FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Having earned program-record seventh place national finishes the last two seasons, No. 7-ranked Indiana looks to keep climbing to new heights this week at the 2025 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Federal Way, Washington.
The four-day meet will run Wednesday (March 19) through Saturday (March 22) inside the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. Final sessions will kick off at 9 p.m. ET each evening. Preliminary heats will begin at 10 a.m. every morning beginning Thursday. Fans can stream the competition via the ESPN+ digital platform.
Fourteen Hoosiers combine to compete in every event. Six seniors lead the way for Indiana in what will be their final collegiate meet: Brearna Crawford, Mariah Denigan, Ching Hwee Gan, Skyler Liu, Kacey McKenna and Anna Peplowski.
Peplowski can end her collegiate career emphatically as the No. 1-seed in the 200-yard freestyle. Her 1:40.69 relay split from Big Ten Championships makes her the event’s only entrant under 1:41.00. That time also made Peplowski the joint Big Ten record holder as well as the ninth-fastest swimmer ever. Peplowski told Swimming World Magazine that she aims to become just the fourth swimmer to break the 1:40 barrier in the 200 free.
Should Peplowski capture the title, she would become Indiana’s first women’s freestyle champion ever and first swimming champion since Lilly King won four straight in both the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke from 2016-19.
The top three swimmers in the event all come from the Big Ten after Peplowski, Michigan sophomore Stephanie Balduccini (1:41.16) and USC sophomore Minna Abraham (1:41.29) battled for the Big Ten crown, with the Wolverine coming out on top on that occasion. Peplowski is the lone swimmer of the three that has ever swum under 1:41 and has done it twice – other than that relay, Peplowski went 1:40.97 during last year’s NCAA final to place second by seven hundredths to Florida’s Bella Sims. Sims elected to swim the 100 back over the 200 free at this year’s meet.
Peplowski will get her first chance to swim a 200 free leading off Wednesday’s 800-yard freestyle relay. She also ranks No. 5 in the 500 free – which she placed third in a year ago – and ninth in the 100 free. She owns the program records in all three of her events.
Liu’s momentum, repeating as Big Ten Champion in both the 3-meter and platform events, could push Indiana to similar diving success its seen in recent championships with a medalist in each of the last four championships. The Big Ten diving finals may look like the NCAA finals as Liu defeated three Olympians in the 3-meter springboard and two on platform.
A two-event finalist for Texas A&M last season, sophomore transfer Miranda Grana is ranked top 10 in each of her events. Grana finished 25th in the 100-yard butterfly a year ago but comes into the 2025 national meet as the No. 6 seed with her Big Ten title-winning 50.80. She also won silver in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke events and will look to repeat A final finishes from a year ago as the No. 7 and No. 9 seed, respectively.
Joining Grana in the backstroke events are McKenna and junior Mya DeWitt. McKenna placed sixth in front of Grana in the 100 back at last year’s NCAA Championships and comes into this meet as the No. 13-seeded swimmer. Grana and McKenna earned silver and bronze medals at Big Tens and are the only Hoosiers ever under 51 seconds in the event.
Indiana’s senior distance duo of Denigan and Gan will vie to reach the podium for a third consecutive season. Gan is a two-time NCAA medalist and Big Ten Champion in the event, and Saturday’s swim will represent one last opportunity to break Lindsay Vrooman’s 11-year-old program record; Gan posted a personal best 15:46.22 at Big Tens, and Vrooman’s standard sits at 15:44.45.
Junior and Bloomington native Kristina Paegle can continue to lower her 50-yard freestyle program record, which she reclaimed on her way to her first Big Ten individual title last month.
Ashley Turak’s 21.73 captured the record at last year’s NCAA meet, but Paegle’s 21.63 in March took back the distinction and placed her ninth in the country coming into the NCAA meet. Paegle also ranks No. 17 in the 100 free, needing a top 16 finish to score for the Hoosiers.
Indiana ranks top 10 in all five relays, highlighted by its No. 5-ranked 400-yard medley relay. If the Hoosiers can improve to finish top eight in each race, it would mark the first time in program history that every relay reached the podium.
MEET INFO
Wednesday, March 19 – Saturday, March. 22 • 1 p.m. ET (prelims), 9 p.m. (finals)
Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center • Federal Way, Washington
Live Results (Swimming): https://bit.ly/4iZNufF
Live Results (Diving): divemeets.com
Live Stream: ESPN+
SCHEDULED EVENTS (Finals)
Wednesday (5 p.m. ET) – 200 Medley Relay, 800 Freestyle Relay
Thursday (5 p.m. ET) – 500 Freestyle, 200 IM, 50 Freestyle, 1-Meter Dive, 200 Freestyle Relay
Friday (5 p.m. ET) – 100 Butterfly, 400 IM, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 3-Meter Dive, 400 Medley Relay
Saturday (5 p.m. ET) – 1,650 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly, Platform Dive, 400 Freestyle Relay
INDIANA SWIMMING AND DIVING QUALIFIERS
2025 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships
Mary Kate Cavanaugh – 1-meter, platform
Brearna Crawford – 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke
Mariah Denigan – 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle
Mya DeWitt – 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke
Ching Hwee Gan – 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle
Miranda Grana – 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 100 butterfly
Skyler Liu – 3-meter, platform
Kacey McKenna – 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke
Kristina Paegle – 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle
Anna Peplowski – 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle
Ella Roselli – 1-meter, 3-meter, platform
Reese Tiltmann – 200 breaststroke, 200 IM, 400 IM
Ava Whitaker – 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly
Lily Witte – 1-meter, 3-meter, platform
200 freestyle relay
400 freestyle relay
800 freestyle relay
200 medley relay
400 medley relay
