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Preview of NCAA Division I College Football for 2025-2026

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Preview of NCAA Division I College Football for 2025-2026

By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam

We are less than a week away from the start of September, and after months of major international meets, we are ready to return to NCAA Swimming & Diving with the start of the 2025-2026 season just around the corner. The 2025 recruits, and transfers, have made their decisions for where they will spend their year and will be starting classes over the next month.

At SwimSwam, the smell of college swimming in the air means that we have been working through the top recruits, the top recruiting classes and last season’s top 12 programs for both genders. As we post articles, we will update our compendium (as Mark coined it last year) so you can quickly and easily access everything.

Top 12 Programs Preview

Women’s Top 12 Men’s Top 12
Program 2025 NCAA Score Stars (★) Program 2025 NCAA Score Stars (★)
Virginia 544 1 Texas 490
Stanford 417 2 California 471
Texas 394 3 Indiana 459
Indiana 312 4 Florida 315
Tennessee 298 5 Tennessee 266.5
Florida 232 6 Arizona State 248
Louisville 209.5 7 Georgia 238.5
California 202.5 8 Stanford 216
Michigan 196 9 NC State 178
NC State 164 23 10 Virginia Tech 107.5 11
Southern California 130 19 11 Michigan 98.5 23
Wisconsin 126 12.5 12 Texas A&M 95.5 15

GRADING CRITERIA

Over the years, we’ve gone back and forth on how to project points, ranging from largely subjective rankings to more data-based grading criteria based on ‘projected returning points.’ We like being as objective as possible, but we’re going to stick with the approach we’ve adopted post-Covid. The “stars” will rely heavily on what swimmers actually did last year, but we’ll also give credit to returning swimmers or freshmen who have posted times that would have scored last year.

Since we only profile the top 12 teams in this format, our grades are designed with that range in mind. In the grand scheme of college swimming and compared to all other college programs, top 12 NCAA programs would pretty much all grade well across the board. But in the interest of making these previews informative, our grading scale is tough – designed to show the tiers between the good stroke groups, the great ones, and the 2015 Texas fly group types.

  • 5 star (★★★★★) – a rare, elite NCAA group projected to score 25+ points per event
  • 4 star (★★★★) – a very, very good NCAA group projected to score 15-24 points per event
  • 3 star (★★★) – a good NCAA group projected to score 5-14 points per event
  • 2 star (★★) – a solid NCAA group projected to score 1-4 points per event
  • 1 star (★) –  an NCAA group that is projected to score no points per event, though that doesn’t mean it’s without potential scorers – they’ll just need to leapfrog some swimmers ahead of them to do it

We’ll grade each event discipline: sprint free (which we define to include all the relay-distance freestyle events, so 50, 100 and 200), distance free, IM, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and diving. Use these grades as a jumping-off point for discussion, rather than a reason to be angry.

Also, keep in mind that we are publishing many of these previews before teams have posted finalized rosters. We’re making our assessments based on the best information we have available at the time of publication, but we reserve the right to make changes after publication based on any new information that may emerge regarding rosters. If that does happen, we’ll make certain to note the change.

Top Recruiting Classes

Women’s Programs Men’s Programs
Cal, Stanford, Virginia, Florida 1-4
Texas, NC State, Indiana, Georgia 5-8
Tennessee, Princeton, USC, Michigan 9-12
Louisville, Ohio State, Duke, Notre Dame 13-16
UCLA, Wisconsin, South Carolina Honorable Mentions (in no particular order) Wisconsin, Louisville, Texas A&M, Ohio State

A few important notes on our rankings:

  • The rankings listed are based on our Class of 2025 Re-Rank. “HM” refers to our honorable mentions and “BOTR” refers to our Best of the Rest section for top-tier recruits.
  • Like most of our rankings, these placements are subjective. We base our team ranks on a number of factors: prospects’ incoming times are by far the main factor, but we also consider potential upside in the class, class size, relay impact, and team needs. Greater weight is placed on known success in short course yards, so foreign swimmers are slightly devalued based on the difficulty in converting long course times to short course production.
  • Transfers are included, though they are weighed less than recruits who arrive with four seasons of eligibility.
  • For the full list of all verbally committed athletes, click here. A big thank you to SwimSwam’s own Anne Lepesant for compiling that index – without it, rankings like these would be far less comprehensive.
  • Some teams had not released a finalized 2025-26 team roster at the time these articles were published, meaning it’s possible we missed some names. Let us know in the comments below.

