College Swimming Reset (Women’s Butterfly and IM): Torri Huske, Caroline Bricker Hold Favorite Status
The college swimming season has entered its home stretch. January features the final dual meets of the season before conference championships in February and the NCAA Championships in March. Prior to the holiday break, swimmers set themselves up for championship season with strong performances at various midseason invitationals. Here is a look at every women’s individual event as of right now, including the records, the winners from the 2025 NCAA Championships, the top returning swimmers, the top times in the country this season and the top performances in history.
Below are the statistics for the women’s butterfly and individual medley events. Torri Huske is the big favorite in the 100 fly, but she might drop the 200 IM from her schedule in her senior season. That would give Stanford teammate Caroline Bricker a third event as the top returning finisher.
Part one – women’s freestyle
Part two – women’s backstroke & breaststroke
100 Butterfly
- U.S. Open Record: Gretchen Walsh – 46.97 (2025)
- American Record: Gretchen Walsh – 46.97 (2025)
- NCAA Record: Gretchen Walsh – 46.97 (2025)
- 2025 Champion: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia – 46.97
- Top Returning Finisher: Torri Huske, Stanford – 48.90
Current 2025-26 Rankings:
- Torri Huske, Stanford – 48.90
- Claire Curzan, Virginia – 49.68
- Miranda Grana, Indiana – 49.98
- Eva Okaro, Texas – 50.82
- Leah Shackley, NC State – 50.90
All-Time Rankings (bold = currently in college):
- Gretchen Walsh, Virginia – 46.97
- Kate Douglass – 48.46
- Maggie Mac Neil – 48.51
- Torri Huske – 48.52
- Claire Curzan – 49.02
- Louise Hansson – 49.26
- Emma Sticklen – 49.38
- Erika Brown Connolly – 49.38
- Kelsi Dahlia – 49.43
- Alex Shackell – 49.49
No more Gretchen Walsh domination of this event after Walsh became the first swimmer under 48 in 2024 and the first swimmer under 47 last season. Now, Huske is the big favorite to win this event on the national level. She will have a hard time tracking down Walsh’s stunning record of 46.97, but she could become the second woman to swim a time in the 47-range. Claire Curzan might move into 48-territory this year. A wildcard is Alex Shackell, a top-10 performer in history and joining the Indiana roster this semester.
200 Butterfly
- U.S. Open Record: Regan Smith – 1:48.33 (2023)
- American Record: Regan Smith – 1:48.33 (2023)
- NCAA Record: Emma Sticklen – 1:49.11 (2025)
- 2025 Champion: Emma Sticklen, Texas – 1:49.11
- Top Returning Finisher: Caroline Bricker, Stanford – 1:51.55
Current 2025-26 Rankings:
- Tess Howley, Virginia – 1:51.81
- Campbell Stoll, Texas – 1:52.13
- Hannah Bellard, Michigan – 1:52.39
- Caroline Bricker, Stanford – 1:52.39
- Emily Brown, Tennessee – 1:53.07
All-Time Rankings (bold = currently in college):
- Regan Smith – 1:48.33
- Emma Sticklen – 1:49.11
- Alex Walsh – 1:49.16
- Ella Eastin – 1:49.51
- Elaine Breeden – 1:49.92
- Alex Shackell – 1:50.15
- Louise Hansson – 1:50.28
- Kelsi Dahlia – 1:50.61
- Grace Oglesby – 1:50.80
- Claire Curzan – 1:50.85
Three-time national champion Emma Sticklen has finished her career at Texas, while Alex Walsh, the 2022 titlist and two-time national runnerup, is also gone. Now, Shackell immediately becomes a co-favorite for the national title as she begins her college career with the Hoosiers. Curzan and Bella Sims, ranked No. 12 all-time in the event, no longer compete in the 200 fly. The best bets currently in college swimming are Tess Howley and Bricker, who ranked third and fourth in the world, respectively, in the 200-meter fly last year. Howley broke through with a win in the event at the World University Games after Bricker stunned Regan Smith for the title at U.S. Nationals.
200 Individual Medley
- U.S. Open Record: Kate Douglass – 1:48.37 (2023)
- American Record: Kate Douglass – 1:48.37 (2023)
- NCAA Record: Kate Douglass – 1:48.37 (2023)
- 2025 Champion: Torri Huske, Stanford – 1:49.67
- Top Returning Finisher: Torri Huske, Stanford – 1:49.67 (Bricker 1:52.01)
Current 2025-26 Rankings:
- Lucy Bell, Stanford – 1:52.65
- Campbell Chase, Texas – 1:53.48
- Aimee Canny, Virginia – 1:54.05
- Leah Hayes, Virginia – 1:54.10
- Angie Coe, Texas – 1:54.18
All-Time Rankings (bold = currently in college):
- Kate Douglass – 1:48.37
- Alex Walsh – 1:49.20
- Torri Huske – 1:49.67
- Ella Eastin – 1:50.67
- Beata Nelson – 1:50.79
- Kathleen Baker – 1:51.25
- Lea Polonsky – 1:51.51
- Meghan Small – 1:51.62
- Sydney Pickrem – 1:51.66
- Caitlin Leverenz – 1:51.77
Huske would be the clear favorite to defend her national title in the 200 IM, but she may skip the race this year and target sprint freestyle and butterfly. Such a decision would make sense from a team perspective as fellow Stanford swimmers Bricker and Lucy Bell are the only other swimmers returning from last year’s A-final. Bricker is the 15th-ranked swimmer in history at 1:52.01 while Bell has been as fast as 1:52.47. Sims also has a quick lifetime best (1:51.86) but seems likely to focus on other races. This is another race with numerous big-name graduations, including Walsh, Leah Polonsky, Phoebe Bacon, Josephine Fuller and Sticklen.
400 Individual Medley
- U.S. Open Record: Ella Eastin – 3:54.60 (2018)
- American Record: Ella Eastin – 3:54.60 (2018)
- NCAA Record: Ella Eastin – 3:54.60 (2018)
- 2025 Champion: Caroline Bricker, Stanford – 3:57.36
- Top Returning Finisher: Caroline Bricker, Stanford- 3:57.36
Current 2025-26 Rankings:
- Bella Sims, Michigan – 3:58.02
- Caroline Bricker, Stanford – 3:59.70
- Lucy Bell, Stanford – 4:01.13
- Katie Grimes, Virginia – 4:03.34
- Leah Hayes, Virginia – 4:04.01
All-Time Rankings (bold = currently in college):
- Ella Eastin – 3:54.60
- Alex Walsh – 3:55.97
- Katie Ledecky – 3:56.53
- Katinka Hosszu – 3:56.54
- Bella Sims – 3:56.59
- Katie Grimes – 3:57.02
- Caroline Bricker – 3:57.36
- Summer McIntosh – 3:57.59
- Caitlin Leverenz – 3:57.89
- Maya DiRado – 3:58.12
At last season’s NCAA Championships, Stanford made a statement with Bricker winning the event and Bell placing third, both women beating out Virginia heavyweights Katie Grimes and Leah Hayes. Those four return to the field this year while Sims has thrown her name into contention with a 3:58 performance at midseason. The 400 IM was never part of her slate during her two years of college swimming at Florida, but she will have to consider racing it in her first season as a Wolverine. Sims and Grimes both excel at butterfly, backstroke and freestyle but struggle on breaststroke, while Bricker, Bell and Hayes all surge during that crucial third portion of the race.