2026 College Swimming Previews: Young Core, Key Additions Give Optimism To 10 NC State Women ...Middle East

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

It’s that time of the year again. SwimSwam will be previewing the top 12 men’s and women’s teams (and then some) from the 2024 NCAA Championships. Follow along with the College Swimming Preview Channel. Want to read even more? Check out the latest edition of the SwimSwam magazine. 

#10 NC STATE WOLFPACK

Key Losses: Chase Travis (11 NCAA points), Annabel Crush (1 NCAA relay), Grace Sheble (NCAA qualifier)

Key Additions: #8 Lily King (PA – sprint free), BOTR Jade Garstang (UT – backstroke), BOTR Kathleen Turano (NJ – distance free), Eneli Jefimova (Estonia – breaststroke), Teia Salvino (SMU transfer – free/back)

GRADING CRITERIA

Over the years, we’ve gone back and forth on how to project points, ranging from largely subjective rankings to more data-based grading criteria based on ‘projected returning points.’ We like being as objective as possible, but we’re going to stick with the approach we’ve adopted post-Covid. The “stars” will rely heavily on what swimmers actually did last year, but we’ll also give credit to returning swimmers or freshmen who have posted times that would have scored last year.

Since we only profile the top 12 teams in this format, our grades are designed with that range in mind. In the grand scheme of college swimming and compared to all other college programs, top 12 NCAA programs would pretty much all grade well across the board. But in the interest of making these previews informative, our grading scale is tough – designed to show the tiers between the good stroke groups, the great ones, and the 2015 Texas fly group types.

We’ll grade each event discipline: sprint free (which we define to include all the relay-distance freestyle events, so 50, 100 and 200), distance free, IM, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and diving. Use these grades as a jumping-off point for discussion, rather than a reason to be angry.

Also, keep in mind that we are publishing many of these previews before teams have posted finalized rosters. We’re making our assessments based on the best information we have available at the time of publication, but we reserve the right to make changes after publication based on any new information that may emerge regarding rosters. If that does happen, we’ll make certain to note the change.

2024-2025 LOOKBACK

In their first season without superstar backstroker Katharine Berkoff, the NC State women did well to essentially match their 2024 NCAA performance in 2025.

Buoyed by the addition of two of the top recruits in the girls’ high school class of 2024, Leah Shackley and Erika Pelaez, the Wolfpack placed 10th at the 2025 NCAA Championships with 164 points after they tied for 9th the season prior with 162.

They did see a dip at the ACC Championships, falling from 3rd to 5th due to the addition of Stanford and Cal to the conference.

Erika Pelaez (photo: Jack Spitser)

Shackley and Pelaez both performed well in their debut NCAAs, with Shackley leading the team with 37 individual points thanks to ‘A’ final appearances in the 200 back (4th) and 100 back (6th) and a 9th-place finish in the 100 fly. Pelaez scored 25 points by placing 7th in the 200 back, 10th in the 100 fly and 11th in the 100 back.

Another freshman, Lily Christianson, had a solid campaign, showing some relay value and earning a second swim in the 50 free (16th) at NCAAs.

The only double-digit point scorer besides Shackley and Pelaez was fifth-year senior Chase Travis, who put up 11 points after placing 8th in the 1650 free.

Kennedy Noble, who thrived with 42 points at the 2024 NCAAs, only mustered five last season, placing 12th in the 100 back. She failed to earn a second swim in the 200 back (18th) after she was the NCAA runner-up the season prior, and she also missed in the 200 IM (22nd) after topping the ‘B’ final in 2024.

NC State’s relays were solid at NCAAs, showing off their sprint prowess with 6th-place finishes in the 200 free and 200 medley relays while taking 9th in the 400 medley, 11th in the 400 free and 16th in the 800 free.

SPRINT FREE: ★★★

An already-solid sprint freestyle group only gets better this season for NC State with the addition of Lily King, the fastest 100 freestyler in the girls’ high school class of 2025.

