By Sean Griffin on SwimSwam
2026 WOMEN’S BIG TEN SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dates: Wednesday, February 18–Saturday, February 21 Location: Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, Minneapolis, MN Defending champions: Ohio State women (1x) Live Results (also available on Meet Mobile: “2026 B1G Women’s Swim & Dive Championships”) Live Video ($): B1G+ Championship Central SwimSwam’s Meet Preview Teams: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin SwimSwam Live Recaps Day 1 Timed FinalsThursday Prelims Heat Sheet
Thursday Prelims Scratch Report
After an exciting opening session that included a new conference record from Michigan in the 800 freestyle relay, the first full day of action at the 2026 Women’s Big Ten Championships gets underway this morning with preliminary heats in the 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, and 100 breaststroke.
Stay tuned for live updates below.
WOMEN’S 100-YARD BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS
NCAA Record: 46.97 – Gretchen Walsh, UVA (2025) Big Ten Meet Record: 49.42 – Maggie MacNeil, MICH (2020) Big Ten Record: 48.89 – Maggie MacNeil, MICH (2019) 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 52.52 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 51.87Top 8 Qualifiers:
Alex Shackell (Indiana) – 50.60 Brady Kendall (Michigan) – 51.03 Miranda Grana (Indiana) – 51.38 Leila Fack (Michigan) – 51.52 Lexi Greenhawt (Michigan) – 51.73 Beatrix Tanko (Nebraska-Lincoln) – 51.75 Jada Duncan (UCLA) – 51.86 Anna Vlachou (Rutgers) – 52.16Indiana freshman Alex Shackell topped the first circle-seeded heat, clocking 50.60 to lead the field into tonight’s final. Nebraska-Lincoln junior Beatrix Tanko took second in the heat at 51.75, good for fifth on the heat sheet heading into finals, with Rutgers junior Anna Vlachou rounding out the heat at 52.16 to slot in eighth.
Shackell’s 50.60 lowered her season-best by .38, though her personal best remains the 49.49 she produced at Winter Juniors in December 2023, her only time breaking the 50-second barrier. Tanko’s swim broke the Nebraska program record and marks the first time she has gone under 52. Vlachou took down her former best of 52.63 set at this meet a year ago and broke 53 seconds for the first time this season.
Michigan dominated the penultimate heat as senior Brady Kendall (51.03), sophomore Leila Fack (51.52), and junior Lexi Greenhawt (51.73) produced the only three 51-point swims of the heat to go second, fourth, and fifth into the final. Kendall was the runner-up last year, while Greenhawt walked away with the bronze medal.
Kendall, the #2 seed entering the meet, set her career best of 50.98 at November’s CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge, while Fack hacked exactly a tenth off her mark from that same meet. Greenhawt missed her 51.65 lifetime best from last season’s final by just 11 hundredths, but shredded her 52.62 season best from an October tri-meet with Northwestern and UCLA.
Top seed and defending champion Indiana junior Miranda Grana was the class of the final heat, as her 51.38 cleared UCLA freshman Jada Duncan‘s 51.86, the other sub-52 of the heat, with Grana taking the third seed and Duncan the sixth.Grana swam a lifetime-best 49.98 at the Ohio State Invite in November, which earned her top seed status entering the competition, while Duncan threw down her 51.06 personal best at a dual meet versus Stanford last month.
WOMEN’S 400-YARD INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – PRELIMS
NCAA Record: 3:54.60 – Ella Eastin, STAN (2018) Big Ten Record: 3:58.02 – Bella Sims, MICH (2025) Big Ten Meet Record: 4:01.41 – Allysa Vavra, IU (2012) 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 4:13.20 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 4:09.53Top 8 Qualifiers:
Bella Sims (Michigan) – 4:03.82 Rosie Murphy (UCLA) – 4:06.21 Hannah Bellard (Michigan) – 4:06.40 Katie McCarthy (Minnesota) – 4:06.49 Sienna Angove (Ohio State) – 4:07.60 Justina Kozan (USC) – 4:07.92 Stella Chapman (Wisconsin) – 4:08.20 Gena Jorgenson (Nebraska-Lincoln) – 4:08.33Michigan junior Hannah Bellard topped the first of the seeded heats, stopping the clock at 4:06.40, with Ohio State sophomore Sienna Angove taking second in a time of 4:07.60.
Bellard, who owns a personal best of 4:05.92 from November’s CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge, enters the final as the third seed after finishing seventh in this race a year ago. Angove, the defending champion who logged her lifetime best of 4:03.92 to win the title last season, ultimately advanced fifth overall.
Minnesota junior Katie McCarthy won the next heat, touching in 4:06.49 over USC senior Justina Kozan (4:07.92).
McCarthy, who was 15th a year ago, annihilated her former best of 4:10.36 from last year’s prelims to secure the fourth seed. Kozan has been as quick as 4:03.25 from the 2023 Texas Invitational but was well off her season-best 4:05.08 from November’s Texas Invite, likely conserving energy in an effort to improve on her disappointing 19th-place finish a year ago. She earned the sixth seed.
To no one’s surprise, Michigan junior Bella Sims cruised to the top seed in the final heat, swimming 4:03.82 to lead the field by over two seconds. UCLA senior Rosie Murphy touched second in 4:06.21, with Wisconsin sophomore Stella Chapman (4:08.20) and Nebraska senior Gena Jorgenson (4:08.33) stopping the clock with a pair of 4:08s to finish third and fourth in the heat, sneaking into the A final as the seventh and eighth seeds.
