticklen, Texas
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
The Longhorns, third on the national level each of the last three years, have lost some key pieces this season. Kelly Pash, the do-everything ace for Carol Capitani’s group the last five seasons, has exhausted her eligibility. Olympic breaststrokers Anna Elendt and Lydia Jacoby are both gone. Texas did place one swimmer on the U.S. Olympic team, with Erin Gemmell qualifying for the 200 free semifinals in Paris and racing on the U.S. women’s 800 free relay, but Gemmell’s short course swimming is not on par with her long course results.
The best swimmer on this team is Sticklen, the two-time defending national champion in the 200-yard fly. Sticklen has won both titles in come-from-behind fashion, overtaking Alex Walsh in 2023 and then moving up from fourth to first with a magnificent final underwater kickout in last season’s final. Sticklen was also the national runnerup in the 100 fly last year, and she was a B-finalist in the 200 IM. She is also a plug-and-play relay swimmer, expected to carry a heavy load alongside fellow fifth-years Olivia Bray and Abby Arens, the latter a transfer from NC State.
Emma Weyant, Florida
This two-time Olympic medalist has quietly put together a strong college career with the Gators after spending her freshman season at Virginia. While Sims was the central force in Florida’s third-place finish last season, Weyant played a key role in helping Florida to an upset win in the 800 free relay, and then she finished second behind Sims for a huge Gators performance in the 500 free. She broke 4:00 while placing second in the 400 IM, and she came through with a strong fifth-place finish in the 1650 free.
Weyant now returns for her senior season after once again reaching the Olympic podium at this summer’s Paris Games, claiming bronze in the 400-meter IM. While she lacks some of the sprint versatility so prized in college swimming, her results will be crucial if Florida hopes to win another top-four team trophy this year.