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 200 Free – By The Numbers
U.S. Open Record: 1:39.10 – Missy Franklin, Cal (2015) American Record: 1:39.10 – Missy Franklin, Cal (2015) NCAA Record: 1:39.10 – Missy Franklin, Cal (2015) Championship Record: 1:39.10 – Missy Franklin, Cal (2015) 2025 NCAA Champion: 1:40.50 – Anna Peplowski, IndianaIn 2025, only one woman came into NCAAs seeded under 1:41 in the 200 freestyle, and it was now graduated senior Anna Peplowski. At NCAAs, it took a 1:43.24 to make the ‘A’ final. This year, three swimmers have already been under 1:41, and everyone in the top eight is seeded under 1:42. The event is also incredibly young with the highest-seeded senior coming in at 14th.
NCAA Record Watch
One of the biggest stories out of the year has been Virginia sophomore Anna Moesch. Coming into the season, her lifetime best in the 200 freestyle was 1:42.39 from the 2025 NCAA Championships, when she finished 5th as a freshman.
Anna Moesch (photo: Jack Spitser)
In October, she dropped to 1:41.42 at the Virginia vs Florida meet, the fastest ever October 200 freestyle. The following month, Moesch swam 1:40.25 at the CSCAA Dual Meet Tournament, becoming the 4th fastest performer in history.
All eyes were on her at the 2026 ACC Championships last month, and she delivered with a massive 1:39.72 performance, making her just the 4th woman in history to break 1:40 and the 3rd fastest performer only behind Gretchen Walsh and American and NCAA record holder Missy Franklin.
She has already dropped more than two-and-a-half seconds this season alone, and she would need to find another six tenths to make her way under the 1:39.10 mark that Franklin set back in 2015, but she is only a sophomore and will have two more years to chase the record if she doesn’t get it next week.
“Oldies”
It feels weird to call juniors “old”, but this 200 freestyle field is made up of a lot of underclassmen so the juniors are among the oldest in the field.
USC’s Minna Abraham did not race at this year’s Big Ten Championships due to “personal reasons”. Even without racing, she is still the 2nd seed in the event, with the 1:40.47 she swam at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite in November. This was a personal best time, taking a tenth off the 1:40.56 she swam to finish 2nd at last year’s NCAAs.
Minna Abraham (photo: Jack Spitser)
Abraham has improved her 200 free finish every year so far. In 2024, she was the bronze medalist in 1:41.96, and in 2025, she won silver. If she continues to follow the trend, she will challenge Moesch for the gold, but she will likely need to drop under 1:40 to succeed.
Michigan’s Stephanie Balduccini is seeded 5th in 1:41.40, which she swam at the CSCAA Dual Meet Tournament. Her best time stands at 1:40.89, which she swam to finish 3rd last season. This was three tenths faster than the 1:41.16 she swam at the 2025 Big Ten Championships to win the event, upsetting Abraham and Peplowski for the gold. At this year’s Big Tens, she touched in 1:42.04, finishing 2nd. She didn’t appear to be fully tapered for the meet though, adding from her season bests in all three of her individual events, which points to a faster performance from her next week.
Tennessee’s Camille Spink is the final junior seeded in the top eight, coming in at 7th with the 1:41.71 she swam to win the 2026 SEC Championships. This was a new personal best by a little over three tenths from the 1:42.06 she swam at SECs last season. Spink is stronger in the 50 and 100 free, and she has added at NCAAs every year so far, finishing 17th last year in 1:44.27 and in 2024, she disqualified the event for a false start after swimming 1:42.91 to qualify 6th out of prelims. Spink will need to be at the top of her game to earn a finals swim, but if she can match her best, she is a strong finals contender.
Just outside the top eight is Texas junior Erin Gemmell, who is seeded 12th in 1:42.64, which she swam against Tennessee at the end of October. Her lifetime best in the event stands at 1:42.32, which she swam at last year’s SEC Championships, and would be hard pressed to earn an ‘A’ final spot. She has not swum the event much this season after spraining her ankle just before midseason and not racing individually there, but is very strong in the event long course. If she brings some of that speed into the event next week, she could drop under 1:42, which would be huge in earning a second swim.
Virginia Tech’s Carmen Weiler Sastre is the highest seeded senior in the event, coming in at 14th with the 1:42.73 she swam to finish 7th at ACCs. This was a new personal best by about half-a-second from the 1:43.36 she swam at the 2025 NCAA Championships.
Last season, Stanford’s Kayla Wilson, now a senior, swam a season best time of 1:43.09 in the prelims to earn an ‘A’ finals spot, ultimately touching in 1:43.29 in the final to finish 6th. She is coming into the meet seeded 32nd with the 1:43.97 she swam to finish 11th at ACCs last month. Her lifetime best stands at 1:42.88 from March of 2024, and it is looking like she will need a major drop to earn her 4th consecutive finals swim, though she typically has strong prelims performances, which will be crucial this year.
“Atlantic” Swimmers
Outside of Moesch, there are three other ACC swimmers seeded in the top 10, one from Virginia and two from Cal (which is not on the Atlantic but is in the ACC).
Freshman Madi Mintenko is seeded 6th in her lifetime best 1:41.52 from the ACC Championships last month. She came into the season at 1:42.00 from her high school state meet in February of 2025. It can be difficult to predict how freshmen will perform at the NCAA Championships, but Mintenko’s only personal best at the ACC Championships was the 200 free, which lends to the idea that she might have more in the tank if she wasn’t fully rested.
