By Madeline Folsom 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 500 Free – By the Numbers:
NCAA Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017) U.S. Open Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017) American Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017) Championship Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017) 2025 NCAA Champion: Jillian Cox, Texas – 4:31.58Returning 2025 Finalists: Gold – Jillian Cox (TEX), 4th – Katie Grimes (UVA), 5th – Cavan Gormsen (UVA), 6th – Mila Nikanorov (OSU)
We thought last year’s 500 freestyle final had the potential to be fast, but this year’s race is looking like it will be faster and closer.
The Returners
Last year’s Texas redshirt freshman Jillian Cox picked up her first NCAA title in the 500 freestyle, touching in 4:31.58 to come in more than two seconds ahead of the rest of the field. A pair of seniors in Aurora Roghair from Stanford and Anna Peplowski from Indiana finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in 4:33.90 and 4:34.12.
Credit: Jason Wang / Peak Images
Cox’s swim at NCAAs was a slight add from the 4:30.68 that she swam in November of 2024 at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite, but she easily earned the victory. This season has looked a little different for her. At the Hall of Fame Invite, she swam 4:32.92, which was a season best mark. At the 2026 SEC Championships Cox had a tough battle with Georgia freshman Kennedi Dobson (who we will get to in a minute), ultimately earning the gold and setting her first PB since the Hall of Fame Invite in 2024.
Last year was Cox’s first real NCAA season, and she practically matched her time from SECs of 4:31.54 to earn the NCAA title. This year, she has a little more experience under her belt, and will be looking to improve on her SEC time, potentially dropping under 4:30 for the first time in her career.
The next highest returner is 4th place finisher Virginia’s Katie Grimes, who touched in 4:34.25, which was a little more than two seconds off her season best time of 4:32.19 from the CA/NV Speedo Sectionals meet in December before she got to Charlottesville at the semester mark.
Grimes has been having a strong season so far, after a disappointing NCAA Championships for the Olympic medalist. She set all season best times at the ACC Championships last month, swimming 4:33.78 to set the 3rd fastest time in the country this season.
Grimes is the 3rd fastest performer in the women’s 500 freestyle with the 4:28.27 she swam in December of 2023. Only Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh have been faster, and, while Grimes has not been back under 4:30 since then, she could be a serious threat if she can even come close to that time again.
Cavan Gormsen (photo: Jack Spitser)
Virginia has another dog in the fight with junior Cavan Gormsen. She finished 5th at last year’s championships in 4:34.51, which is her lifetime best. At the ACC Championships, she finished 3rd in 4:34.99, which is her season best time and will be seeded 7th at the NCAA Championships. Every year, Gormsen has dropped time at NCAAs, and improved her time from ACCs in the 500 free. In 2024, she dropped from 4:38.43 at ACCs to 4:35.37 at NCAAs. Last year, she went from 4:35.77 at ACCs to 4:34.51, so if she follows the pattern, she will be a major finals threat, but she will likely need to find a few seconds if she wants to end up in the top three.
Finally, Ohio State sophomore Mila Nikanorov finished 6th last year in 4:36.38, which was a lifetime best. This year, Nikanorov is coming into the meet seeded 12th overall in 4:36.97, which she swam at the Ohio State vs Michigan meet in January. At the Big Ten Championships, she finished 4th in 4:39.19, but she dropped more than a second between Big Tens and NCAAs last year. She has had a strong season in other events, setting a massive 9:22.37 team record in the 1000 free and swimming 15:46.19 in the 1650 free, but she will likely need to drop into the 4:34 range to earn an ‘A’ finals spot.
The Freshmen
Georgia’s Kennedi Dobson came into the season at 4:36.87 from December of 2024. She had a major breakout swim in October, touching in 4:33.61 at the Georgia Tech Dual Meet Tournament.
Dobson has dropped time at two more meets since then, swimming 4:32.96 at the Georgia vs Tennessee meet in January before dueling with Jillian Cox stroke-for-stroke during the SEC Championships, dropping again to swim 4:30.70.
She will come into the meet seeded 2nd overall, just behind Cox. Her biggest challenge will be managing her first NCAA double taper, which is something that freshmen can struggle with sometimes. The Georgia distance coaches are no stranger to handling the SEC to NCAA meet prep, which will work out in Dobson’s favor. There is also the question of her ceiling. She has dropped more than six seconds in the event this season, and it isn’t clear how much more she can drop in less than a year.
Coming into this season, all eyes were on Cal’s Claire Weinstein to potentially upset Cox for the title. Weinstein has exceptional range in the freestyle events, and is the 6th fastest performer in history in the 500, having swum 4:29.38 in December of 2023.
Claire Weinstein (Photo Credit: Chris Pose)
So far this season, she has been good, but she hasn’t shown the dominance many expected of her, yet. She is coming into the meet as the 6th seed with the 4:34.81 she swam at the Minnesota Invite in December.