With her lifetime best of 47.31, King would’ve been the fastest swimmer on the Wolfpack roster last season and is fast enough to crack the NCAA ‘A’ final, with last year’s cut-off being 47.37.

King is also within a half-second of scoring in the 200 free (1:44.62), and though her 50 free best time trails NCAA scoring range at 22.07, she’s been as fast as 21.12 (!) on a relay, so the incoming freshman has a legitimate chance of scoring in all three sprint events this season.

Lily Christianson (photo: Jack Spitser)

Lily Christianson was 16th at NCAAs last season in the 50 free, and should be counted on for more ‘B’ finals points this year after she clocked between 21.81 and 21.99 five times last season—her best time remains at 21.72 from high school.

Olivia Nel (21.82), Tyler Driscoll (21.88) and Cassie Moses (22.02) also had solid season-best times in 2024-25, with Nel and Driscoll’s SBs both faster than what was required to make the top 16 at NCAAs (21.89), so there’s potential there for more points in the 50.

SMU transfer Teia Salvino (22.06) brings more 50 free ability with the potential of scoring, while Leah Shackley (22.12) and Erika Pelaez (22.13) won’t swim it individually but add to the team’s sprint depth.

In the 100 free, Nel (47.63) and Pelaez (47.81) were the team’s sub-48 swimmers last year, with Nel placing 36th at NCAAs though her season-best would’ve been good for the ‘B’ final. Christianson set a best time of 48.10 to place 24th at NCAAs, while Moses (48.39), Driscoll (48.57) and Katherine Helms (48.83) provide more depth in the event. Salvino also owns a PB of 48.90.

King and Nel give the team two likely scorers in the 100 free, while Christianson isn’t far off. Pelaez likely won’t swim the race, favoring the 200 back.

The only 200 free entrant at NCAAs for NC State last year was Annabel Crush, who has graduated, so King and her 1:44.6 best time appear to be the team’s only real chance at individual points.

Pelaez dropped a stunning best time of 1:43.14 back in early October, which is fast enough for the ‘A’ final, and she was also 6th at ACCs (1:43.88), but swims the 100 fly and 100 back so the 200 free doesn’t fit into her NCAA schedule. She will be relied upon for the 800 free relay, however, having split sub-1:43 two times last year.

Helms (1:45.90) and Nel (1:46.29) had solid season-bests last year, and Kennedy Noble can step in on the 800 free relay.

DISTANCE FREE: ★

The team’s only NCAA entrant in the distance events last year, Chase Travis, has graduated, leaving a void that doesn’t have any immediate candidates to fill for the Wolfpack.

Pelaez’s 4:44.01 from a late January dual meet makes her the team’s fastest returner in the 500 free, while Helms (4:45.10), Grace Monahan (4:46.17) and Emma Hastings (4:46.20) are next up and should be able to be in the ACC ‘C’ final.

In the mile, where Travis was 8th last year, Hastings is the top returner with her best time of 16:16.60—about seven seconds shy of NCAA qualification—which she set en route to placing 7th at ACCs.

Incoming recruit Kathleen Turano brings 4:51.3/16:41 best times into her freshman year.

BACKSTROKE: ★★★★★

The NC State backstroke group didn’t miss a step last season with Shackley and Pelaez coming in and contributing big points right away, helping replace what was lost by Katharine Berkoff‘s graduation.

Despite Noble going from scoring 33 backstroke points in 2024 to five in 2025, the Wolfpack still came away with a decent haul, thanks to Shackley’s pair of ‘A’ finals and Pelaez’s 7th and 11th-place finishes.

Shackley was 4th in the ultra-competitive 200 back in a lifetime best of 1:48.52, while Pelaez also set a new PB to take 7th in 1:49.81.

In the 100 back, Shackley was 6th (50.06) and Pelaez was 11th (50.53), giving them a combined 46 points in the backstroke events.

