By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam
2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships
Wednesday, March 18 – Saturday, March 21, 2026 McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA Defending Champions: Virginia (5x) Championship Central Psych Sheet Live ResultsWomen’s 1650 Freestyle
NCAA Record: 15:03.21 – Katie Ledecky, Florida (2017) American Record: 14:59.62 – Katie Ledecky, Florida (2025) U.S. Open Record: 14:59.62 – Katie Ledecky, Florida (2025) Championship Record: 15:07.70 – Katie Ledecky, Florida (2017) 2025 Champion: Jillian Cox, Texas – 15:33.54The mile is the race with the biggest shakeup in terms of scheduling for the 2026 NCAA Championship, shifting from the final day to be the very first event on the program. That could see the event be faster and deeper than ever, and if so it will be thanks to a strong set of freshmen and sophomore swimmers – 13 of the 16 seeded to score are in their first two years of college. With half of last year’s scorers, and five of the top eight, having graduated, there is a lot of opportunity to move up.
Jillian Cox won the title in 2025 her freshman season, clocking 15:33.54 to beat out the senior trio of Aurora Roghair (15:39.21), Ching Hwee Gan (15:42.40) and Abby McCulloh (15:48.03), who were the defending 2024 medalists, having placed 2nd, 3rd, and 1st respectively. Cox is the top seed again this year, seeded in the 15:32.75 she won SECs in. There are a further five swimmers under 15:50, with Gena Jorgenson moving up from 13th seed last year (15:56.70) to 4th seed this year (15:45.36), and the 8th-fastest time is over a second faster than last season.
Claire Weinstein is that swimmer, entered in 15:52.28, but the field is not quite as deep as in 2025 with only 12 swimmers under 16:00 compared to 17 last year. The actual meet ended up even faster, with 19 swimmers cracking that barrier and a time of 15:57.60 required to score. The 16th-fastest seed this year is OSU’s Warner Shaw in 16:04.64, one of three Buckeyes seeded to score.
SEC Stars
The top two seeds are both from the SEC, where Jillian Cox and Kennedi Dobson took the top two spots in 15:32.75 and 15:43.72 respectively.
Cox was the winner in this event last year, leading wire-to-wire and touching in 15:33.54 to win by nearly six seconds. She was just over three seconds off the time of 15:30.33 she swam at SECs, and clocked another fast swim at the conference championships this year as she comes in seeded in 15:32.75. That is still faster than any swimmer other than herself or Katie Ledecky has been entered in the last decade, and she has an 11-second buffer over 2nd seed Dobson.
Cox swam at the World Championships last summer, placing 11th in prelims in 16:09.74, slightly slower than the 16:04.13 and 16:05.88 she swam earlier in the season. Swimming her fastest in-season does appear to be a trend for her, but she has such a gap to the rest of the field that she is still the favorite.
Dobson has been on a tear in her freshman season for Georgia, and has hacked 19 seconds off her high school best of 16:02.56 in the mile this year. She placed 2nd behind Cox at SECs in 16:43.72, and is another who competed for Team USA last summer. She claimed bronze in the 400 free at the World Junior Championships in 4:06.66, as well as placing 4th in the 200 free in 1:57.45, both of which were personal bests.
The final swimmer in the top ten from SECs is Cox’s Texas teammate Kate Hurst, who placed 10th last year in 15:54.37. She took 3rd at SECs in 15:56.37, which has her seeded 9th this year, down from her #5 entry last season. If she can reverse the trend she showed last year, where she added six seconds from SECs to NCAAs, she could move up into the top eight if she can get closer to her best of 15:47.93.
Virginia Showing Strong
One of three schools with two swimmers seeded in the top ten, Virginia’s highest seed comes from ACC champion Katie Grimes, who swam 15:45.20 to win the event by more than five seconds. However, she holds a personal best time of 15:26.17, faster than anyone in the field and just over four seconds faster than top seed Cox’s best.
That time is more than three years old at this point, as Grimes swam that at 2022 Winter Juniors, and it is worth noting that she only finished 13th in this event in her freshman season. She clocked 15:56.31 there, three seconds off her season best, but has looked in much better form so far this year. She won both the 500 free and 1650 free at ACCS, and finished 2nd in the 400 IM, all in season best times.
The other Cavalier in the top ten is junior Cavan Gormsen, who is seeded in 10th in 15:56.76. That was a season best time, just under three seconds slower than the 15:54.05 she swam at ACCs last year, and will put her in lane 5 of the final morning heat of the event. She added slightly at last year’s NCAAs, clocking 15:55.13 for 12th overall, but has already dropped time in the 200 free this year and was under PB pace in her mile at ACCs until the last 300 yards.
Big Showing From The Big Ten
Two of the top six seeds last year came from the Midwest, and the Big Ten has gone one better in 2026 with half of the fastest six swimmers coming from the conference. OSU’s Mila Nikanorov was one of the two last year, and moves up one spot to 5th on the psych sheets after swimming a best time of 15:46.19 at Big Tens for 2nd. She did add slightly from the 15:49.26 she was entered with last year, going 15:51.95 for 2nd, but will seek to reverse that in her sophomore year.
Just ahead of her both there and on the psych sheets was Nebraska Gena Jorgenson, who broke out with a 6th place finish last year in 15:49.99 and has dropped even further to 15:45.36 this season. She dropped nearly seven seconds, from 15:56.70 to 15:49.99 last year, which was her third season in a row of dropping time from conferences to NCAAs. Continue that trend and a spot on the podium could be within reach. Her improvements through her college career, dropping from 16:54 to 15:45, and her trend of showing up when the lights shine brightest, could see her senior NCAAs be her most successful yet.