Weinstein has the famous Cal taper ahead of her, though, and it would not be out of the question for her to see huge drops from her season best at NCAAs. Historically, Cal does not go all-in until the final meet of the season and Weinstein could easily have a massive swim to top the podium.
Virginia’s Madi Mintenko and Texas’ Nikolett Padar are other top seeded freshman with Mintenko coming in as the 10th seed and Padar sitting as the 11th seed. Mintenko is seeded in 4:35.79, which she swam at one of the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge meets. Her lifetime best is 4:34.89 from last February, which would put her in the top eight and earn her a second swim.
Padar is from Hungary, and had never swum the 500 freestyle before this season, so she is entered with her personal best 4:36.45 from the Hall of Fame Invite. She could move into the top eight with a strong prelims swim and a potential drop.
The Hopeful Movers
There are four women who did not qualify for the ‘A’ final last year that will be looking to massively improve those finishes this year, whether by matching their best time at NCAAs this year or by seeing huge drops this season.
Tennessee’s Ella Jansen is the 4th seed in 4:34.10. She is a sophomore this year, and last year, she finished 9th in the event after swimming 4:37.47 in the prelims, which was three seconds off her lifetime best 4:34.27 from the SEC Championships. She was faster in finals, swimming 4:34.62, but there are no ‘B’ finals this year, so she will need to swim her best in the prelims to qualify. At SECs last month, she finished 3rd in a new personal best 4:34.10, which was three seconds faster than her prelims swim of 4:37.66.
Hannah Bellard (photo: Jack Spitser)
Hannah Bellard from Michigan has been having an exceptional season, and is seeded just behind Jansen in 4:34.60, which she swam to win the Big Ten Championships. This time was about a tenth drop from the 4:34.77 mark she swam at the 2024 Georgia Tech Invite. At last year’s NCAAs, she was 24th overall in 4:39.53, which was about three seconds off the 4:36.96 she swam at Big Tens. With more NCAA experience under her belt and the confidence of how strong she has been this season, she is a serious ‘A’ final threat.
Florida sophomore Julie Brousseau is seeded 8th in 4:35.14, which she swam at the UGA Fall Invite. At SECs she finished 4th in 4:36.33, but her best time comes from last year’s SEC Championships, where she touched in 4:34.59. At NCAAs last year, she finished 10th overall, almost exactly two seconds off her best of 4:36.58, but she is in the same boat as Bellard, and will be looking to earn a finals swim now that she has a year of NCAA experience.
Another ‘B’ finalist from last year, USC’s Claire Tuggle was 11th in the event in 2025. This year, the senior is seeded 9th with the 4:35.42 she swam at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite in November. At Big Tens she finished 8th in 4:43.05 after swimming 4:41.65 in the prelims. This will be Tuggle’s 3rd NCAA Championships. Her sophomore year, she dropped three seconds from Pac-12s to swim 4:37.77 in the 500 free, and her junior year, she added two seconds to swim 4:37.23. She will need to be at her best, if not faster in the prelims if she wants to earn a second swim.
The Verdict
The women’s 500 free could go a variety of ways at the top that would not be surprising. With how close Cox and Dobson are and the lifetime bests of Grimes and Weinstein, at least four different swimmers could earn the title and it wouldn’t be surprising.
Cox ultimately earns the edge for her past performances at NCAAs, and proving she can get her hand on the wall first when it matters. She also only has two events next week, and likely no relays, which is a lighter load than every other swimmer on the list.
Dobson, Grimes, and Weinstein could organize themselves in any order, but with Dobson’s proven skill this season and Cal’s legendary taper, Dobson earns the nod for 2nd with Weinstein just behind in 3rd.
Behind the top three, a number of swimmers could earn their way into the top eight, and the swimmers will need to be in top form in prelims with everyone vying for the same eight positions and second swim. In a race as long as the 500, there is more room for error, and it would not be surprising to see some big names out and some other names in.
Top 8
Place Swimmer School Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Jillian Cox Texas 4:30.53 4:30.53 2 Kennedi Dobson Georgia 4:30.70 4:30.70 3 Claire Weinstein Cal 4:34.81 4:29.38 4 Katie Grimes Virginia 4:33.78 4:28.27 5 Hannah Bellard Michigan 4:34.60 4:34.60 6 Cavan Gormsen Virginia 4:34.99 4:34.51 7 Julie Brousseau Florida 4:35.14 4:34.59 8 Ella Jansen Tennessee 4:34.10 4:34.10Dark Horse: Ella Cosgrove (Cal) – Another strong freshman from Cal, Ella Cosgrove is coming into the meet seeded 13th with the lifetime best 4:37.07 she swam at the ACC Championships last month. This was about a second drop from the 4:37.98 she swam at the 2024 Winter Junior Championships before starting college. She will also have the Cal taper ahead of her, and with the right prelims swim, she could move into the top eight.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 W. NCAA Previews: Cox and Dobson Poised For an SEC Rematch in the 500 Free
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