DI Swimming Championship Primer
We are so close to championship season starting so it is time to preview Division I! The 2025 women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship meet kicks off this week from March 19-22 in Federal Way, Washington, with the men’s meet following one week later (March 26-29) in the same pool. And if the conference championships were any indication of what the national championship meets will look like, we are in for a huge treat. So let’s dive in!
The defending champions on the women’s side are the University of Virginia Cavaliers. They have won four straight national titles and would love to make that five, which would match the longest historic streaks set previously by Texas (1984-1988) and Stanford (1992-1996). On the men’s side, the defending national champions are the Arizona State Sun Devils who were the first team since 2013 besides Texas or Cal to win.
This year, Virginia looks poised to win on the women’s side, while on the men’s side it really looks to be anyone’s race between Texas, Cal, Florida, and Indiana. So let’s take a look at some storylines for this year’s meet!
How many records will be broken?
So far this year, we have already seen a ton of national records broken. Specifically, five men’s national records and four women’s records have fallen. Those are:
Men
100 breaststroke — 49.51, Julian Smith, Florida
200 butterfly — 1:37.17, Luca Urlando, Georgia
200 free relay — 1:12.80, Tennessee
400 free relay — 2:42.41, Tennessee
400 medley relay — 2:55.66, Florida
Women
100 butterfly — 47.35, Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
200 backstroke — 1:46.87, Claire Curzan, Virginia
800 free relay — 6:44.13, Virginia
400 medley relay — 3:19.58, Virginia
Conference meets felt especially competitive this year with all of the conference realignment that took place in the last year. Watching Texas compete against the best teams in the SEC, and Cal and Stanford compete against the likes of Virginia at ACCs really upped the dynamics at these meets to make them feel almost like mini-NCAA meets.
With so many records already broken, can we expect swimmers to go even faster at NCAAs? I think so. We saw many men sporting mustaches at their conference meets, suggesting they had not shaved yet. I am sure the top women who had already qualified for NCAAs were also not shaved down nor fully rested, so we will almost certainly see more records broken these next couple of weeks. How many records no one can be sure, but some individual records (beyond ones that have already been broken this year) that look especially vulnerable are:
Men
50 free — 17.63, Caeleb Dressel 2018
100 free — 39.90, Caeleb Dressel, 2018
200 free — 1:28.81, Luke Hobson, 2024
100 butterfly — 42.80, Caeleb Dressel, 2018
200 backstroke — 1:35.37, Destin Lasco, 2024
Women
50 free — 20.37, Gretchen Walsh, 2024
100 free — 44.83, Gretchen Walsh 2024
200 butterfly — 1:49.16, Alex Walsh, 2024
A couple of highlights from those vulnerable records: Caeleb Dressel’s records seemed absolutely untouchable when he swam those times in 2018, but Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks and Florida’s Josh Liendo are coming for them. Crooks has gone a 17.85 in the 50 free and a 40.26 in the 100 free, while Liendo has gone a 43.23 in the 100 fly. We will just have to wait and see if any of those legendary Dressel records might be broken.
On the women’s side, Gretchen Walsh is always a threat to break records, even when they are her own so I am super excited to see what crazy fast times she can throw down. I also want to highlight the 200 fly. Texas’ Emma Sticklen went just one one-hundredth of a second off the national record at the SEC Championship meet so she will be gunning for that record. However, she will have to compete against current record-holder Alex Walsh to get it done. Look to watch a thrilling battle between these two.
Can the Cavalier women five-peat?
As I mentioned, the UVA women are seeking their fifth national title in a row. They have been led these past four years by powerhouse women, especially Olympians Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, and Gretchen Walsh. Both Walsh sisters are still at UVA and have continued their runs of dominance. Alex won 32 career ACC titles in her five years at Virginia, setting a record for all-time ACC wins. Last year, the Cavalier women won NCAAs by over 80 points. They look ready to take a fifth straight title, but other teams are getting closer and closer so we will see if anyone can challenge them.
Can Bob Bowman win two titles in a row with two different teams?
Last year, Bob Bowman coached the ASU men to their first swimming NCAA title in school history. Then immediately after, he announced he was heading to Texas to take over their men’s program. He is certainly one of the best coaches in swimming history (notably coaching legend Michael Phelps in his historic Olympic run) and Texas was already one of the top men’s programs in college swimming. Many of the fastest ASU men swimmers came with Bowman to Texas (2024 200 back NCAA champion and Olympic gold medalist Hubi Kos as one example) and they have looked very strong this year, winning the SEC conference meet by 150 points.
Without factoring diving in, the Texas men are poised to win their first team title since 2021, followed by Florida, Cal, and Indiana. Of course, diving does play a role and that is only based on psych sheets, but it will be very exciting to see if Bowman can go 2/2 with two different teams in two consecutive years.
A D3 shoutout
As a former D3 swimmer, I have to give a shoutout to current Cal fifth-year and former Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Division III swimmer Frank Applebaum. At CMS, Applebaum was a two-time national champion in the 200 butterfly as well as the national record holder before his record was broken last year. He was able to take a fifth year due to NCAAs being cancelled his freshman year because of COVID-19. And boy he has been making the most of it. It was already very impressive for him to earn a spot on the storied Cal men’s swim team and now he is on his way to NCAAs where he has a chance to compete for a national title. He has dropped three seconds from his best 200 fly time pre-Cal to a 1:40.39, good enough for an invite to NCAAs where he is seeded 12th.
Also! He is not alone. Another former DIII swimmer (Jack Wadsworth) transferred from Ithaca College to Arizona State two years ago and will be back at DI NCAAs for the second year in a row. At Ithaca College, he was a national champion and national record holder in the 100 backstroke in 2022. This year, he is seeded twelfth in the 100 back. He also was part of the national-title winning team last year for ASU, meaning he went from being a DIII national champion to a DI national champion. Incredible!
Those are just a few things to watch for at the men’s and women’s NCAA championship meets over these next few weeks, but I am sure there will be so much more. I cannot wait to watch and bring you along as we see the best college swimmers in the country battle it out!