By Mark Wild 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 Preview Index Psych Sheet Live ResultsWomen’s 400 Medley Relay – By the Numbers
NCAA Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, Moesch), 2025 American Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, Moesch), 2025 U.S. Open Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, Moesch), 2025 Championship Record: 3:20.20- Virginia (Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, Moesch), 2025 2025 Champion: Virginia (Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, Moesch) – 3:20.20While the 800 Free relay certainly has a chance for an upset, and the 200 Medley relay is likely to be the closest it’s been in UVA run of wins, the 400 Medley relay is likely to be a runaway victory for the Cavaliers. It has been so for so long, that in last year’s preview we cut some corners and just copied and pasted some of the words about their dominance and, honestly the same words work again here.
There is a saying that nothing new is original, and sadly, what was written about UVA’s dominance in this event carries over, so much so that I’ll just copy and paste what was written last year.
UVA’s dominance in this event is unquestionable. They are the two-time [now three time] defending champs in the event and the only team to have ever been under 3:23, let alone 3:22. They are also the only team that has had multiple relays where three legs have been under 50.00. Stanford appears to have done it once: in the 2023 Pac-12, where Claire Curzan [who now swims for the Cavaliers] went 49.26, Torri Huske went 49.74, and Taylor Ruck went 46.85. NC State has been close, but I couldn’t find a time when both Berkoff and Kylee Alons were under 50 at the same time.
UVA did so at least twice in 2022 when they set the American Record, and then again last year twice, and again this year at ACCs, where they swam 3:22.49, just .10 off their winning time from last year.
They did so again at NCAAs, breaking the NCAA record with a time of 3:21.01. This year, they did the unthinkable, bypassing 3:20 completely and setting a new Everything Record (Trademark pending (joking)) of 3:19.58. What’s even scarier than that is the fact that A. Walsh was 57.05 with a flying start but has a personal best of 56.85 and has already been 56.67 on a relay this season, meaning that they could be faster than that.
The 2025 NCAAs did not upset the narrative as Claire Curzan, Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh and Anna Moesch claimed victory in a new meet record time of 3:20.20. While the time was nearly three quarters of a second off their NCAA record set a month prior, the quartet won the event by nearly five seconds, with runner-up Tennessee finishing at 3:24.99. Curzan, G. Walsh and Moesch again all had sub-50 splits, the only team to do so, adding yet another occurrence of the feat to the list.
However, with both Walsh sisters departing, some may have thought that their impressive streak of four NCAA championships in a row would be over, but the Cavaliers have reloaded and reshuffled the relay and looked poised to make it a fifth victory.
“So Good”
When Curzan arrived at UVA, G. Walsh shifted from backstroke duties to the butterfly, but with Gretchen now out of the NCAA, Curzan has likewise made the jump to the butterfly leg. Curzan can do so comfortably as Italian sprinter Sara Curtis has come in to take over that opening leg. More known as a freestyler, Curtis who exclusive swam that stroke at the 2025 Worlds, has dabbled a little in the sprint backstrokes, placing 6th in the 50 at the 2024 Short Course Worlds. However, as needs must, she has been inroads in the event, winning the event at the 2025 Short Course Europeans, dropping over half a second off her PB.
Her first 100 yards result was a 51.70 from a dual against Florida in mid-October. Since then, however, she has shaved huge chunks off that time culminating with 50.07 lead-off leg at ACCs, a time that would have ranked her 7th fastest in the individual event. With the rearrangement of events, the 100 back now falls on the same day as the 50 free, where Curtis is the 4th seeds, so the relay will be her lone chance to break the 50 second barrier.
With Curtis, the 7th fastest on paper in the backstroke, and Curzan ranked 2nd in the 100 fly, the UVA women have a strong 1st and 3rd legs. Moesch, the anchor from last year returns as well. She anchored their NCAA relay in 46.85 and their 2025 ACC relay in 46.18, both of which are very strong splits, but with a flat start best of 45.71 and with an anchor leg of 45.53 in this relay, Moesch could be knocking on the very exclusive sub-45 split club.
