Ranking the 2026 Women’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: 4-1 ...Middle East

By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam

We have made it to the final four schools in our 2026 recruiting class rankings. We have already looked at the schools with classes ranked #5-#16 and it is just the best of the best remaining.

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A few important notes on our rankings:

Honorable Mentions

Previously Ranked

#4 Texas Longhorns

Texas did not sign a ton of swimmers for the recruiting class of 2026, but the ones they did get are exceptional, picking up three top-10 ranked swimmers.

Their top recruit is #1.5 Audrey Derivaux. Originally a member of the class of 2027, Derivaux reclassified to the class of 2026 and will join the Longhorns in the fall, giving her two years with the team before the 2028 Olympic Trials. Derivaux is a potential NCAA ‘A’ finalist in four of her events, the 1650 free, 200 fly, 200 IM, and 400 IM. She struggled slightly in long course, but set best times in many of her events last short course, and will be a huge addition to the Texas roster.

Sydney Schoeck was the #4 ranked recruit and the fastest miler in the class. She comes in with a best time of 15:51.76 in the mile, which she swam in March and would have finished 7th at the NCAA Championships. Her best times in the 500 free (4:37.88), 200 back (1:51.49), and 400 IM (4:04.22) are also in NCAA scoring position and her 500 free is within half-a-second of ‘A’ final territory.

The #6 ranked recruit in the class, Mena Boardman is a sprint freestyler and butterfly, a role the Texas women have been lacking in recent years. Her 50 free time of 22.05 would have been the second fastest time on the Texas team last season to Eva Okaro, and her 100 fly time of 50.93 would have been 3rd on the team. Her 100 fly is a potential NCAA scoring swim, though she was not able to match that time during her senior year.

Honorable mention Brynn Lavigueur is a backstroker and freestyler, who is near the NCAA cutline in the 100 back (52.16) and the 200 free (1:45.82).

Their final freshman is Avery Klamforth, who is joining the program as a BOTR ranked breaststroker. She comes in at 1:00.4/2:11.2 and will slot in behind junior Piper Enge and senior Angie Coe in the 100 breast rankings.

The Longhorns also picked up LSU transfer Giulia Zambelli, who was an individual NCAA qualifier in the 200 fly after she set a lifetime best 1:53.76 in November of 2025. She also swam on LSU’s 800 freestyle relay and will add depth in the 200 fly behind Campbell Stoll, who will be a senior this year. Zambelli has three years of eligibility remaining under the new rules.

#3 Indiana Hoosiers

Where many of the top recruiting classes went for quality over quantity, the Indiana Hoosiers went for both with their class of 2026 recruits, bringing in 12 new athletes, of which eight are ranked recruits and one scored double digit points at the 2026 NCAA Championships.

Starting with their incoming freshmen, the Hoosiers paid a lot of attention to the places they were weak. The class is led by #3 ranked Kayla Han. The California native has the fastest 400 IM and 1000 free times in the class and will come in as a distance freestyler/IMer for the Hoosiers this fall, a place they desperately need talent. Her best times in the 500 free (4:36.88) and 400 IM (4:03.28) would have ‘A’ finaled at the 2026 NCAAs, a place where Indiana scored no points and one point respectively. In the 1650 free (15:56.07) and 200 IM (1:55.74) she also would have been in scoring range and Indiana had nobody score in either of those events as well.

Han will be joined in the distance events by #14 Elizabeth Eichbrecht, who is coming in with best times of 16:06.54 and 4:41.54, faster than anyone on the team last season. Eichbrecht also has best times of 1:45.05 in the 200 free, 49.06 in the 100 free, and 22.88 in the 50 free, making her a very broad range freestyler who will likely contend for an 800 freestyle relay spot this year.

#18 Paige Downey (4:44.68/16:03.94) and BOTR Anne Dickinson (4:42.8/16:30) will also help shore up the distance program.

HM Eva Rottink has a best time of 51.99 in the 100 back and 52.88 in the 100 fly, which are both near the NCAA cutlines.

Their ranked swimmers are rounded out by butterflyer Emma Belk (52.9/1:58.0) and IMer Lylah Theriac (1:59.6). The Hoosiers also grabbed #3 ranked diver Lilly Rogers.

Perhaps the most significant addition to the Indiana roster is breaststroker Anita Bottazzo. Despite being nicknamed “Breaststroke U”, the Indiana women did not have a single breaststroker under 1:00 last season. That will not be the case this year as NCAA runner-up and dual-’A’ finalist Bottazzo is joining the program from Florida. She has best times of 56.87/2:06.97 and scored 28.5 points in the breaststroke events at the 2026 NCAA Championships. She will be an immediate impact maker on the Hoosier roster both individually and on relays.