Individual Recruit Ranks

Girls

Boys

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2025-2026 NCAA Division I College Preview Compendium

Preview of Wildlife Photography at the Natural History Museum

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Preview of Wildlife Photography at the Natural History Museum

Every year, the Natural History Museum in London dazzles wildlife lovers with the best-of-the-best photographs of the natural world. This year is no exception, and we’ve got a riveting preview for you ahead of October’s award ceremony.

Now in its 61st year, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition showcases 100 of the world’s best nature photographs at the museum and crowns a series of shooters in a variety of categories, as well as awarding one Grand Title and one Young Grand Title. This year’s competition saw a whopping 60,636 entries from which the previews in our gallery have been selected.

“Selected from a record-breaking over 60,000 images, this preview presents just a small insight into the 100 awe-inspiring, impactful and moving images in store for visitors to our exhibition in October,” says Kathy Morgan, who is the chair of the jury tasked with selecting all of the winners. “As an advocate for the power of photography, there is nothing more rewarding or moving than seeing our relationship to the natural world, in all its complexity and splendour, shared on the world’s biggest platform for wildlife photography.”

Entitled “Wake-up Call,” this striking image was captured after the slithering cobra awoke a pair of sleeping lions in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

Gabriella Comi

The 100 winning entries will be announced on October 14 at the museum and on an accompanying broadcast on its YouTube channel. The shots will then be exhibited at the museum from October 17 through July 12 before they embark on a UK and international tour. This year, some of the shots featured in the exhibit will be accompanied by the museum’s Biodiversity Intactness Index, a proprietary ranking system that indicates how much of a region’s natural biodiversity remains, on a scale from zero to 100%.

“Now in its sixty-first year, we are thrilled to continue Wildlife Photographer of the Year as a powerful platform for visual storytelling, showing the diversity, beauty and complexity of the natural world and humanity’s relationship to it,” says Natural History Museum director, Doug Gurr. “With the inclusion of our Biodiversity Intactness Index, this year’s exhibition will be our best combination of great artistry and groundbreaking science yet, helping visitors to become inspired to be advocates for our planet.”

We’ll showcase some of the winners later this year after they are announced. For now, enjoy an unparalleled look at the natural world through the preview featured in the above gallery.

Source: National History Museum

Warner’s Divo Music Launches New Label Loopd to Support Independent Artists in India

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Warner’s Divo Music Launches New Label Loopd to Support Independent Artists in India

India has long been a priority for Warner Music Group, as evidenced by the number of M&A deals struck by the company in the market.

WMG’s moves in India include a strategic investment in JetSynthesys’ Global Music Junction in April 2024.

It also acquired India-based artist management and live events company E–Positive in October 2023 and bought a majority stake in digital media and music company Divo in February 2023.

Now Divo Music, which has over 4.2 million YouTube subscribers and is claimed by Warner to be “one of India’s leading music and content enterprises”, has launched a new label dedicated to independent music in the market.

Via Loopd, with Warner Music Group’s backing, Divo aims “to discover, empower, and amplify fresh talent from across the country,” serving as “a launchpad for authentic voices and original sounds from India to the world”.

According to the companies, Loopd will be “backed by Warner Music Group’s global expertise, distribution network, and market reach”.

“Loopd will allow its artists to access international audiences while remaining rooted in their independent spirit,” the companies added in a statement.

