Virginia tightened its grip Friday night in the team competition at the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
The Knights benefited from a victory in the 100m backstroke from Claire Curzan, a fourth relay win, and plenty of championship final swimming to stay within striking distance of their pursuers.
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California’s Claire Weinstein pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the meet in the 500 freestyle, setting the tempo early and beating Jillian Cox to give the Golden Bears a crucial win. Additionally, Torri Huske won another NCAA title in the 50-meter freestyle, outpacing a host of competitors.
With only 29.5 points separating Virginia State from Stanford in Friday’s finals, the Longhorns have the slight edge in an increasingly competitive rivalry. Tennessee currently ranks fourth, followed by Michigan and California.
Corzine breaks Walsh’s NCAA record in 100 backstroke
Virginia’s Claire Curzan won her second straight NCAA title in the 100-yard backstroke, breaking Gretchen Walsh’s NCAA record.
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Curzine sealed the national title with a time of 48.24, giving the Cavaliers another strong event. The teenager dominated from the start, leading throughout the race and setting the second fastest time ever.
Behind her were Michigan junior Bella Sims and Wisconsin sophomore Maggie Wanezek, who both finished second with a time of 49.62. Sims is having an impressive week. She also finished second nationally in the 400-meter mixed event.
NC State brought two swimmers to the championship finals, led by Erika Pelaez, who tied for fourth with Cal’s Mary-Ambre Moluh in 49.95. Her Wolfpack teammate Leah Shackley was sixth with a score of 49.98.
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Rounding out the championship finals were Pittsburgh senior Claire Jensen and Alabama senior Emily Jones, who finished seventh and eighth, respectively.
Lucy Bell wins second consecutive 200m breaststroke national title
It was a night of back-to-back NCAA championships, with Stanford senior Lucy Bell claiming her second straight title in the 200-yard breaststroke. Bell’s time was the third-fastest swim ever, behind Kate Douglas and Alex Walsh.
Bell jumped into the lead over the final 100 yards with a winning time of 2 minutes, 02.38 seconds ahead of Virginia’s Aimee Canny. Canney added another 17 points to Virginia’s total with a second-place finish in 2:03.09, while Emma Weber added 11 points to finish eighth.
Bell and Canney were followed by Duke’s Kaylin Gridley and Louisville’s Anastasia Gorbenko, both with a time of 2 minutes, 05.24 seconds.
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Michigan’s Letitia Sim was fifth in 2:05.85, and Florida freshman Grace Rabb was sixth in 2:06.85. Rabb’s teammate Anita Bottazzo finished seventh in 2:07.13.
Bell’s win gave Stanford a key tournament victory as the Cardinal battled Texas State for the national runner-up spot in the team event. Virginia continues to accumulate points with multiple championship finalists as well as three scorers from the preliminary round.
U.S. Olympian Claire Weinstein beats Cox in 500m freestyle
Cal freshman Claire Weinstein had a surprising performance in the 500-yard freestyle. Weinstein had one of the biggest swims of the night, crossing the field in 4 minutes, 30.09 seconds to win the 500 freestyle and beat top-seeded Jillian Cox.
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Weinstein led from the start and led every turn. It was a courageous strategy for the Cal freshman, which led to her first NCAA title. Cox finished second in 4 minutes, 31.56 seconds.
After preliminaries, swimmers from the SEC were ranked as No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seeds. Weinstein spoiled the SEC sweep and won the national championship from Lane 7.
“I just want [swim] “It’s a different feeling swimming for your team, and everything I do is for them,” Weinstein said in his post-race interview.
Georgia freshman Kennedy Dobson finished third in 4 minutes, 32.24 seconds, and Tennessee sophomore Ella Jensen finished fourth in 4 minutes, 32.82 seconds.
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Florida’s Julie Brousseau finished fifth and Virginia’s Cavan Gormsen finished sixth in 4 minutes, 35.11 seconds. Michigan State junior Hannah Bellard finished seventh and Virginia freshman Madi Mintenko finished eighth to close out the championship finals.
Weinstein’s win gave California a huge boost and shook up the women’s distance freestyle landscape.
Torri Huske wins second title, becomes second fastest in 50m freestyle
Torri Huske continued Stanford’s impressive night with a victory in the women’s 50-yard freestyle event.
Husker captured the NCAA title with a near-perfect time, finishing in 20.66 seconds. The Stanford senior is now a two-time champion in 2026, adding the 50-yard freestyle title to his 100-yard butterfly title.
Virginia freshman Sara Curtis was close behind with a time of 20.74 seconds, and Tennessee’s Camille Spink was third at 21 seconds with a time of 20.98 seconds.
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The event saw strong underclassmen performances, with Texas freshman Eva Okaro finishing fourth in 21.05 seconds and Indiana freshman Liberty Clark finishing sixth in 21.25 seconds.
Louisville senior Julia Dennis finished fifth in 21.15 seconds, with Michigan’s Brady Kendall and Virginia’s Anna Moss reaching the championship finals.
Husker’s win gives Stanford another must-win, closing the gap on Texas in the team competition. Virginia again scored another set of points with two swimmers in the championship finals.
Virginia wins NCAA relay title again
Virginia ended the night with another relay win, this time capturing the 400 medley relay title with a time of 3 minutes, 20.66 seconds and securing another 40 points.
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The quartet of Curtis, Canny, Curzan and Moesch combined to put on a dominant performance, beating the rest of the field by more than three seconds.
The Tennessee team, consisting of Jillian Crooks, McKenzie Siroky, Mizuki Hirai and Spink, finished in second place with a time of 3 minutes, 23.79 seconds, and the Michigan team finished in third place with a time of 3 minutes, 24.44 seconds.
The North Carolina Wolfpack placed fourth in 3 minutes, 24.49 seconds, followed by Texas in fifth at 3 minutes, 24.64 seconds.
California ranks sixth, ahead of Indiana and Louisville.
The Knights are 4-4 in the relay race and have one game left to play tomorrow night. Notably, Stanford’s relay finished ninth, a few spots behind the Longhorns, who were fighting for national runner-up spot in the team event.
Welzier wins 3-meter diving title
South Carolina’s Sophie Welzier performed well in the final, winning the 3-meter diving title with a score of 387.90. Verzyl took the title after an impressive six dives at the 3-meter distance, after finishing second by less than a point on the 1-meter distance.
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Tennessee’s Desharne Bent-Ashmeil was second with 382.25 points and Minnesota junior Elna Widerstrom was third with 374.35 points. Chiara Pellacani, the preliminary leader and NCAA 100-meter champion, finished fourth, and Shiyun Lai of the University of Kansas finished fifth.
Texas’ junior Bayleigh Cranford finished sixth, with Ohio State’s Lena Hentschel and Arkansas’ Maria Sanchez-Moreno finishing seventh and eighth.
Verzyl’s win earned her another 20 points for South Carolina, putting them in the top 20 heading into the final day of competition.
Saturday event schedule real time results
Preliminaries: 10:00 am ET, Finals 6:00 pm ET
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200 yard individual medley
Saturday’s game can be found at ESPN+.