#2 Tennessee Volunteers

Deciding the order for the top two teams was not easy, and the final result could have gone either direction. The Tennessee women’s team has some big name athletes coming in, and their recruiting class is made up almost entirely of freshmen.

Charlotte Crush was the undisputed #1 ranked recruit in all of our earlier recruit rankings until Rylee Erisman and Audrey Derivaux reclassified and she slipped to #2. She will join the Tennessee women’s roster as the fastest 100 backstroker (49.46), 200 backstroker (1:48.69), and 100 butterflyer (50.00) in the class. All three of these times are well within the NCAA ‘A’ final times and would have scored in the top 5. She also has a best 50 free of 21.88, a best 100 free of 47.72, and a best 200 free of 1:44.34 and will fill a crucial role on Tennessee medley relays that are already phenomenal.

Just a few spots behind Crush in the rankings is #5 Molly Sweeney, the top breaststroker in the class with lifetime bests of 59.24/2:06.72. Her 200 breaststroke would have scored in the ‘A’ final at NCAAs, an event where Tennessee did not have any athletes. She will also get to train under McKenzie Siroky, who has seen massive breaststroke improvements while at Tennessee.

Honorable Mention Eliza Wallace is another top breaststroker with a best 100 breast time of 59.36 and a best 200 breast of 2:12.34.

The Volunteers also grabbed the #1 ranked diver Isabel Baley after they hired a new diving coach last April. She will be joined by Australian diver Hannah Smith and Portuguese diver Luisa Fragoeiro Arco.

A trio of Canadian athletes will also be joining the Tennessee roster this year, led by Madison Kryger who swam at both the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs for Canada. She set a host of new personal bests at the Canadian Trials, winning the 50 back, 100 back, and 200 back at the meet.

Sprint freestylers Leah Tigert and Matea Gigovic are the other two Canadians. Tigert won the 100 free at the Canadian Trials in 54.76 and will be a potential relay member for the team and Gigovic won the 50 and 100 fly events.

Tennessee also picked up Pitt transfer Kimmy Shannon, who had a huge meet at the ACC Championships to score 33 points in 2026. She qualified for the individual NCAA Championships in the 400 IM as well, and her 200 and 400 IM times would both have been 3rd on last year’s team.

#1 Virginia Cavaliers

Ultimately, the University of Virginia came out on top for their 2026 class. The six-time reigning NCAA Champions just seem to be getting better, and their class of 2026 is headlined by some big freshmen and one massive transfer.

Just like with the rest, we are going to start with the domestic/SwimSwam ranked freshmen, even though their international students and transfers are exceptional. The domestic athletes are headlined by #8 Alyssa Sagle, a Virginia native. Sagle is coming into Charlottesville with best times in the 100 back (50.56) and 200 back (1:50.96) that are well under the NCAA qualifying standards and would have scored in both events last season.

#11 Molly Workman is a sprinter, who enters the program with best times of 22.17/48.31/1:46.04 in the three shorter freestyle events, and she already has two sub-22 relay performances under her belt.

Roos Rottink, an Honorable Mention, is a backstroke/butterflyer who is nearly under NCAA qualifying standards.

BOTR ranked Caden Martin (sprint free), and Sara Czirjak (breast) will round out the domestic swimmers, all with at least one event near the NCAA cutline.

Moving onto their international freshmen, Smilte Plytnykaite will likely be the biggest impact piece from the moment she arrives. The breaststroker from Lithuania fills a crucial role on the Virginia roster that graduated its top two breaststrokers after the 2026 season. She has converted times that put her at or near NCAA scoring position in both breaststroke events.

Croatia’s Jana Pavalic is a sprint freestyler with a converted 50 free time of 21.50, and she will be joined in the sprint free events by South Africa’s Jessica Thompson, whose 50 free converts to 22.03. Australian butterflyer Olivia Hine will round out the freshman class.

The Cavaliers also picked up a few transfers including the biggest name transfer of the season in Teagan O’Dell. The #2 ranked recruit from 2025, O’Dell had a massive year at Cal, qualifying for three ‘A’ finals and scoring 46 points as a freshman at the 2026 NCAAs including a 2nd place finish in the 200 IM. She announced her transfer to Virginia in April and will also likely swim on the 800 free relay.

The Cavaliers also picked up Texas transfer Berit Berglund, who did not race at the 2026 NCAA Championships after initially appearing on the psych sheets. In 2024, she finished 9th in the 100 back at NCAAs, stopping the clock in 50.70, but she hasn’t been back to that mark since.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Ranking the 2026 Women’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: #4-1

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