By Annika Johnson on SwimSwam
2026 Big 12 Championship — Women
Dates: Tuesday, February 24–Saturday, February 28 Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC Defending champions: Arizona State women (1x); Arizona State men (1x) Live Results Live Video Championship Central Teams: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Christian, Utah, West VirginiaEvent Schedule
Tuesday, February 24
200 medley relay Women’s team diving 800 free relay Men’s team divingWednesday, February 25
Women’s 1-meter diving 500 freestyle 200 IM 50 freestyle Men’s 3-meter divingThursday, February 26
Men’s 1-meter diving 100 butterfly 400 IM 200 freestyle Women’s 3-meter diving 400 medley relayFriday, February 27
200 butterfly 100 breaststroke 100 backstroke Men’s platform diving 200 freestyle relaySaturday, February 28
200 backstroke 100 freestyle 1650 freestyle 200 breaststroke Women’s platform diving 400 freestyle relay2025 Final Standings
1. Arizona State: 1695 2. Arizona: 1240 3. Houston: 1211.5 4. TCU: 854 5. Utah: 809.5 6. Cincinnati: 800.5 7. BYU: 761.5 8. Kansas: 542 9. West Virginia: 409 10. Iowa State: 397
The great conference shakeup of 2024 turned the Big 12 into a revolving door of schools, with Texas and Oklahoma leaving and Arizona State (ASU), Arizona, and Utah joining from the Pac-12. As they moved to the SEC, the Longhorns vacated the Big 12 title, ending an 11-year run of dominance and allowing the newcomers’ legacies to begin to take shape.
Last year, the ASU women spearheaded a decisive 455-point victory over 2nd-place Arizona to win the Big 12 title under new head coach Herbie Behm. This was the Sun Devils’ first conference title since joining the NCAA in 1981.
Swimmers to Watch:
Arizona: Eleni Gewalt (Sr – breast/free), Kayman Neal (So – back/free/fly), Kelsey Wasikowski (Jr – breast/IM/free), Julia Wozniak (Sr – breast/free/IM)
Sprint breaststroke and freestyle are big strengths for the Wildcats as they attempt to close the gap on ASU this year. Senior Eleni Gewalt holds the #2 time in the 100 breast in the conference (59.13), behind Cincinnati’s Joleigh Crye (57.99).
Gewalt has nearly lowered her season best to the personal best time that earned her 4th last year (59.00). ASU has no one under 1:00.00, so this could be a place for Arizona to make up points. In the 200 breast, junior Kelsey Wasikowski is ranked 3rd, and Gewalt is 6th.
Arizona has two league-leading relays: their 200 free crew of Riley Botton, Patricija Kondraskaite, Charlie Millard, and Julia Wozniak (1:27.67) and their 200 medley of Lila Lillie, Gewalt, Kondraskaite, and Wozniak (1:36.11). Both sit narrowly ahead of ASU in 2nd place. The Wildcats’ 200 free relay is also the 11th-fastest time in the NCAA.
Retaining their top-two point scorers from last season, Gewalt and sophomore Kayman Neal, is also huge for Arizona. Neal placed 2nd in the 200 free and 3rd in the 200 back last season and has made major contributions to their 800 free relay. New faces also stand to make a big difference for the Wildcats. Virginia transfer Elise Clift, a high school class of 2024 “Best of the Rest” ranked recruit, owns the 4th-fastest 500 free time in the conference this season.
Arizona State: Albane Cachot (Fr – free/fly), Deniz Ertan (Sr – free), Jordan Greber (So – IM/back), Sonia Vaishnani (Jr – fly/IM)
Where ASU continues to set itself apart is with its endurance. The Sun Devils hold four top-six times in the conference in the 400 IM, led by junior Sonia Vaishnani, the defending champion, in 1st. She’s backed by junior Grace Lindberg in 2nd, freshman Eleanuah Phillips in 5th, and senior Deniz Ertan in 6th.
Ertan was the second-highest point scorer last season after winning the 200 fly and 1650 free, and she leads the pack again this year in distance free. She’s swum the fastest 1650 free time in the conference by 12 seconds (16:05.98), and her junior teammate Alex Reyna holds spot #2.
ASU holds three of the top relay times in the Big 12: the 400 free (3:14.66), 800 free (7:09.03), and the 400 medley (3:23.37). In the 400 free and 400 medley, Arizona is close on their tails in 2nd. They also retained sophomore Julia Ullman, last season’s third-highest point scorer, the defending 100 fly champion, and a strong relay contributor.
