By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
The top times in the NCAA this season look a lot different now that the peak of invite season has passed. Before the invite season began, we took a look at the top three swimmers in each event, and we’re returning to that exercise now that the dust has settled after invites.
Spoiler alert—every event on the women’s side got faster, whether it was the same person or school improving their mark or a new swimmer/program taking over.
Note that as we did in November, we’re only considering yards times done in an NCAA competition, so there are no converted times included and no swims from the 2024 Short Course World Championships.
EVENT Fastest 2nd Fastest 3rd Fastest 50 free Gretchen Walsh (UVA), 20.54 Camille Spink (TENN), 21.33 Torri Huske (STAN), 21.38 100 free Camille Spink (TENN), 46.61 Torri Huske (STAN), 46.62 Anna Moesch (UVA), 46.76 200 free Stephanie Balduccini (MICH), 1:41.85 Minna Abraham (USC), 1:42.01 Anna Peplowski (IU), 1:42.36 500 free Jillian Cox (TEX), 4:30.68 Bella Sims (FLOR), 4:31.06 Aurora Roghair (STAN), 4:31.63 1650 free Jillian Cox (TEX), 15:34.66 Aurora Roghair (STAN), 15:36.43 Abby McCulloh (UGA), 15:46.99 100 back Gretchen Walsh (UVA), 49.31 Claire Curzan (UVA), 49.37 Mary-Ambre Moluh (CAL), 49.68 200 back Claire Curzan (UVA), 1:46.87 Gretchen Walsh (UVA), 1:48.18 Bella Sims (FLOR), 1:49.43 100 breast Anita Bottazzo (FLOR), 57.49 McKenzie Siroky (TENN), 58.00 Skyler Smith (UNC), 58.26 200 breast Kaelyn Gridley (DUKE), 2:05.71 Lucy Bell (STAN), 2:06.32 Aimee Canny (UVA), 2:06.70 100 fly Gretchen Walsh (UVA), 48.26 Torri Huske (STAN), 49.24 Claire Curzan (UVA), 49.50 200 fly Emma Sticklen (TEX), 1:49.54 Lillie Nordmann (STAN), 1:53.79 Emily Brown (TENN), 1:53.91 200 IM Emma Sticklen (TEX), 1:52.75 Josephine Fuller (TENN), 1:52.86 Torri Huske (STAN), 1:52.89 400 IM Caroline Bricker (STAN), 3:59.88 Bella Sims (FLOR), 4:00.44 Emma Weyant (FLOR), 4:01.01 200 free relay Virginia, 1:24.68 Texas, 1:25.92 Louisville, 1:26.18 400 free relay Virginia, 3:06.93 Texas, 3:10.22 Stanford, 3:10.87 800 free relay Florida, 6:56.63 Georgia, 6:56.92 Tennessee, 6:56.95 200 medley relay Virginia, 1:32.58 Texas, 1:34.06 Tennessee, 1:34.35 400 medley relay Virginia, 3:25.35 Florida, 3:26.27 Texas, 3:27.12Gretchen Walsh warmed up at the Tennessee Invitational. Her performances at the meet included a league-best three NCAA-leading swims. She’s the fastest performer this season in the 50 free (20.54), 100 backstroke (49.31), and 100 butterfly (47.35), the latter of which reset her NCAA record.
Claire Curzan is the other Virginia swimmer who tops the league in an individual event, contributing her NCAA record of 1:46.87 in the 200 backstroke. Curzan’s had a strong start to the season so far and also appears in the top three in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.
Emma Sticklen and Jillian Cox extended their fast starts this season through the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational. Heading into midseason, Sticklen had the league’s fastest time in the 200 fly, and Cox the 500 free. Both improved on their times in those events while adding another—Sticklen swam a 1:49.54 in the 200 fly and picked up the 200 IM with a 1:52.75. Cox outdueled Aurora Roghair at the Hall of Fame Invite in both the 500 and 1650 free. She hit 4:30.68 in the 500 free and became the 10th fastest 1650 freestyler in history with a 15:34.66.
Torri Huske has four of those ten, making the list in the 50 free (3rd, 21.38), 100 free (2nd, 46.62), 100 fly (2nd, 49.24), and 200 IM (3rd, 1:52.89). Lillie Nordmann (200 fly), Caroline Bricker (200 IM), and Lucy Bell (200 breast) account for the other individual swims.
Bella Sims’ three events. Tennessee has seven entries as well, while Indiana has only Anna Peplowski’s 200 free, and Louisville has only the 200 free relay.
Leah Shackley, Erika Pelaez, and Miranda Grana were big presences on the pre-invite table but have now fallen out of the top three in all their events. Meanwhile, Anita Bottazzo and McKenzie Siroky have asserted themselves in the 100 breaststroke, while Anna Moesch has moved near the top of the table in the 100 freestyle.
Mary-Ambre Moluh reached new heights at the Minnesota Invitational, swimming a Cal program record in the 100 backstroke (49.68) that makes her the fourth-fastest freshman in history and puts her third in the league this season behind Walsh and Curzan.
This is not to say those swimmer who fell out of the top three aren’t continuing to provide energy to their programs—they are. It’s just the league has caught up to their early season speed.
There were no events where the top time stayed the same as it was before invites. The events where the same swimmer or school improved their league-leading time were the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, 200 freestyle relay, and 200 medley relay.
Stephanie Balduccini in the 200 freestyle, Walsh in the 100 backstroke, Curzan in the 200 backstroke, Bottazzo in the 100 breaststroke, Kaelyn Gridley in the 200 breaststroke, and Bricker in the 400 IM. Virginia flexed its relay dominance by taking over the 400 freestyle and 400 medley relays, while Florida moved to the top of the table in the 800 freestyle relay.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Top Three Times In Each NCAA Event After Midseason Invites — Women’s Edition
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