Kennedy Noble (photo: Jack Spitser)

Noble’s five points in the 100 back (50.75 season-best) gave the team a total of 51 between the two races, making it a five-star group without factoring in the likelihood of Shackley and Pelaez moving up with some swimmers graduating, and Noble being closer to her 2024 form.

Using Noble’s best time in the 200 back (1:48.43) and moving out the graduating seniors from last year’s NCAA ‘A’ final (Phoebe Bacon, Josephine Fuller, Isabelle Stadden) would theoretically give NC State a 3-4-6 finish, or 44 points. Of course, this isn’t accounting for several other factors, but it’s clear NC State’s backstroke ceiling is sky high.

There’s more depth in the 100 back with Nel clocking 51.90 last year and Salvino coming in with a sub-53 PB (52.98), while the 200 back depth chart is boosted by the additions of Salvino (1:56.40) and Garstang (1:57.10).

BREASTSTROKE: ★★★★

Despite only having one swimmer returning who raced a breaststroke event at NCAAs last season (and didn’t score), the Wolfpack are looking reasonably good in this discipline thanks to the massive addition of Eneli Jefimova.

The Estonian is only 18 years old but already has two Olympic appearances, a SC World Championship medal and two European titles to her name, not to mention a decorated junior resume from the World and European Junior Championships.

Eneli Jefimova. Photo: István Derencsény/LEN

It’s almost not even worth trying to convert Jefimova’s best times in meters to yards because she’s one of the best in the world, and there’s little doubt that she’ll immediately be an ‘A’ finalist in both breaststroke events.

Arguably her most impressive PB is her SCM time of 1:03.21 in the 100 breast, which won her the 2023 European SC title and ranks her in the top 10 all-time. She essentially matched it last December at SC Worlds to win bronze in 1:03.25. That should slot her into sub-57 territory in yards, which could win the NCAA title this season with the top two finishers from last year, Alex Walsh and Mona McSharry, graduating.

Jefimova has been 2:19.23 in the SCM 200 breast, which conservatively puts her around the 2:05 range in yards, which will be in the fight for a top NCAA finish.

She also ranks 10th all-time in the LCM 50 breast (29.83), so there’s no questioning the drop-dead speed she has, which will translate nicely into the NCAA format and give the Pack a nice boost on the medley relays.

The lone returning breaststroke swimmer who competed at NCAAs last season is rising sophomore Lisa Nystrand, a Swedish native who had a solid freshman campaign by placing 22nd in the 200 breast at her debut NCAAs. She set a lifetime best of 2:08.30 to crack the ‘A’ final at ACCs before clocking 2:08.94 at NCAAs.

Nystrand has a very good chance of earning a berth in the consolation final of the 200 breast this season, given it only took 2:08.56 to make it back in March. In fact, her PB is just over seven-tenths shy of what it took to make the ‘A’ final (2:07.60), and with five of the top 16 from last year graduating, she could sneak in with a modest drop.

As for the 100 breast, NC State’s fastest last year was rising senior Aubree Brouwer, who posted a pair of 59.8s throughout the season and was the breaststroker on the Wolfpack medley relays at NCAAs. It took 59.51 to earn an invite last year in the 100 breast, so Brouwer is right on the cusp of getting back there after qualifying in 2023.

Nystrand went as fast as 1:00.13 in the 100 breast last season, but races the 400 IM in championship meets. Another decent breaststroker on the roster is Christianson, who set a best time of 1:01.09 last year in a dual meet, but she won’t race it at taper time.

BUTTERFLY: ★★★

The Wolfpack are strong in the 100 fly and weak in the 200 fly, making their butterfly outlook as a whole decent, but not outstanding.

Last season, we saw Shackley and Pelaez go 1-2 in the 100 fly ‘B’ final at NCAAs to combine for 16 points, with Pelaez setting a lifetime best of 50.65 in 10th while Shackley’s 50.59 was just shy of her personal best of 50.29 set while she was still in high school.