Albane Cachot, a midseason addition and the reigning European junior champion in the 100m freestyle, buoys their sprint group. It’s only been a month and a half since her NCAA debut, and she already holds the fastest 100 free time in the Big 12 by half a second (47.82) and the third-fastest 50 free time (22.05).
Notably, ASU is going into this meet without its 2025 Big 12 high point winner, Caroline Bentz, who graduated. She took home three individual event titles, the 50 free, 100 back, and 200 back, and assisted with three relay victories. But, this does not seem like it will be enough to loosen the Sun Devils’ grip on this conference.
Brigham Young (BYU): Lucy Warnick (So – breast/IM), Victoria Schreiber (Sr – free), Haylee Tiffany (So – free/fly), Tatum Cooley (Jr – free)
Since joining the Cougars, sophomore Lucy Warnick has lowered her personal best 400 IM time by nearly seven seconds. In November, she logged a 4:14.35 to become the second-fastest Cougar in program history and rank herself 3rd in the Big 12. She’s also 8th in the 200 IM and 11th in the 200 breast.
Senior Victoria Schreiber has been a pillar for BYU’s distance group throughout her collegiate career. Since the Cougars joined the Big 12, she’s made the ‘A’ final in the 1650 free, placing 6th in 2024, and in the 500 free, finishing in 6th place in 2025.
Freestyle has continued to be BYU’s strongsuit this season. Sophomore Haylee Tiffany set the 200 free program record last year and lowered it to 1:46.69 in early February to rank herself 6th in the Big 12. Junior Tatum Cooley is their second-fastest swimmer in program history in the 50 free, after logging a 22.59 at their dual meet with Utah recently.
The Cougars have almost completely rewritten their entire relay record board within the last two seasons. The only mark left standing is the 400 free relay record from 2009 (3:18.77), and the current quartet of Tiffany, Schreiber, Kara Martinson, and Cooley has come within about one second of it this season (3:19.89).
BYU will have to overcome losing a key player from their lineup last year: defending 200 breast champion Mackenzie Miller Lung, who transferred to Fresno State. The 2025 Big 12 swimmer of the year won the Cougars’ only individual event title of the meet.
Cincinnati: Joleigh Crye (Sr – fly/breast), Lindi Worrell (Jr – breast/free), Michelle Morgan (Sr – free/IM), Taira Vroom (Fr – free/IM)
Senior Joleigh Crye is arguably the fastest swimmer in the conference, as she owns the only top-10 ranking time in the NCAA. Since taking the Bearcats’ 100 breast program record under 1:00.00 for the first time her freshman year, she has lowered her best time to 57.99 to rank herself 1st in the Big 12 by more than one second, and 9th in the NCAA.
Joining her at the top of the breaststroke field is junior Lindi Worrell, who is ranked 4th in the 100 breast and 7th in the 200 breast. In November, Worrell took down Cincinnati’s 200 breast program record by nearly one second with a time of 2:11.55. She’s also one of only four women in the Big 12 to crack 1:00.00 in the 100 breast so far this season.
The Bearcats have built a strong distance-free crew, led by senior Michelle Morgan, who’s ranked 8th in the 500 free. Her freshmen teammates, Hannah Johnson and Taira Vroom, have swum the 10th and 11th-fastest times, respectively, in the 1650 free.
Cincinnati is slated for three relay podium finishes. The Bearcats are ranked the highest, in 2nd, in the 800 free relay after Vroom, Worrell, Morgan, and Payton Woodring blasted a time of 7:11.82 in November.
Houston: Evelyn Entrekin (Jr – breast/IM/free), Alexia Duncan (So – back/IM/fly), Sydney Nethercutt (Jr – free/fly), Virag Peter (Sr – breast/IM)
Friday should be an exciting day of racing for the Houston Cougars, whose absolutely stacked butterfly field has earned the #2, #4, #5, and #9 200 fly times in the conference this season. Junior Sydney Nethercutt leads the team in second with a season-best time of 1:57.02, nearly one second faster than the time that earned her 3rd place last year.
The breaststroke field is especially deep in the Big 12 this season, and Houston is no exception. Junior Evelyn Entrekin is ranked 3rd in the 100 breast, and her teammate Virag Peter is ranked 13th in the 100 breast and 2nd in the 200 breast. Peter, the defending runner-up in the 200, has a best time from 2024 that could rival #1-ranked Nina Vadovicova of TCU (2:08.72).
Sophomore Alexia Duncan, who transferred from Utah to Houston after last season, leads the backstroke group. She’s ranked 2nd in the 100 back, 4th in the 200 back, and 4th in the 200 IM behind her teammate, Entrekin, in 3rd.
