By Terin Frodyma 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 100 Fly
NCAA Record: 46.97 – Gretchen Walsh, UVA (2025) U.S. Open Record: 46.97 – Gretchen Walsh, UVA (2025) American Record: 46.97 – Gretchen Walsh, UVA (2025) Championship Record: 46.97 – Gretchen Walsh, UVA (2025) 2025 NCAA Champion: Gretchen Walsh, UVAFor the first time in two seasons, we will crown a new NCAA champion in the women’s 100 butterfly. With the graduation of Gretchen Walsh, who is the first and only woman to break both the 48-second and 47-second barriers in the 100 fly, we will have a new swimmer at the top of the podium at the NCAA Championships.
Leading the charge is Stanford’s Torri Huske and Virginia’s Claire Curzan, who are the only two entrants under 49 seconds, each sitting a second and a half ahead of the rest of the field at 48.26 and 48.47, respectively. Indiana’s Alex Shackell (49.95), Stanford’s Gigi Johnson (49.95), and Indiana’s Miranda Grana (49.98) all enter with the only other sub-50-second times this season to round out the top five seeds.
Top Seeds Riding Recent Momentum
Both Huske and Curzan are entering these championships fresh off of lifetime best swims at the ACC Championships in February. Huske and Curzan each shaved good chunks off their former best times. Huske took about a quarter of a second off of her 2025 ACC Championship time of 48.52, which moved her past Kate Douglass and Maggie MacNeil, moving her up on the all-time performer rankings to #2.
Curzan had an even bigger improvement, dropping more than half a second off her best, launching up to the #4 all-time performer at 48.47, besting her 2025 ACC Championship time of 49.02. This time marked her first-ever swim under 49 seconds, making her the 5th swimmer ever to accomplish that. All season, Curzan has been on an upward trajectory in the 100 fly, consistently getting faster as the season went on, throwing down a 49.68 at the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge in November and then a 49.13 at a dual with NC State in January.
Johnson was the 3rd-place finisher at those ACC Championships, breaking 50 seconds for the first time in her career, swimming a more than half-second best time of 49.95, crushing her former best of 50.51 from a dual meet with UCLA in January.
Shackell swam her season best at Big Tens, winning with a time of 49.95, though still off her lifetime best of 49.49 from December of 2023. If she can get back down to that time, she could spice up the championship final. Her teammate, Grana, swam her fastest career time earlier this season at the Ohio State Invite in 49.98. She recently finished 3rd at Big Tens in this race, swimming 50.69.
Potential Final Spot Stealers
The field behind these top three is extremely tight, with the #6 seed through the #14 seed all sitting within half a second of one another. Among the top swimmers in that grouping are Texas’ Campbell Stoll (50.35), Tennessee’s Mizuki Hirai (50.46), and NC State’s Leah Shackley (50.52). Stoll recently set her best time at the SEC Championships, winning in 50.35, which obliterated her previous best from the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational of 50.98.
Hirai is in a similar position, finishing just behind Stoll at those championships in 50.46. Hirai was a midseason addition to the Volunteers and has made an immediate impact since arriving in Knoxville. Shackley finished 4th at ACCs in 50.52. She is yet to swim a lifetime best in college, though she holds a fastest time of 50.29 from March of 2024, and could reach a finals spot with a best time.
Another midseason addition is Tessa Giele of Alabama, who is entered here at #10 with her 50.55 from the SEC Championships. She only has five 100 butterfly races under her belt in yards this season, and could see a big jump at these championships, considering she dropped over half a second at SECs from her former best of 51.16. NC State’s Erika Pelaez enters these championships with a season best of 50.66, which is right on her career best from these championships last season, where she finished 10th in 50.65.
Michigan’s Brady Kendall is also just on the outside looking in on an ‘A’ final with her #9 seed and recent lifetime best time of 50.53 from the Big Ten Championships. This time took nearly half a second off her former best from earlier this season when she swam 50.98 at the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge.
Returning Finalists
Normally, the highlight would be on the returning ‘A’ finalists, but the 2025 championship final was supported heavily by senior and 5th-year swimmers. The only returning championship finalists are Huske, who finished 2nd in 48.97, Grana, who was 4th in 50.01, and Louisville’s Ella Welch, who was 7th in 2025 in 50.93.
Welch was faster in the prelims of those championships, swimming her career best in 50.72, this season she has primarily hovered around the 51-high range, with a season best of 51.02 from ACCs which slots her in as the 17th seed here, her best time only moves her up to 14th, so she will likely need a pretty significant prelims swim if she wants a repeat appearance in the championship final.
Shackley and Pelaez combined for a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the consolation final in 2025, finishing 9th and 10th overall in 50.59 and 50.65, respectively. Johnson is the only other finalist from last season, finishing 14th overall in 51.35.
With only three championship finalists returning, those ‘A’ final spots will be a hot commodity and hard to come by, furthering the importance of a good prelims swim.
SwimSwam Picks:
Place Swimmer School Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Torri Huske Stanford 48.26 48.26 2 Claire Curzan Virginia 48.47 48.47 3 Alex Shackell Indiana 49.95 49.49 4 Gigi Johnson Stanford 49.95 49.95 5 Miranda Grana Indiana 49.98 49.98 6 Mizuki Hirai Tennessee 50.46 50.46 7 Leah Shackley NC State 50.52 50.29 8 Brady Kendall Michigan 50.53 50.53Darkhorse Pick:
Angie McKane (Army)- McKane enters these championships fresh off a career best at the Patriot League Championships in 51.34. This marked a huge drop from her former lifetime best from October in 52.10. She currently sits in a tie for 24th with Nevada’s Scarlett Ferris. With the tight nature of this field, another drop could catapult her up into scoring range and be a big-time momentum-boosting swim for Army at these NCAA Championships.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 W. NCAA Previews: Huske and Curzan Lead Hungry Field in 100 Butterfly
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