2026 Women’s NCAA Division I Championship: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap ...Middle East

By Mark Wild on SwimSwam

2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Day 2 Prelims Heat Sheet

We have already experienced an exciting and action-packed day of swimming at the 2026 Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, and yet in reality, we haven’t even really started, as today sees the first of our preliminary events.

As a reminder, this morning’s events will be different than previous editions in both how many swimmers advance to finals as well as which events are swum today. This morning kicks off with the 100 fly, before moving to the 400 IM, 200 free, and 100 breast. All four events in the past had occurred on day 3 of the meet, but now they, along with early heats of the 200 free relay, really get things going. With only eight swimmers earning a 2nd swim, expect the morning to be fast, as those swimmers ranked in the top 16 are desperately looking to place in the top eight, and those out of the top 16 are looking to bump off those ahead of them and finish 9th-16th, places that will earn points directly based on this morning’s results.

The 100 fly, one of the marquee events of the whole meet, sees Torri Huske and Claire Curzan as the top seeds. Once teammates at Stanford, Huske and Curzan, now with UVA, are entered with seed time more than a second clear of the rest of the field. However, things start to get tighter behind them, as Alex Shackell and Gigi Johnson are tied for 3rd at 49.95 and by the luck of the draw, Shackell has been seeded to swim next to Huske in the final heat.  It’s not just those four to watch, however, as the field is littered with swimmers poised to make their name in the event. Mizuki Hirai, Tessa Giele, Sara Curtis, and Eva Okaro are all already established stars for their nations in international competitions, but the quartet will be looking to make a name for themselves for their schools in the NCAA.

The 3rd longest event on the schedule, the 400 IM, is naturally not the fastest race, but it is one of the most exciting as each new stroke brings forth the swimmer’s strengths and weaknesses. Top seed Bella Sims, who has already made a name for herself in the NCAA but with Florida, will be looking to do the same now with Michigan. One of four swimmers seeded under 4:00, Sims will have to contend with her former club teammate UVA’s Katie Grimes as well as a pair of Stanford Cardinal, Lucy Bell and the defending champion Caroline Bricker. Both Bell and Bricker are great breaststrokers, so while they may appear out of the race after the backstroke, don’t count them out.

Having the 200 free the morning after the 800 free relay is a new phenomenon, so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out, but based on the relay results, we should be expecting fireworks. Top seed Anna Moesch produced the fastest 200 free relay split of all time, going 1:39.03, with the 2nd seed Minna Abraham producing the 9th fastest time (1:40.25), and yet those times were overshadowed by Liberty Clark. The first year from Indiana, who is seeded 3rd in the event, had a lifetime best of 1:40.84, but produced the 3rd fastest time ever, going 1:39.70 leading off the Hoosiers’ relay last night. She wasn’t alone in cutting massive amounts of time as Nikolett Pada led off Texas’s runner-up relay in a new school record of 1:40.30, a 1.06-second improvement upon her 4th-seeded 1:41.36.

The final individual event of the morning, the 100 breaststroke, sees a trio of international stars. Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova, who swims for the NC State Wolfpack, is the event’s top seed, coming in with a 56.77, but is just .10 clear of Florida sophomore Anita Bottazzo, who represents Italy internationally. While the pair are the only two under 57.00, all eyes will be on Louisville’s Anastasia Gorbenko who has been turning heads left and right ever since she arrived on campus. Last night, Gorbenko split 25.44 on the 200 medley relay, the 3rd fastest split of all time, so expect the Israeli Olympian to be out fast.

We end the morning on a fast note, with the early heats of the 200 free relay concluding the swimming portion of the session. 1-meter diving prelims are also slated to begin this morning. Alabama comes in as the 9th seed, but certainly will be looking to emulate both Texas and Tennessee, who yesterday put up morning swims that were fast enough to earn a podium spot amongst the top 8. Speaking of Texas, the Longhorns are the 10th seed and will hope to repeat yesterday’s feat.

Women’s 100 Fly – Prelims

Top 8:

Scored 9-16th:

NC State’s Lily Christianson won the first heat in 51.76. The sophomore was out in 24.01, before coming home in 27.75 to cut .51 off her seed time of 52.27. Her time did not last long atop the leaderboard, or at least not alone as Beatriz Bezerra, a first=year from Florida equaled her mark of 51.76. Bezerra too the race out faster going 23.79, but was a little slower on the last 50, going 27.97.

Emulating the jumping skills and speed of Zippy the kangaroo, Felicia Klintemar of Akron cut nearly half a second off her seed to take over the top of the leaderboard, setting a new best of 50.89, the first sub-51.00 time of the morning and with only the circle seeded heats remaining, the sophomore has an outside chance of sneaking into scoring range.

Heat 4, the first of the circle seeded heats saw Gigi Johnson pull through the field and take the heat win in 50.28. Johnson was out in 23.46, trailing Duke’s Tatum Wall, but the Stanford senior used a strong 26.82 last 50 to move up into the top spot on the leaderboard. While she was .33 off her seed and Campbell Stoll was .14 off her seed, the heat’s top two seed touched 1st and 2nd in the heat and will be hoping that their times of 50.28 and 50.49 are fast enough to make the A-final.

Claire Curzan wasted no time in heat 5, taking the race out in a blistering 22.68 and never looked back as she closed in 26.52 stopping the clock in 49.20, not only our first sub-50 time, but also a full second ahead of Johnson’s top time. While Curzan added .73 to her seed, her seed was fast enough to survive the add, but Miranda Grana’s add of .70 puts the Hoosier in much more danger, as her 50.68 currently ranks her 4th with one heat remaining.

Torri Huske and Alex Shackell were a little more conservative over the first 50 as the pair opened in 22.74 and 22.96 respectively. The two, swimming out of lane 4 and lane 5 were soon separated from the field with the pair joining Curzan under 50, with the Stanford senior going 49.38 and the Indiana first-year going 49.38.

Women’s 400 Individual Medley – Prelims

Top 8:

Scored 9-16th:

Women’s 200 Free – Prelims

Top 8:

Scored 9-16th:

Women’s 100 Breaststroke – Prelims

Top 8:

Scored 9-16th:

Women’s 200 Free Relay – Early Heats

Top 8:

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 Women’s NCAA Division I Championship: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

Hence then, the article about 2026 women s ncaa division i championship day 2 prelims live recap was published today ( Thursday 19/03/2026 - 05:29 PM ) and is available on swimswam ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 2026 Women’s NCAA Division I Championship: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap )

Also on site :

• ‘There’s a fire simmering’: Molly Caudery on Paris Olympics ‘heartache’, Tokyo injury, and finding redemption
• KRAFTON India Drops BGMI 4.3 Update – New UI, Game-Changing Collaborations, Card Collection System, and More
• Goldeneyes’ Anna Segedi scores first PWHL goal in win over Sirens