The Top 10 Women's NCAA Mid-Major Swimmers In Every Event Through 2024-25

04/01/2025 01:17 PM

By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam

The majority of the top NCAA performances each season come from swimmers in a Power Four conference–that is, from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC. But, swimmers from Division I mid-major programs do mane an impact at the national level, as demonstrated by the eight mid-major women who scored at the 2025 Women’s NCAA DI Championships.

Between those performances and the swims from conference championships that didn’t quite make it above the NCAA Championships Invite cut line, there have been many new additions to the Women’s Top 10 Mid-Major Performers list since we last checked in after midseason invitationals.

Note: Due to a lack of reliable data, these rankings are potentially missing times from the 2000s and earlier. If you notice a swim missing, please let us know in the comments. 

General Notes On The Updated Rankings

• The 200 backstroke was the only women’s event that saw no changes during the 2024-25 season.
• The 100 backstroke was the event with the most movement, as Celia Pulido, Madeline Padavic, and Izzy Ackley put up new marks. Pulido became the first mid-major woman to break 50 seconds in the event. She broke through the barrier in NCAA prelims with a 49.84, then swam 49.77 for fourth. She’s also the only woman to set a mid-major record this season
  • The women’s 100 backstroke has reached a new level in the mid-major ranks in recent seasons. Seven of the top ten times were swum in the last three years.
• Washington State’s realignment from the Pac-12 to the Mountain West now makes its swimmers eligible for this list, beginning in the 2024-25 season. Two broke into the top 10: Darcy Revitt (50/100 free) and Emily Lundgren (100/200 breast).
• Washington State and Princeton (Eleanor Sun and Dakota Tucker) were the two programs that had multiple women crack or improve their standing in the top 10.
• Aside from Washington State, Richmond (Melissa Nwakalor), Ohio University (ZitaSzõke), UNCW (Cameron Snowden), and Fresno State (Aliz Kalmar) made the top 10 for the first time since we first compiled these swims two years ago.
• Many women made two new entries onto the all-time rankings, but Princeton sophomore Sun had the most with three.

Women’s 50 Freestyle

To make the top 10 in the 50 freestyle, mid-major women now need to break 22 seconds. This season, Washington State’s Darcy Revitt clocked 21.98 and Richmond’s Melissa Nwakalor swam 21.98, wiping a slew of 22.07s out of the top 10.

Women’s 100 Freestyle

Zita Szõke made the mid-major top 10 in two events this season, marking the first time an Ohio University woman has been in the top 10 since we compiled these rankings. She shot to 4th all-time in the 100 freestyle, while Revitt made her second top 10 entry by tying for 10th in 48.05.

Women’s 200 Freestyle

Szõke entered the women’s 200 freestyle top 10 with a 1:44.54 for 20th at the 2025 Women’s NCAA Championships. The time ranks 9th overall, while Liberty’s Kamryn Cannings earned a top 10 time in the second event of her career with a 1:44.10 that ranks 7th.

Women’s 500 Freestyle

Harvard’s Alexandra Bastone broke into the mid-major top 10 rankings in two events this season. She now ranks 9th in the 500 freestyle after swimming a lifetime best 4:38.75. She was the only swimmer to make the list in this event this season. Her swim tips the scales so that 60% of the top 10 in the 500 free are Ivy League swimmers.

Women’s 1650 Freestyle

Anna Moehn kept Penn’s distance legacy strong by first making the top 10 in the 1650 freestyle at midseason. Bastone’s 15:59.70 at the Ivy League Championships knocked Moehn off the list, but the Penn swimmer rallied with a 16:03.51 at NCAAs to tie for 9th fastest all-time.

Women’s 100 Backstroke

Behind Pulido’s antics, Madeline Padavic swam 51.52 this season, coming within three-hundredths of Scarlett Ferris‘ mark. Ferris qualified for NCAAs this season but withdrew due to injury. Further down the list, FGCU’s Izzy Ackley took over 10th with a 51.97, meaning it now takes a sub-52 swim to break into this list.

Women’s 200 Backstroke

Puldio swam a season best 1:52.82 at NCAAs this season, .51 seconds from the lifetime best she swam last season.

Women’s 100 Breaststroke

Emily Lundgren became the sixth mid-major swimmer to break 59 seconds in the women’s 100 breaststroke with a lifetime best 58.83 at the NCAA Championships. Behind her, Emma Becker took down FIU great Christie Chue‘s school record, swimming 59.02 to tie Ashley Danner for 7th on the list. Chue’s 59.10 is now 10th.

Women’s 200 Breaststroke

Two additions to this list came at NCAAs as Emily Lundgen (2:06.18) and Aliz Kalmar (2:08.20) both earned a second swim in Federal Way. Another mid-major swimmer, Olivia Herron, also made finals in the event, but he 2:08.39 puts her just outside the top 10.

Women’s 100 Butterfly

Abby Daniel finished 16th in two events at the 2024 NCAA Championships. She matched that point total this season by taking 15th in the 100 butterfly in Federal Way, putting up a lifetime best 51.21. This swim moved her to 3rd all-time. Meanwhile, Cameron Snowden became the first UNCW swimmer to make the top 10 in an event since we started these lists. She swam 51.57 at 2025 NCAAs, narrowly missing finals and entering a three-swimmer tie for 8th on this mid-major list.

Women’s 200 Butterfly

Princeton has the 4th, 5th, and 6th fastest 200 butterfly performances in mid-major history as sophomore Eleanor Sun moved into 5th with a 1:54.64. The time puts her just two-hundredths off the program record Heidi Smithwick swam last season.

Women’s 200 IM

The 200 IM is the second of Sun’s three new entries to the mid-major all-time lists this season. Like the 200 butterfly, she sits 5th in this event, swimming a 1:55.50 to win the event at this year’s Ivy League Championships.

Women’s 400 IM

Sun and Dakota Tucker gave Princeton two 400 IM ‘B’ finalists at NCAAs this season. Sun broke 4:06 for the final, moving to 6th fastest mid-major swimmer all-time with a 4:05.73. Tucker’s heat swim of 4:07.07 makes her 10th in mid-major event history.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: The Top 10 Women’s NCAA Mid-Major Swimmers In Every Event Through 2024-25