Both went 51.0 in the prelims, narrowly missing earning a spot in the championship heat (8th was 51.02), so they should be able to crack the top eight this year, especially considering five of last year’s ‘A’ finalists have graduated.

Christianson swam the 100 fly last season at NCAAs and placed 40th (52.31) after setting a PB of 51.81 at ACCs, and she’ll likely keep this as her #3 event given she’s within a half-second of what it took to score last year (51.35).

Driscoll (52.84) and Brouwer (52.99) were sub-53 last year for some more depth, while Garstang (53.07) and Salvino (53.16) join the team with solid times to build on.

In the 200 fly, Shackley led the team last year with her 1:54.30 from a mid-January dual meet with UNC, and though her personal best (1:54.07) is fast enough to score at NCAAs (1:54.16), she’ll be racing the 200 back instead.

With the Sheble twins graduating, Monahan is the next-fastest returner with her 1:58.09 from the Wolfpack Elite Invitational.

IM: ★★

The outlook for NC State’s medley group hinges, at least in part, on the form of Noble, whose lifetime best of 1:53.72 in the 200 IM would’ve tied for 8th in the 2025 NCAA prelims, but she only managed to muster a time of 1:56.12 to place 22nd.

Coming off a decent summer, Noble, though we can’t expect her to be back on the sub-1:54 form she’s shown previously, should be able to be in the 1:55s and make the ‘B’ final.

Lisa Nystrand (photo: Jack Spitser)

Nystrand was 30th in the 200 IM last year in 1:56.65, which was a personal best time. It’s not out of the question for her to drop a full second and be in the mix for a second swim, but we’re not banking on it given how populated the 200 IM usually is.

Where Nystrand will likely score, like she did as a freshman, is the 400 IM, having built from the Wolfpack Elite Invitational (4:09.03), to the Eddie Reese Showdown (4:07.94), to the NCAA prelims (4:07.29) and then ultimately the final, placing 15th in 4:07.02.

It’s a big jump up into ‘A’ final range (sub-4:05), but Nystrand is a good bet to score in the 400 once again.

Beyond Noble and Nystrand, Pelaez was a solid 1:57.01 last year in the 200 IM and Salvino (1:58.50) comes in with a decent best time, though she’ll likely race the 50 free instead (and Pelaez won’t race on Day 2 of NCAAs, assuming she keeps the 100 fly/100 back double).

Jefimova could add the 200 IM to her schedule to go along with the breaststrokes, but her meters times don’t indicate she’ll be in scoring range (2:15.9 SCM/2:20.2 LCM for a 2:02-2:03 conversion).

DIVING: ★

NC State had three divers on its ACC roster last season, and none of them will be back as Ashton Zuburg (2 ACC points) has graduated, Elisabeth Rockefeller (1 ACC point) has transferred to Georgia Tech, and Celia Bidwell was cut due to the new roster limits.

The team has two incoming freshman divers on the roster, with Keann Guthrie joining from Dallas and Riley McGrath coming over from Chicago. Neither is expected to be a threat to qualify for NCAAs in their freshman year.

RELAYS: ★★★★

Note that the grading system doesn’t align perfectly for relays as double points.

Relay grading system:

NC State is only losing one of its 20 relay legs from the 2025 NCAAs, and given the additions they’re making, the team is in position to put a few more points on the board in the team events than they did last year.

The Wolfpack placed 6th in both the 200 free and 200 medley relays last year, took 9th in the 400 medley, 11th in the 400 free relay and 16th in the 800 free relay. The only leg they’re losing is Annabel Crush on the 800 free relay, and they should be able to seamlessly fill in that leg with the addition of Lily King.

It’s also worth noting that they were faster in four of the five relays at the ACC Championships than they were at NCAAs. Had they posted their ACC times at NCAAs in the 400 free, 800 free, 200 medley and 400 medley relays, they would’ve scored 32 more points and leapfrogged Michigan for 9th place in the team standings.

