By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
This was a major week in NCAA swimming. While the World Cup concluded with a blistering weekend in Toronto (highlighted by some current NCAA stars) there was plenty of fast swimming in the yards pool as well. There were major matchups as powerhouse programs faced off, and the international freshman sprinters reached new heights. And yes, it’s still only October.
Women’s 200 Freestyle Renaissance
One of the trends over the last couple of seasons in women’s college swimming has been the rapid advancement of the 500 freestyle. After several years of stagnation, the event got quicker in a hurry. In the 2023-24 season, 17 women broke 4:40 before midseason; that number shot up to 24 for 2024-25.
This year, it’s the women’s 200 freestyle that’s seeing an early season surge. It isn’t November yet, and already seven women have broken 1:43.
- Anna Moesch, Virginia – 1:41.42
- Bella Sims, Michigan – 1:41.43
- Aimee Canny, Virginia – 1:41.85
- Liberty Clark, Indiana – 1:42.43
- Minna Abraham, USC – 1:42.50
- Claire Weinstein, Cal – 1:42.52
- Erin Gemmell, Texas – 1:42.64
Torri Huske rounds out the top eight women in the NCAA so far this season with the 1:43.00 she swam leading off Stanford’s 800 freestyle relay at the Cardinals’ tri-meet against Cal and Arizona State.
Four of these seven women put in their times this past weekend. Bella Sims highlighted the action with the 1:42.43 she swam in her debut as a Michigan Wolverine. The time puts her just a hundredth off Moesch’s NCAA leading time and the mark for the fastest October 200-yard freestyle swim in NCAA history.
Moesch’s Virginia teammate, Aimee Canny, shot up to third on the list during the Cavaliers dual against the Tar Heels, swimming a 1:41.85. The swim made Canny the third woman to break 1:42 this season. It’s her first time breaking through that barrier; her previous best was a 1:42.00 from the 2025 ACC Championships.
Erin Gemmell swam 1:42.64 as the Longhorns faced the Volunteers. Gemmell scared her lifetime best of 1:42.34 this season and told SwimSwam after the meet she “loves having more 200 free training partners,” which she got this year with the arrival of Nikolett Padar. Finally, Cal freshman Claire Weinstein introduced herself to the NCAA with a 1:42.52.
Highlights From Major DI Matchups
There were three significant Division I dual meets this weekend that all featured top 25 NCAA teams. Virginia faced UNC, Texas hosted Tennessee, and Stanford, Cal, and Arizona State battled in a tri-meet.
UVA vs. UNC
Let’s start with the first meet of the weekend, where Virginia freshman Sara Curtis swam an impressive 21.18, becoming the 12th fastest performer in history. She swam the race exhibition due to the meet structure. Curtis has been showing off her speed early this season, having made a quick adjustment to yards with the majority of the season still to come. She’s one of five Virginia women in the top 12 fastest 50 freestylers in history.
Behind her, transfer Bryn Greenwaldt posted a lifetime best 21.76, dropping from the 21.92 she swam to set the NCAA DII record in March at the 2025 DII National Championships. Other notable swims include Moesch swimming a lifetime best 46.53 in the 100 freestyle and Claire Curzan swimming 1:47.89 in the 200 backstroke. At this meet last year, Curzan swam 1:51.84.
Curzan’s time was an AFC pool record, as was David King’s 1:39.86 200 backstroke and Canny’s 1:41.85 200 freestyle. Thomas Heilman and Maximus Williamson also logged pool records, with Heilman swimming a 44.59 100 butterfly and Williamson a 1:32.32 200 freestyle.
Texas vs. Tennessee
Across the country, another international freshman sprinter continued making waves of her own. Like Curtis, Texas freshman Eva Okaro has been one of the highlights of women’s NCAA swimming through the early part of the season, quickly figuring out how to swim fast in the bathtub.
In the morning session of the two-session affair against Tennessee, Okaro posted a 47.06 100 freestyle, breaking the Longhorns’ school record. Her time cracked the previous school record, held by Claire Adams since 2018, by .24 seconds. Okaro faced off against Camille Spink in the event and edged her out for the win by a hundredth. The two now sit second and third in the league this season.
Okaro beat Spink by .01 again later in the session as both led off the 200 freestyle relay, which Texas won.
Rex Maurer won four events at the meet, kicking things off with a 8:42.30 1000 freestyle, about a second off his lifetime best from a January dual meet last season. He then won the 400 IM in 3:41.19
The Tennessee men lost their star sprinter, Jordan Crooks, to graduation at the end of last season. Gui Caribe has picked up the mantle of the team’s top sprinter and swept the sprint freestyles (18.98/41.93).