Her time drops coupled with Aimee Canny‘s 56.38 100 breaststroke split, which was .01 slower than A. Walsh’s time from NCAA, keep UVA in a very exclusive club as the lone team to break the 3:23 barrier. With a entry time of 3:20.42, Curtis, Canny, Curzan and Moesch could find themselves knocking on the sub 3:20 barrier. The .42 seems like a lot, but Curzan’s split on the relay was just 48.44 and she owns a season and personal best of 48.47, so a half second drop from a safe relay start is not out of the question.
“Survivor”
We know how UVA survived the loss of two of their legs, but they were not the lone team to go through major changes. Four other teams ranked amongst the top 8 last year at NCAAs lost multiple legs to either graduation or transfer. Tennessee, last year’s runner-up, Florida, the bronze medalists and USC, the 7th place team each return just one swimmer to the squad, while Texas who finished 5th lost two to graduation.
Of those four teams, only Tennessee has managed to retain a top 8 seeding. Texas (#9) is slated to be the fastest team in the penultimate heat where they will square off against Florida (11th) and USC (16th). The Volunteers were bumped down one spot and enter as the 3rd fastest team, albeit thanks to their new additions, their SEC winning and record setting time of 3:24.58 is .41 faster than their silver medal winning time from last year.
Mizuki Hirai (photo: Jack Spitser)
Camille Spink remains on the anchor leg and as much as we hyped up Moesch’s improvements, Spink has been making near equal gains. She sits just outside the rarefied 45 second 100 free, with her new flat start PB of 46.01 from SECs. At the same meet, she split 45.72 on this relay, a near second improvement upon her split from the 2025 NCAAs (46.45). Before Spink can enter the water however, Tennessee should be in a stronger position than they were last season.
Sara Stotler put forth a strong effort with her 51.01 last season but Tennessee’s addition of Mizuki Hirai at mid-season, the junior World record holder in the long course version of this race could be a game changer. She was 50.52 on the relay at SECs, but took silver in the individual event in a PB time of 50.46. As someone with just around two months of yard swimming under her cap, Hirai could easily be sub-50 with a strong relay start. With Jillian Crooks (#9 in the 100 back) and McKenzie Siroky (#4 in the 100 breast) the Vols look to be in good position to lower their school record and win back-to-back silver medals.
“Say My Name”
However, before they climb to that 2nd spot on the podium they will need to overcome the Big Ten Champs, Michigan who currently ranks as the next fastest team behind Virginia, thanks to their school, meet and conference record swim of 3:24.08. The Wolverines finished 13th last year with a time of 3:29.26, graduating their backstroke and freestyle legs. The backstroke leg was easily filled by transfer Bella Sims. Last season Sims led off Florida’s relay in 49.54, the fastest opening leg in the field. Now a Wolverine, Sims went a season best 49.15 to open the medley relay at Big Tens.
Sims turned things over to Letitia Sim, the Big Ten Conference champion in the 100 breast, who split 57.66. A time, that stands a full second faster than her split from the 2025 NCAAs (58.70) and when coupled with Sims’s backstroke legs, the Wolverines were already four seconds faster than they were in 2025. Not looking to be left out of the action was the only other returner, Brady Kendall, who sliced 1.37 seconds off her split, recording a mark of 50.10. Stephanie Balduccini takes over from Lindsay Flynn on anchor duties. The Brazilian Olympian was a little off at Big Tens, closing out the relay in just 47.20, but with a PB of 46.98 from mid-season, she could help the team knock off a further half a second or more.
Erika Pelaez (photo: Jack Spitser)
Also seeking to hear their names called at the medal ceremony are NC State and California. The pair of ACC rivals missed out on the action last year finishing 9th and 11th overall. While NC State lost no swimmers to graduation their ACC runner-up finishing team had a different front half. In 2025, Kennedy Noble opened up their relay in 51.27, but this year Erika Pelaez has been given the nod thanks to her 50.15 opening relay split. The sophomore from Florida was faster in the individual event, taking 2nd in 49.54, so the Wolfpack should be half a second faster at the first leg.