The biggest mover up though has been a second OSU swimmer in Emma Finlin. She was the 35th seed in her freshman year in 16:07.84, and added time to place 28th at NCAAs in 16:11.23, but sits 6th this season thanks to the 15:49.51 which she swam for bronze at Big Tens. A similar add this year would still see her end up scoring, but with a spot in the final heat anything could happen.
A (Cardinal S)in to count them out.
Technically it is Stanford who are the Cardinal so we had to get a little creative with the title here, but Louisville have a pair of international swimmers entered in the top 12 including #7 seed Thilda Haell. The Swedish freshman swam 15:50.88 for 2nd at ACCs, just over five seconds behind Katie Grimes, which marked a near-20 second time drop from her three-week-old best of 16:10.35.
The other Louisville swimmer seeded to score is Brazilian Leticia Fassina Romao, who placed 5th at ACCs in 16:09.65 but has a season best of 15:56.88 from the Eddie Reese Texas Showdown in January. She was seeded 14th last year in 15:58.57 before adding over eight seconds to place 22nd in 16:07.15, but didn’t seem to be as tapered for ACCs as she was in 2025 when she set best times in both the 500 free and the mile.
The Rest
Claire Weinstein is the only swimmer not already mentioned who will be in the final heat of this event, held during the finals session on day 1. She swam 15:52.28 at midseason, but did not swim the event at ACCs as she opted for the 100 free instead. A potential reason why – she will be on Cal’s 800 free relay in the final session on Day 1, which is also when then final heat of the mile will be held, and she was hoping to fall out of the top eight here and split her swims up? That didn’t quite happen as she is seeded 8th, four seconds ahead of Kate Hurst, but her best time of 15:51.64 is from just over two years ago and she has exploded in long course since then. She set best times in both the 800 free (8:19.67) and 1500 free (16:01.96) this summer, so certainly has the range to be a threat given the infamous Cal taper to come.
Michaela Mattes placed 11th last year and is seeded in the exact same position this year with her season best of 15:56.85. She was 15:54.98 at 2025 NCAAs, dropping 4.40 seconds, and could be in line to move up the ranks again. Her teammate Julie Brousseau, another returning scorer after finishing 16th last year, is down in 26th in 16:12.05.
Penn’s Sydney Bergstrom won the Ivy League title in 16:02.63 this year, which ranks her 14th. Her teammate Anna Moehn is 20th in 16:06.59, while Harvard’s Alexandra Bastone, the conference champions last year in 15:59.70, has only been 16:21.95 this season. While that was not enough to qualify her directly in this event, she made the cut in the 500 free and could drop serious time in an early heat.
The Verdict
Despite her tendency to add time at major meets, Jillian Cox is far enough ahead of the field that she should still be the favorite in this event. Kennedi Dobson looks primed to drop even more time after a fantastic SECs, but will be hard-pressed to outduel her elder rival here. With none of last year’s podium other than Cox returning, and no one with a faster personal best than Dobson to challenge her, she should make the most of being fresh on day 1 to wrap up her second consecutive title in the event.
Dobson has the hot hand to take 2nd behind the Texas swimmer, but will double up with relay duties later in the session. With such a gap in the entry times between her and Cox, she may race for 2nd and save something for Georgia’s #8 seeded 800 free relay, but don’t be surprised if she drops into the 15:30s. Georgia’s last champion in this event was Abby McCulloh in 2024, but all four of their swimmers added time in this event last year.
Gena Jorgenson dropped just over six seconds in the event in 2024, and just under seven seconds in 2025. She seems a swimmer geared for the big occasions, taking silver at the World University Games last summer behind Kate Hurst, and will swim in the final heat at NCAAs for this first time. She won her first conference title last month, and will carry a ton of momentum in her bid for a podium finish.
Katie Grimes had a solid ACCs, but added time at NCAAs last year and hasn’t quite hit the highs she did when she was swimming with the Sandpipers of Nevada. She will be in the hunt for a podium, but will be in a pack fighting for those spots. Swimming next to Cox and Dobson may be a benefit after swimming out of the early heats last year, but she does not have a top-three finish locked up.
Claire Weinstein has been solid so far in her freshman season at Cal, but has both long course pedigree and the weight of a Cal taper behind her. With her season best in the 500 sitting a way off her best time, she could provide some outside smoke if she drops down towards 15:40 or below.
Kate Hurst and Cavan Gormsen will be in the centre lanes in the final morning heat of the event, and will be striving to throw down a time which holds up through the evening. Both set their personal best times at their respective conference championships last year before adding time at NCAAs this year, but look like doing the opposite this time around.
SwimSwam Picks:
Place Swimmer School Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Jillian Cox Texas 15:32.75 15:30.33 2 Kennedi Dobson Georgia 15:43.72 15:43.72 3 Gena Jorgenson Nebraska 15:45.36 15:45.36 4 Claire Weinstein Cal 15:52.28 15:51.64 5 Katie Grimes Virginia 15:45.20 15:26.17 6 Mila Nikanorov OSU 15:46.19 15:46.19 7 Kate Hurst Texas 15:47.93 15:56.37 8 Cavan Gormsen Virginia 15:54.05 15:56.76Dark Horse:
Rebecca Diaconescu (Michigan) – Diaconescu added nearly 14 seconds to place 25th last year, having been seeded in 12th, but has been far more reserved in season this year. Her season best of 16:09.03 comes from midseason, the same point she set her personal best times in the 500 free and the mile in 2024, but she was over 20 seconds slower at Big Tens than last season. If she wasn’t tapered there and has been saving something special for NCAAs, she should be an odds-on scorer and maybe even a threat to the top eight.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 W. NCAA Previews: Cox At The Head Of A Swell Of Underclasswomen In The 1650 Free
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