Houston has one of the strongest diving crews in the conference, led by sophomore Caroline Roelen. They also earned 4 ’A’ final spots in diving last season, and retained junior diver Michelle McLeod, the defending runner-up on 10-meter.
Iowa State: Grace Swoboda (So – breast/free), Anja Peck (So – breast/IM), Emma Kuhn (Jr – IM/back/fly), Carlotta Gazzola (Fr – free)
Sophomore Grace Swoboda is coming off a program-record-setting 100 breast performance in early February, where she set the new mark at 1:00.45. She’s ranked 8th in the event in the conference, tied with Arizona’s Kelsey Wasikowski.
Anja Peck, a sophomore, logged a lifetime best 200 breast time of 2:12.23 in January to become the 9th-fastest in the Big 12 this season. She’s also ranked 19th in the 100 breast after lowering her best time in the fall. Junior Emma Kuhn is also within striking distance of an ‘A’ final for the Cyclones, ranked 9th in the 200 IM, tied with Arizona’s Wasikowski with a 2:00.44.
Carlotta Gazzola is ranked 28th in the 1650 free. The freshman from Italy seems to have hit her stride in short course yards after posting a best time of 17:02.69 in January. She’s also strengthened their 800 free relay, and swam the second-fastest split on the team during Iowa State’s season-best performance (7:28.71) in November.
Kansas: Ivy Solt (Fr – free), Gabi Dyer (So – free/back), Ryan Johnston (Jr – breast), Lydia Lafferty (Sr – fly/back)
Kansas has built up its distance freestyle group with underclassmen Ivy Solt and Gabi Dyer. Solt, a freshman, is ranked 9th in the 1650 free this season after posting a best time of 16:39.54 in November. Sophomore Dyer leads the 500 free for the Jayhawks, ranked 6th, ahead of Solt in 10th.
Backstroke is another strength for Kansas this season. Senior Lydia Lafferty is the fifth-fastest in the 100 back, and junior Bradie Ward is ranked 10th in the 200 back and 18th in the 100.
They’re slated for multiple ‘B’ final swims in breaststroke and IM as well. Junior Ryan Johnston is ranked 10th in the 200 breast and 12th in the 100 breast, while senior Hailey Farrell sits in 13th in the 200 IM. Farrell just swam a 2:01.31 in December to crush her lifetime best time.
The team is ranked 5th in conference in both the 200 medley and 400 medley relays. Their 400 medley season-best time of 3:38.95 by Lafferty, Johnston, Anna Gearhart, and Sarah Blake puts them in a tight race with #4 Cincinnati.
Texas Christian: Nina Vadovicova (Jr – breast), Avery Dillon (Fr – free), Taylor Steelman (Fr – free/IM/back), Paige Taber (Sr – back/IM)
Junior Nina Vadovicova is on the cusp of making history for the Horned Frogs. She’s the fastest 200 breaststroker in program history, and could punch her ticket to NCAAs for the first time under the new qualification rules. If she wins the event at the Big 12s and stays under the qualifying cut (her season-best of 2:08.60 beats it by 2.3 seconds already), she’s automatically in.
Vadovicova would be TCU’s first swimmer at the women’s NCAAs since Sabine Rasch, who competed in 2012 and 2013, and at the time, was their first qualifier since 1996. Vadovicova has had a strong season this year after placing 3rd in the 200 breast at last year’s championships. In November, she logged a best time of 2:08.60 to rank herself 1st in the conference by more than two seconds.
Freshman Avery Dillon leads their mid-distance and distance free group. She’s ranked 3rd in the 500, 4th in the 1650, and 10th in the 200.
The 100 and 200 back are slated to be big events for TCU, with freshman Taylor Steelman ranked 11th in the 200 back and senior Paige Taber, a transfer from Kentucky, ranked 7th in the 200 back and 12th in the 100 back.
Diving has been a big strength for TCU, but things will look different this season now that defending 3-meter champion Anna Kwong has graduated.
Utah: Erin Palmer (Sr – free/breast ), Ella Derby (Jr – breast/free/IM), Rylee McColley (So – breast), Teagan Steinmetz (Jr – breast/IM)
Freestyle has been the name of the game for Utah this season, specifically in sprint and mid-distance. Their 200 free relay is ranked 4th in the Big 12 after Erin Palmer, Maela McKallip, Jillian Holler, and Isabella Riso blasted a time of 1:30.55 in November.