Pelaez, the #3 seed in the 100 back turns things over to the top seeded 100 breaststroker, Eneli Jefimova. The Estonian is entered in the individual event with a 56.77, one of two sub-57 times (the other being Florida’s Anita Bottazzo) but was just 56.81 on the ACC relay, so hypothetically if both she and Pelaez are at their best the Wolfpack could be leading the race at the halfway point. They were only .51 behind UVA at ACCs (1:46.46 to 1:46.96). NC State will need that lead as their last legs Leah Shackley and Olivia Nel were 50.70 and 46.99, respectively, a differential of nearly four seconds to UVA’s anchor legs as they finished in a time of 3:24.65.
Cal placed 11th last year at NCAAs with a 3:28.18, and placed 4th at ACCs thanks to their 3:27.15. However, the Golden Bears find themselves as the 6th seeds with an entry time of 3:25.76. Mary-Ambre Moluh is the lone holdover from that relay and had seemingly stayed as their anchor despite being the school’s fastest 100 backstroker and the 4th seed in the individual event (49.64). Instead, Teagan O’Dell got the nod at ACCs and was 51.14. She should be faster as her season best is 50.51 as should the breaststroker Silje Slyngstadli, who split 58.92 on the relay but has a season best flat start of 58.21. Don’t be surprised however if Elle Scott gets the breaststroke nod, as she placed 6th at ACCs and her season best is .02 faster. With the 100 breast finals, now the day before the relay, Head Coach Dave Durden will have plenty of information to make that decision.
“Jumpin’ Jumpin'”
Indiana, Stanford and Louisville who finished 4th, 6th and 8th are the three top eight finishers from last year not yet mentioned and each find themselves seeded in the last heat as a top 8 seed. However, there has been some leapfrogging around as Louisville, who finished 8th in 2025, are seeded 5th, with Stanford and Indiana slated to draw the outside lanes as the 7th and 8th seeds.
The Cardinals (Louisville) recorded a mark of 3:27.76 last season and lost no swimmers to graduation but have turned their weakness into their strength as Anastasia Gorbenko’s 56.54 is nearly a three second improvement upon their breaststroke split from the previous year. With the Israeli Olympians mid-season addition, the Cardinals powered their way to a 3rd place finish at ACCs, with their 3:25.16 sitting half a second back of NC State’s 3:25.16. Senior Ella Welch was 50.43 at NCAAs but was 51.07 on the relay and 51.37 in the individual event at ACCs, so will need to be on point if Louisville want to jump a few spots up the podium.
Torri Huske (photo: Jack Spitser)
So too does anchor, Julia Dennis. She split a swift 46.15 last leg to help close the gap to NC State, but with a -.02 second reaction time, she needs to make sure she is perfect on that take off. While Dennis’s -.02 fell within the margin of error, Torri Huske‘s -.06 did not, costing the Cardinal (Stanford) a 2nd place finish at ACCs and the #3 seed. The quartet of Gigi Johnson, Lucy Bell, Huske and Annam Olasewere would have stopped the clock at 3:24.32, but instead must use their time from the Texas Hall of Fame Invite, where Alana Berlin, Bell, Huske and Johnson went 3:25.93. Berlin led off in 52.19 as compared to Johnson’s 51.82 and Olasewere was nearly a full second faster on the anchor, so Olasewere seems to be the choice for anchor but Berlin and Levenia Sim did go 51.40 and 51.46 at a last chance meet, so like the Cal breaststroke battle, the lead off leg might not be decided until the day of the relay.
Indiana placed 4th last year at NCAAs in a time of 3:25.83 and despite graduating only their breaststroker, they appear to be going with an entirely new order. Miranda Grana, who was 49.62 on the fly leg looks to be make the opposite move as Curzan, and will take on the backstroke duties. 51.33 in the individual event at Big Tens, Grana was 50.87 in the relay, but with a season best of 49.89 and a PB of 49.62, Grana could alone cut over a second off their time. Indiana will need all they can get from Grana, as “Breaststroke U” currently lacks a swimmer with a flat-start season best under a minute. Jonette Laegreid split 59.66 at Big Tens, before handing things off to a pair of first-years with Alex Shackell and Liberty Clark splitting 49.66 and 45.96 respectively, both of which are strong splits, but they may need to be faster and jump sooner to help the Hoosiers stay ahead of Texas.