Sims, the NCAA leader in this event courtesy of her 3:58.02 from the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge, didn’t show all her cards this morning. Murphy was just off her season-best of 4:06.08 from the Ohio State Invitational and just over a second off her personal best of 4:05.01 from the 2024 NCAA Championships.
Both Chapman and Jorgenson set new personal bests, with Chapman slicing over two seconds off her previous best of 4:10.41 from the Texas Invite, and Jorgenson shattering her former mark of 4:11.51 from last season’s NCAAs.
WOMEN’S 200-YARD FREESTYLE – PRELIMS
NCAA Record: 1:39.10 – Missy Franklin, CAL (2015) Big Ten Record: 1:40.47 – Minna Abraham, USC (2025) Big Ten Meet Record: 1:40.69 – Anna Peplowski, IU (2025) 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 1:45.53 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 1:44.74Top 8 Qualifiers:
Liberty Clark (Indiana) – 1:42.08 Rachel Bockrath (Ohio State) – 1:43.44 Stephanie Balduccini (Michigan) – 1:43.67 Nicole Maier (USC) – 1:43.76 Maggie Wanezek (Wisconsin) – 1:4389 Grace Hoeper (Indiana) – 1:44.76 Claire Tuggle (USC) – 1:44.84 Blair Stoneburg (Wisconsin) – 1:44.94Ohio State sophomore Rachel Bockrath dominated the first of the circle-seeded heats, stopping the clock at 1:43.44 to take the second seed into tonight’s final. Indiana freshman Grace Hoeper touched second in 1:44.76, the sixth-quickest time of the session.
Bockrath entered the meet with a personal best of 1:42.92 set at the Eddie Reese Showdown just last month. Hoeper, who entered this season having never broken 1:48, sliced almost a full second off her 1:45.49 from a dual meet versus Michigan last month.
The penultimate heat saw defending champion Stephanie Balduccini clock 1:43.67 to move through ranked third, ahead of Wisconsin sophomore Maggie Wanezek (1:43.89) and USC senior Claire Tuggle (1:44.84), who slotted in fifth and seventh overall.
Balduccini, who placed third in this event at last year’s NCAA Championships, owns a best time of 1:40.89 from that competition and produced her season-best 1:41.45 at the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge. She may have to challenge the 1:41 barrier if she wants to defend her crown.
Top seed Indiana freshman Liberty Clark dominated the final heat from the very first stroke, producing the only sub-1:43 performance of the morning in 1:42.08. USC fifth-year Nicole Maier touched second in 1:43.76 to take the fourth seed, with Wisconsin senior Blair Stoneburg rounding out the heat in 1:44.94 to sneak into the ‘A’ final ranked eighth.
Clark, who never broke 1:45 prior to this season, owns a personal best of 1:41.27 from the Ohio State Invitational. Her consistency this season has been nothing short of remarkable, accumulating four swims in the 1:41-range since November.
Maier just missed her personal best of 1:43.47 from yesterday’s 800 free relay lead-off, while Stoneburg’s swim was a season best that came within striking distance of her pre-college lifetime best of 1:44.63.
WOMEN’S 100-YARD BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS
NCAA Record: 55.73 — Lilly King, Indiana (2019) Big Ten Record: 55.73 – Lilly King, IU (2019) Big Ten Meet Record: 55.88 – Lilly King, IU (2019) 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 1:00.30 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 59.51Top 8 Qualifiers:
Maria Ramos (Ohio State) – 58.52 Letitia Sim (Michigan) – 58.84 Brooke Corrigan (Wisconsin) – 59.01 Bella Brito (USC) – 59.71 Hazal Ozkan (Wisconsin) – 59.79 Ashley McMillan (USC) – 59.92 Sarah Bennetts (UCLA) – 59.99 Sarah Pasquella (Michigan) – 1:00.15The first of the circle-seeded heats went to Wisconsin senior Hazal Ozkan, stopping the clock in a time of 59.79 to rank fifth heading into the final. USC junior Ashley McMillan (59.92) and UCLA junior Sarah Bennetts (59.99) joined her in breaking the one-minute barrier, advancing sixth and seventh.
Ozkan cut 0.69 off her season best and came within striking distance of her longstanding personal best of 59.52 from the 2023 Texas Invite. McMillan was just a few tenths off the 59.62 she popped at a dual meet versus UCLA a few weeks ago, while Bennetts was just over a tenth off her 59.86 from that same meet.
Michigan senior Letitia Sim was the first woman to break 59 seconds on the day, with her 58.84 enough to clear USC freshman Bella Brito (59.71) and freshman teammate Sarah Pasquella (1:00.15) in the penultimate heat. Sim’s time help up for the second fastest time of the morning, with Brito’s fourth and Pasquella’s eighth.
Sim’s best time of 58.12 came from the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge. Brito’s swim was a season best by just over a tenth but about three quarters of a second shy of her 59.09 from the 2024 Winter Juniors West. Pasquella chopped nearly half a second off the 1:00.57 lifetime best she recorded at a dual meet versus Ohio State just last month.
Top seed Ohio State sophomore Maria Ramos punched 58.52 in the final heat to claim the top spot heading into tonight. Wisconsin freshman Brooke Corrigan touched second in 59.01 to go third, the only other swimmer from the heat to punch through to the ‘A’ final.
Ramos’ best time is the 58.00 she produced at the Ohio State Invite, while Corrigan clipped her best time from a First Chance meet earlier in the month by one one-hundredth of a second.
Ramos looks on track to nab her first Big Ten title after a 10th-place finish in 2025. Sim, the top returner after grabbing silver a year ago, will have something to say about that from lane five.
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