Palmer, a senior, is the eighth-fastest 100 freestyler in the conference, and Riso is ranked 5th in the 200 free. In distance, sophomore Hayley Smith is ranked 16th in the 1650 and 17th in the 500.
The Utes have also built a solid breaststroke and IM group. Palmer is ranked 10th in the 100 breast, and her sophomore teammate Rylee McColley is 8th in the 200 breast. Juniors Ella Derby and Teagan Steinmetz lead the team in the 400 IM, ranked 4th and 8th, respectively. Derby has a strong chance of making her first Big 12 ‘A’ final after winning the 400 IM ‘B’ final last year.
Diving will be a significant factor in team scoring for Utah. The Utes earned 6 ‘A’ final spots last year, half of which were achieved by current sophomore Callie Eagleston, who placed 3rd on 10-meter, 4th on 3-meter, and 5th on 1-meter.
West Virginia: Maddie Smutny (Jr – fly/free), Natasha Whittall (R-Sr – back), Olivia Busch (Sr – free), MJ Gilligan (So – free/fly/IM)
A versatile group of upperclassmen leads the Mountaineers this year. While the team isn’t projected to move up from their 9th-place finish in team standings last year, they are in contention to race in multiple ‘A’ and ‘B’ finals.
Junior Maddie Smutny is ranked 7th in the 200 fly and 13th in 500 free. She won the 200 fly ‘B’ final last year with a best time of 1:59.02 and has nearly matched that mark already this season (1:59.03). Sophomore MJ Gilligan is ranked 12th in the 400 IM, while redshirt senior Natasha Whittall is ranked 14th in the 100 back. Senior Olivia Busch holds the 15th-fastest time in the 1650 free.
West Virginia’s 400 medley relay of Whittall, Macey Larson, Victoria Kidney, and Gabriela Martin De La Torre is ranked 8th, in front of Iowa State in 9th and Utah in 10th.
Showdowns
100 breast: There are only two events in the women’s Big 12 this year that have swimmers or divers ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA: the 100 breast and platform diving. Cincinnati’s Joleigh Crye is the favorite to win and defend her 100 breast title, and she has come within eight-tenths of a second of Lydia Jacoby’s Big 12 record this year. Three other women have also joined Crye under 1:00 this season—Arizona’s Eleni Gewalt, Houston’s Evelyn Entrekin, and Cincinnati’s Lindi Worrell—and they should have an exciting battle to decide their spots on the podium.
500 free: ASU’s Alex Reyna will have some work to do to defend her title in this event. Defending runner-up Deniz Ertan, her teammate, has posted the fastest time this season (4:39.39), putting Reyna in 2nd (4:44.12), and TCU’s Avery Dillon is in 3rd (4:44.57). Last season, Reyna outtouched Ertan by half a second to win, and this should be an exciting rematch. Arizona’s Malia Rausch placed 3rd last year, but is currently ranked 7th (4:47.23). They’ll also need to contend with sophomore Elise Clift of Arizona, who’s swum a 4:45.63 this season.
200 medley relay: This event will feature a rematch of one of the closest races of the Arizona and ASU dual meet in early February, where the Wildcats topped the Sun Devils by .04 with a conference-leading time of 1:36.11. ASU is the defending champion, and both teams will have to watch out for Cincinnati, which tied for 2nd last year.
SwimSwam Picks
Arizona State Arizona Houston Cincinnati Kansas TCU Utah BYU West Virginia Iowa StateASU is the clear favorite to win and is poised to establish its first Big 12 Championship title streak after going four decades in the NCAA without a conference championship title. This year, they own nearly double the number of top-10 times in the conference in individual swimming events than Arizona, which has the second-most. But the Swimulator projects that Arizona will close the gap slightly in Greensboro with its explosive sprint group.
Notably, this projection does not factor in diving, which is a great strength of Utah and Houston. The Houston Cougars are also coming into this meet with momentum, after winning the inaugural Big 12 East Championships in January with 1292 points, triumphing over 2nd-place Cincinnati (1172) and 3rd-place TCU (1031). They are projected to defend their 3rd place finish from last season.
The two teams that are set to make leaps up in standing are Cincinnati, which took 6th place last year, and Kansas, which placed 8th. With Cincinnati’s breaststroke star power and a few highly-ranked relays, the Bearcats look to improve upon their 6th-place finish last year. Kansas had a strong showing at the Big 12 West Championships in January, taking 3rd place with 657 points, behind only ASU (894) and Arizona (783).
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 Women’s Big 12 Fan Guide: ASU Forging New Legacy, Cincinnati on the Climb
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