The Longhorns currently sit 9th seeded with the 3:26.37, just .22 back of Indiana and nearly a second ahead of Alabama’s 3:27.13. Texas loses both their backstroker and butterflier, with the latter role having been filled admirably by Emma Sticklen and her 49.17 fly split. Berit Berglund helped them in 2024 to the silver medal in this event, splitting 51.51 on backstroke leg, but has recently entered the transfer portal and with Olivia Bray‘s graduation. Taking over the backstroke duties is Emm Kern who was 51.83 on the relay at SECs and 51.81 in the individual event. She owns a PB of 51.45 but that dates back to March of 2024. Their backstroke woes are compounded by their breaststroke woes. Piper Enge is the 11th seed in the 100 breast but her time of 58.13 is from mid-season and she was just 59.77 in the final at SECs. She did split 59.09 on the relay so, her results could have been a result of illness or a tactic in delaying taper until NCAAs.
As much consternation the front half may be causing Texas fans, the last two legs are very solid as Campbell Stoll split 50.12 at SECs, but with a winning time of 50.35 in the individual event, Stoll could easily be looking at joining the sub-50 split club. Taking over the anchor duties is Eva Okaro, who has been left and right lowering the school record in the 100 free, hitting a personal best of 46.49 in the individual event at mid-season. While she was a little slower at SECs she did anchor the relay in 45.72, making with Stoll a very solid come from behind team.
The Verdict/Independent Women
That said, this relay will be neigh impossible to win or place highly if you need one swimmer to do all the work. While rather obvious, Virginia success in this event is all in part to having multiple swimmers at the top of their field and replacing them with blue-chip recruits and transfers, and as such they should easily climb to the top of the podium and claim their fifth straight event win.
However, after them things get dicey.
Michigan, Tennessee, NC State and Stanford (taking their DQ time) are all within the 3:24 low to mid range. Each has obvious strengths that need to shine and weakness that need swimmers to step up, but of the four Tennessee looks best suited to do so. Crooks and Jefimova were both around half a second slower on the relay at SECs than they were in the individual events and if Jefimova goes that best time and loses half a second for a relay start, the Vols could be looking to go from their 3:24.58 and become the first time not named UVA to go sub 3:23.00.
If Michigan’s anchor Balduccini is back on form, things will be close with Tennessee, and it should be enough to keep the Wolverines ahead of both NC State and Stanford, the latter of whom with Huske and Olasewere should be able to run down the Wolfpack, but only if Stanford gets a strong backstroke leg to keep them close. Texas, Cal and Indiana will likely be in a battle for a podium spot, but the backstroke woes for the Longhorns make picking them to make the top 8 a little too much.
SwimSwam Picks:
Place Team Entry Time Last Season Finish 1 Virginia 3:20.42 1st – 3:20.20 2 Tennessee 3:24.58 2nd – 3:24.99 3 Michigan 3:24.08 13th – 3:29.26 4 Stanford 3:25.93 6th – 3:26.34 5 NC State 3:24.65 9th – 3:28.06 6 Louisville 3:25.16 8th – 3:27.76 7 California 3:25.76 11th – 3:28.23 8 Indiana 3:26.16 4th – 3:25.83Dark Horse: Alabama (10th – 3:27.13) – Any team seeded below Alabama would be more of a dark horse, naturally, and Florida could sneak back up into the top 8, but they would first have to get past a Crimson Tide team that beat them at SECs and is seeded more than half a second ahead of the Gators. Emily Jones led off the relay in 50.94 but has a season best of 50.50, so could easily increase their lead on Texas through the first leg. But the key leg to make up any time will be their butterflier Tessa Giele. Like Hirai and Gorbenko, the Dutch star is still acclimating to a yard’s pool. She took 3rd in the individual 100 fly at SECs in 50.55 and with a relay start could be in the sub-50 territory, which would be a full second improvement upon her relay split of 50.98.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 W. NCAA Previews: UVA Set to Be in Victory Formation atop the 400 Medley Podium
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