Warner and Divo noted that the launch comes at “a pivotal time when non-film and independent music is experiencing rapid growth in India, fuelled by streaming platforms and evolving audience preferences”.

They added that Loopd is strategically positioned to tap into this shift by “showcasing diverse new voices and catering to listeners seeking music that goes beyond traditional film-driven content.”

The statement added: “Loopd is built on the principles of originality, quality, and creativity. By collaborating closely with independent musicians, the label will offer artists the resources and visibility needed to thrive while enabling their unique stories and sounds to reach audiences across India and beyond. With Loopd, the future of India’s indie music movement has found a new home.”

The label’s debut release is Nizhal by Adhithya RK, unveiled by Malayalam superstar Mohanlal.

It will be followed by releases including Parota and Beef featuring Tuhin, Prema featuring Junaid Kumar, Hiraaya featuring Samuel Paul, and Peraasaye featuring Pradeep Kumar.

“This is about building a movement, not just a label. Being part of Warner Music, our goal is to blur the lines between indie credibility and mainstream success.”

Shahir Muneer, Divo

Shahir Muneer, Founder & Director of Divo, said: “Loopd is built with artists at its heart. We want to empower independent musicians with the right resources, visibility, and reach, while letting them stay true to their creativity.

“This is about building a movement, not just a label. Being part of Warner Music, our goal is to blur the lines between indie credibility and mainstream success.”

“Independent and regional voices are shaping the future, and with this label we are creating a platform that celebrates originality while connecting artists to global audiences.”

Jay Mehta, Warner Music 

Jay Mehta, Managing Director, Warner Music India & SAARC, added: “Loopd strengthens our commitment to India’s diverse music culture.

“Independent and regional voices are shaping the future, and with this label we are creating a platform that celebrates originality while connecting artists to global audiences.”

Last year, WMG CEO Robert Kyncl told analysts on the company’s calendar Q3 earnings call that India “will become an increasingly influential global force in the music business”.

He highlighted the gap between the size of the market’s GDP (the world’s fifth largest) versus the size of its recorded music market (the world’s 14th largest).

Kyncl argued that this gap will close, pointing to the opportunity in subscription music streaming. He noted that only 2% of the country’s 1.4 billion population currently subscribe to music streaming services, but that India’s total subscriber number has grown 40% over the past year.

WMG officially launched Warner Music India in March 2020.

Elsewhere in the market, WMG took a minority stake in ticketing platform SkillBox in December, just a couple of weeks after Kyncl revealed via an Economic Times article that WMG is actively seeking M&A opportunities in India.Music Business Worldwide

Top scholars agree that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza | Flagrant Crimes Against Humanity

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Top scholars agree that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza | Flagrant Crimes Against Humanity

NewsFeed

The world’s leading group of genocide scholars has agreed that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide, citing what they say is a strategy aimed at destroying the Palestinian population.

Published On 2 Sep 2025

Challenging the Client

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Challenging the Client



Client Challenge



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Judge rules Trump’s deployment of National Guard in Los Angeles is unlawful

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Judge rules Trump’s deployment of National Guard in Los Angeles is unlawful

A federal judge in California has ruled that President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles this summer was illegal.

The ruling comes as Trump seeks to use National Guard troops in order to crack down on crime in other US cities and support immigration enforcement.

Trump deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June in response to protests against immigration raids.

US District Judge Charles Breyer ruled on Tuesday that the government had violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the power of the federal government to use military force for domestic matters.

Judge Breyer has put the ruling on hold until 12 September and Trump will likely appeal.

The president has already deployed hundreds of National Guard troops in Washington DC and is weighing dispatching troops to Chicago as soon as this week.

After Trump deployed troops to Los Angeles, Governor Gavin Newsom sued the administration for alleged violations of the Posse Comitatus Act.

Judge Breyer’s order only applies in California, but could signal legal challenges ahead for Trump’s plans to use the Guard to enforce his policies.