Cal sophomore Mia West has seen one of the most significant improvements in the NCAA this season. She did not earn an individual invite for last year’s Championships, swimming on the 200 and 400 free relays for Cal, and she has the potential to earn three ‘A’ finals swims, and potentially top-three finishes this year. West swam almost an entirely different lineup at the ACC Championships than she will at NCAAs, and her 200 free seed time of 1:41.74 comes from the USC vs Cal dual meet in January.
She came into the season at 1:45.17 from the 2025 ACC Championships, marking a three second drop over the last 12 months and a 1:40.95 split on the 800 free relay points to the potential for more to come. She also has Cal’s legendary NCAA taper ahead of her, and it would not be out of the question to see her drop under 1:41.
The other ACC swimmer in the top 10 is Cal freshman Claire Weinstein. She is seeded 9th with the 1:42.13 she swam at the Cal vs Stanford dual meet at the end of January. At ACCs, she swam 1:42.40 to finish 3rd. Her best time stands at 1:41.10 from December of 2024, but her 200 free prowess goes far beyond SCY.
Claire Weinstein (Photo Credit: Chris Pose)
Weinstein is the American Record holder in the SCM event with the 1:51.62 she swam at the 2024 SC World Championships just a few days before her 200 free SCY best time. She is also the 3rd fastest American in the long course event after she swam 1:54.67 at the 2025 World Championships. We have not seen the full extent of Weinstein’s talent at Cal yet, as they typically save their full rest for NCAAs, but it would not be shocking to see her stand on top of the podium if she can translate that speed.
Big Ten and SEC Challengers
Indiana freshman Liberty Clark has had a phenomenal season with the Hoosiers, and her 1:40.84 from the 2025 Big Ten Championships brings her into the meet seeded 3rd in the event after she won the title there.
She came into college at 1:45.76 from the 2025 Winter Junior Championships, which means she has dropped nearly five seconds this season alone. The 200 free is not the only event she has dramatically improved in while training in Bloomington. It is always difficult to predict how freshmen will handle their first NCAAs, but Indiana’s Anna Peplowski took the 200 free title last year and the Indiana women typically perform well at NCAAs.
Another freshman, Texas’ Nikolett Padar as the highest SEC seeded swimmer in 1:41.36 for 4th. She swam this time leading off the Texas 800 freestyle relay before swimming 1:41.75 in the individual event final to finish 2nd behind Spink. She falls into the same boat as Clark where it is difficult to predict how she will perform at her first NCAA Championships, but Padar has extensive international experience competing for Hungary and has seen tight turnarounds before.
Georgia freshman Kennedi Dobson and Texas Sophomore Lillie Nesty round out the top 12 swimmers we haven’t talked about. Just like some of the other swimmers we have mentioned so far, Dobson has improved massively during her first NCAA season. She is seeded 10th in 1:42.19, a lifetime best she swam at the UGA Fall Invite. She was just one hundredth off this time in 1:42.20 at the SEC Championships last month, which was still almost two seconds faster than her pre college best time of 1:44.07.
Nesty is seeded in 1:42.36 at 11th. This was a new personal best for her at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite, and she finished 5th at SECs in 1:43.15. Last year, she swam a best time in the NCAA ‘B’ final, touching in 1:42.86 to finish 10th, which was about a second faster than the 1:43.63 she swam at the 2025 SEC Championships. If she has a similar drop this year, she could be in contention for a top finish.
The Verdict
With so many freshmen in the top eight, it is hard to get an accurate read on how the 200 free will go. The swimmers this year are fast, and it would not be surprising to see our first ever women’s NCAA final with multiple sub-1:40 swimmers.
Anna Moesch seems to be comfortable in her gold medal position and it would take a huge swim from someone to upset that. Behind her, Minna Abraham, Liberty Clark, Claire Weinstein, and Stephanie Balduccini seem to be battling for the other places in the top three, though Mia West could also find herself in that battle, especially if she is able to drop under 1:41.
The rest of the top eight will be a dog fight, and it seems likely that it will take every swimmer being on top of their game to qualify for the event final. Based on best times and potential drops, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think it will take a 1:41-low to earn a spot in this top-eight, which just goes to show how fast this event has gotten this season.
Place Name School Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Anna Moesch Virginia 1:39.72 1:39.72 2 Minna Abraham USC 1:40.47 1:40.47 3 Claire Weinstein Cal 1:42.13 1:41.10 4 Liberty Clark Indiana 1:40.84 1:40.84 5 Stephanie Balduccini Michigan 1:41.40 1:40.89 6 Mia West Cal 1:41.74 1:41.74 7 Nikolett Padar Texas 1:41.36 1:41.36 8 Madi Mintenko Virginia 1:41.52 1:41.52Dark Horse: Claire Tuggle (USC) – Tuggle is seeded 25th in the 200 free with the 1:43.65 she swam at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite in November. This is her lifetime best in the event, taking two tenths off the 1:43.81 she swam at last year’s NCAAs. Tuggle has sort of plateaued since high school, so she could have a significant drop in her, but the biggest thing working in her favor is the fact that she typically does very well in prelims. At Big Tens this year, all of her prelims swims were faster than or exactly equal to her finals times. At NCAAs last year, she set a personal best in the prelims of the 200 free, dropping another tenth in the final. With the speed of the field, it is going to require a great prelims performance to earn a finals swim, and Tuggle could earn her way into the top eight.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 W. NCAA Previews: Anna Moesch Leads Women’s 200 Free as “Swimflation” Reaches New Heights
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