Will Modglin and Nate Germonprez were also strong for the Texas men. Modglin won the 100 butterfly (45.74), 100 backstroke (44.96), and 200 backstroke (1:39.41), Germonprez swept the individual breaststrokes (50.62/1:52.25).
ASU vs. Stanford vs. Cal
After transferring from Florida to Arizona State this season, Chaney has already shown that he’s going to be a crucial piece of the Sun Devils’ relays this season. He posted a top 10 50 backstroke split earlier this year—he swam on that relay again this meet, swimming 20.75 but the much more impressive relay swim was his 18.06 50 freestyle anchor. He also put together a 44.49 to win the 100 backstroke, just three-hundredths from his current season best.
We already touched on the women’s 200 freestyles from this meet. Along with her 1:43.00 200 freestyle, Huske took on the 100 backstroke, another off event for her. She won with a lifetime best 51.62, upsetting Cal sophomore Mary-Ambre Moluh (51.98). Huske then won her bread-and-butter event, the 100 fly, with a 51.05. It’s the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season behind Claire Curzan (50.06).
Finally, Huske led off Stanford’s 200 freestyle relay in 22.05, turning things over to freshman Annam Olasewere. She split 21.94, notably under her lifetime best 21.99 from March.
Stanford’s Ethan Ekk and Cal’s Ryan Erisman had a great race in the 1000 freestyle. Ekk used a strong back half to take over and win in 8:42.25, shattering his previous best and taking over as the top swimmer in the NCAA this season from Maurer’s 8:42.30. Erisman took second in 8:43.48, setting a school record.
After her breakout last her in short-course yards and long-course meters, Caroline Bricker won the 200 butterfly (1:52.83), 200 breaststroke (2:09.18), 400 IM (4:04.30).
Audrey Mahoney Breaks 25-Year-Old Jenny Thompson Pool Record
UNH senior Audrey Mahoney is on fire this season. On the first day of the team’s two-day dual against CCSU, Mahoney fired off a 22.98 50 freestyle, breaking the legendary Jenny Thompson’s pool record in the event. Thompson had held the pool record at 23.00 since 1990.
This is Mahoney’s second pool record in less than a week. In UNH’s season-opener at Vermont, she swam a 23.52 to take over the Catamounts’ pool record. Her time this weekend was just five-hundredths from her lifetime best, which she swam at the 2025 CSCAA National Invitation Championship in March.
“After Audrey set that UVM pool record last weekend, I gave her a personal challenge for this weekend’s meet,” UNH head coach Josh Willman said. “She really came through, and it was fun to watch!”
Quick Hits
- The Notre Dame men and women’s team both picked up their first wins under new head coach Michael Norment and his staff. Notre Dame swept Northwestern, with the women’s team taking the win by two points, 151-149. The men’s battle was close as well with the Fighting Irish winning 158.5 to 141.5. This was the first victory for the men’s team since returning from a season-long suspension.
- The UC Santa Cruz men made program history this weekend. They earned their first win over a DI program ever, beating Pacific 144-143. The team got off to a hot start, opening the meet with a 1:30.08 program record in the 200 medley relay. Later, freshman PJ Fortune swam 55.79 in the 100 breaststroke. UCSC won the final event of the meet, the 400 free relay, in 3:02.00 to secure the team’s historic win.
- The Pitt women took a big step forward last season, including qualifying a relay for NCAAs for the first time since 2005-06, then posting their highest NCAA team finish in 29 years (27th). They’ve made more history early this season, taking their first win over Penn State at home in 36 years. The Pitt women dominated en route to their historic win, scoring 218 points to Penn State’s 77.
- Division II Concordia University cut four athletics programs in May, including women’s swimming and diving. This week, the university was ordered to reinstate the team, along with women’s tennis, after a group of female athletes sued the school over Title IX.
- LSU set six pool records in its sweep of Kentucky this weekend. After breaking pool records at the SMU Classic, junior Jere Hribar contributed two individual pool records this weekend. Hribar clocked 19.10 in the 50 freestyle, then turned in a 42.07 in the 100 freestyle. He also played a role on the Tigers’ 200 medley relay pool record, splitting 18.66 as he, Stepan Goncharov (21.05 back), Volodymyr Lisovets (23.49 breast), and Caleb Ellis (20.87 fly) combined for 1:24.07
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2025-26 NCAA Digest: Is The Women’s 200 Freestyle Renaissance Here?