“President Trump’s recent executive orders and public statements regarding the National Guard raise serious concerns as to whether he intends to order troops to violate the Posse Comitatus Act elsewhere in California,” Judge Breyer wrote.

He warned that Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ran the risk of “creating a national police force with the President as its chief”.

He blocked the National Guard from executing the following laws including “engaging in arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or acting as informants”.

The White House, Defense Department, and Justice Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.

This is the second lawsuit filed by Newsom against the deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles.

The first lawsuit sought to wrest back control of California’s National Guard contingent, after Newsom alleged Trump had unlawfully circumvented him to deploy the troops.

Judge Breyer, who also handled that case, ruled in Newsom’s favour, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favour of Trump.

Iren stock hits record high of 29.57 USD

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Iren stock reaches all-time high at 29.57 USD

Underground Classrooms Welcome Ukrainian Students for New School Year

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Underground Classrooms Welcome Ukrainian Students for New School Year

new video loaded: Ukrainian Students Start New School Year in Underground Classrooms

By Jiawei Wang•

With Russian attacks ongoing and peace talks stalled, some students in Ukraine are attending classes underground. For some, it is their first in-person learning in more than three years of war.

Recent episodes in Ukraine Crisis

CEO of Sanofi suggests that artificial intelligence could surpass human intelligence, but emotional intelligence will always be important.

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CEO of Sanofi suggests that artificial intelligence could surpass human intelligence, but emotional intelligence will always be important.

Effective change management is the linchpin of enterprise-wide AI implementation, yet it’s often underestimated. I learned this first-hand in my early days as CEO at Sanofi. I had made it a habit to drop in on meetings to learn as much as I could about the organization. In one such meeting I was told, quite directly, they were discussing how to avoid giving me raw data without first thoroughly reviewing it and deciding on the “narrative.” That moment was a wake-up call. I realized I had underestimated not only the scale of change management required, but also my own learning curve in leading such a transformation. The real challenge was not technical—it was cultural.

We underestimate the scale of the AI learning curve

Building trust in AI requires more than clear communication about its benefits and limitations; it demands a commitment to involving employees in the journey, demonstrating that AI is here to augment—not replace—human judgment.

Over time, as AI tools became more integrated into our daily workflows—think live financial reporting or even inviting AI agents to meetings (remember AI doesn’t have a career at stake) to provide unbiased summaries—employee trust grew, and skepticism diminished. You can think of AI resistance like using the Waze navigation app. People often think they know better than the app and want to take the road they’ve traveled many times because it’s familiar. But if you’re willing to take the risk and follow its advice, you may find your journey is quicker and easier than you could have imagined.

Don’t delegate the AI revolution

Leading an AI revolution requires more than issuing directives from the corner office. It takes personal engagement and a willingness to break with tradition. In 2021, we launched an “AI Fight Club,” selecting 12 respected change agents from across different departments—none of whom were AI specialists—to innovate within their own functions in collaboration with technology experts.

These change agents were given full autonomy and meet regularly to present their progress and collaborate across silos. This approach proved far more effective than traditional rollouts, especially for new the new generation of employees who crave participation and co-creation over top-down innovation. Leaders must invest energy, develop a real understanding of technology, and create space for experimentation. By being actively involved, we inspire trust, accelerate adoption, and ensure that AI becomes a catalyst for meaningful change and not just another corporate initiative. Champion AI across teams and remove roadblocks for innovators. If you delegate the AI revolution, you risk stagnation and resistance.

EQ is the new gold

The future is not about humans versus AI, it’s about human + AI. It is about speeding up the time-consuming tasks, allowing employees to do their jobs quicker, with more efficiency and impact. This is imperative for staying competitive. Companies can’t afford to hire solely based on how well someone fits a job description. Adaptability is a new must-have skill. Where AI is dispassionate and calculated, humans offer something unique: emotional intelligence. Emotional quotient, or the ability to understand and manage emotions, improves decision making by drawing on human experience for more balanced, effective, and inclusive results.