Heading into this season, the 200 free relay is in a prime position to fight for a top finish with any combination of Lily Christianson, Olivia Nel, Erika Pelaez, Leah Shackley, Tyler Driscoll, and newcomers Lily King and Teia Salvino. Everyone in that group has split 21-point on a relay. Additionally, every time that finished ahead of them last year is losing at least one member.

In the 400 free relay, they’ve got a very strong base of 100 freestylers with King, Pelaez, Shackley, Nel and Christianson all capable of splitting 47 or faster. The ACC time of 3:10.00 they posted last year would’ve moved them up to 6th at NCAAs (from 11th), and they’ve got room to improve with King joining the team as their fastest in the event.

Similarly, the 800 free relay would’ve been 12th at NCAAs with their ACC clocking of 6:56.32, but they ended up 16th in 7:01.17 as Nel and Crush both added a bit of time. Crush led off in 1:44.37 at ACCs, and if we swap her with King, who owns a best of 1:44.6, the team should be able to produce something similar to 6:56 and score around 10 points.

Brouwer performed well on the medley relays last year for the Wolfpack, but the addition of Jefimova on breaststroke brings them to the next level.

With a lethal lineup of Pelaez, Jefimova, Shackley and Nel (or King), the team could be pushing the 1:33 barrier, projecting that Jefimova will be able to split something in the 25s. That would put them right up there in the top three.

Presuming they use Pelaez on the other four relays, NC State will likely go with Noble on the lead-off leg of the 400 medley relay again, with Jefimova moving onto the breast leg, Shackley on fly and either Nel or King on free.

With Jefimova likely splitting in the 56s on breast and Shackley capable of being sub-50 on fly, the Wolfpack will be one of the country’s best teams in this event, with Noble owning a best of 50.5 in the 100 back and King having split 46.40 on the free leg of a relay before.

The math tells us this team is capable of going around 3:23, which would’ve comfortably placed 2nd last year behind Virginia, which graduates half of its championship-winning relay.

A lot of the projections are with everything going perfectly for NC State, so and we know that’s rarely the case for anyone, but regardless, this team will field four very competitive relays and another that should comfortably score.

Total Stars: 23/40

2025-26 OUTLOOK

NC State is positioned to move up in the national standings this season as its young core of swimmers has one more year of experience under their belt and they bring in a few key additions without many meaningful losses.

Erika Pelaez and Leah Shackley had phenomenal freshman seasons and they’re poised to take another step forward as sophomores, as will fellow second-years Lily Christianson and Lisa Nystrand.

Having Kennedy Noble back closer to the form she showed in her sophomore year will go a long way for the Wolfpack. If they can have three swimmers scoring 20+ points individually, that puts them at an advantage over some of the other teams in the 6-10 range in the NCAA standings.

It’s never certain how first-year swimmers will transition to their new surroundings, but the additions of Lily King and Eneli Jefimova could be game-changing for the Wolfpack. Though King’s individual contributions are less of a certainty due to the volatility of the sprint events at NCAAs, she’ll give a significant boost to the relays, while Jefimova could very well be vying for an individual title in the 100 breast (and maybe 200 breast) to go along with bolstering the medley relays.

The relays really drive a team’s success at NCAAs, and that’s on full display when we look at how NC State would’ve moved up one spot in the team standings if we use their ACC times in four of the relays, despite most of their NCAA clockings not being far off what they went at the conference championships.

The relays are close and the point swings are big, so if the Wolfpack can execute their best relays of the season at NCAAs, with the additions they’ve made in Jefimova and King, they’re in for big things this year. Whether that’s moving from 10th to 9th, or somewhere higher (7th and 9th were only separated by 13.5 points last year) remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt the potential is there.

WOMEN’S 2025-26 COLLEGE PREVIEW INDEX

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