It’s also why I believe philosophy, history, and geography will continue to provide great value in the future. These disciplines foster reflective thinking and critical reasoning—qualities that AI cannot replicate. Team sports and creative pursuits are just as important as coding or data science, as they build resilience, empathy, and the ability to collaborate. Today’s new talents don’t want cascaded information—they want to participate and shape innovation.

Conclusion

Building confidence, encouraging participation, and driving cultural change are just as crucial as mastering the technical aspects of AI. My own experience has shown that leadership in the AI revolution demands more than issuing directives, it requires an entrepreneurial spirit, curiosity, and a willingness to listen and learn from every level of the organization. When employees are brought into the process and given space to co-create, skepticism fades and innovation flourishes. The next gold mine won’t be found in algorithms or automation alone, but in the uniquely human qualities that cannot be coded.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world. Explore this year’s list.

185 people in Gaza die from starvation in August, with 13 more deaths in the past 24 hours due to Israeli actions | Latest updates on Israel-Palestine conflict

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185 people in Gaza die from starvation in August, with 13 more deaths in the past 24 hours due to Israeli actions | Latest updates on Israel-Palestine conflict

More than 360 people, including 130 children, have died from hunger since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Published On 2 Sep 2025

A total of 185 people in Gaza died “due to malnutrition” in August, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, as an additional 13 people, including three children, have died in 24 hours since then as the catastrophic effects of Israeli-induced famine in the enclave worsen.

The statement issued on Tuesday said more than 83 people, including 15 children, had died since the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a United Nations-backed global hunger-monitoring system, declared last month that parts of Gaza were undergoing a full-blown famine.

The Health Ministry also said 43,000 children below the age of five were suffering from malnutrition along with more than 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women. Two-thirds of pregnant women were suffering from anaemia, the highest rate in years, it added. Mothers and newborns are the most at risk from malnutrition.

The total number of hunger-related deaths in the besieged enclave now stands at 361, including 130 children, since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

Israel has killed at least 63,557 people in Gaza and wounded 160,660 during the war.

The IPC declared on August 22 that 514,000 people in the Gaza Strip, close to a quarter of the enclave’s population, are experiencing famine. It expected the number to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

The IPC made its declaration after more than 22 months of war, during which Israeli forces have destroyed medical facilities, schools, infrastructure and bakeries; blocked the entry of aid into the besieged Strip; and targeted and killed Palestinians seeking food aid.

This is the first time the IPC has recorded famine outside Africa, and the global group predicted that famine conditions would spread to Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the south by the end of this month.

After the IPC’s declaration, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the famine a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself”.

Guterres said Israel had “unequivocal obligations” under international law as an occupying power to ensure food and medical supplies enter Gaza.

Humanitarian organisations have demanded action. For its part, Israel rejected the findings, saying there was no famine in Gaza despite the IPC’s overwhelming evidence.

At least 54 Palestinians, including several aid seekers, were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Tuesday, Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum reported at midday from Deir el-Balah. Israeli attacks are now focused on Gaza City as the Israeli army bombs it and tries to forcibly displace its residents to the southern part of the enclave.

“Civilians on the ground are bearing the brunt. There are still hundreds of thousands of families in Gaza City,” Azzoum said. “They refuse to leave because they know that there are no safe spaces in central and southern Gaza and they would rather stay close to their communities and what’s left of their houses.”

Once teeming and crowded with residential buildings, Gaza City had been home to one million Palestinians, nearly half of Gaza’s population, but it is now a landscape of rubble.

The world’s top genocide scholars formally declared that Israel’s war on Gaza meets the legal definition of genocide, marking a landmark intervention from leading experts in the field of international law.

The International Association of Genocide Scholars, a 500-member body of academics founded in 1994, passed a resolution on Monday stating that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza fulfil the definition of genocide set out in the 1948 UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

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