Following three weeks of dual meets between many of the nation’s top teams, there’s been a serious shake-up in our latest NCAA Women’s Power Rankings. Outside of the top three, all but one team is in a different spot this week, with the biggest mover being a certain squad down in Austin.
SwimSwam’s Power Rankings are somewhere between the CSCAA-style dual meet rankings and a pure prediction of NCAA finish order. SwimSwam’s rankings take into account how a team looks at the moment, while keeping the end of the season in mind through things like a team’s previous trajectory and NCAA scoring potential. These rankings are by nature subjective, and a jumping-off point for discussion. If you disagree with any team’s ranking, feel free to make your case in a respectful way in our comments section.
#20-#1 Rankings
20. SMU Mustangs (Previous rank: N/R)
Their top times are courtesy of the always-fast SMU Classic, but Matea Samardzic and Marne Erasmus give the Mustangs two very real NCAA scoring threats.
19. Ohio State Buckeyes (Previous rank: #17)
18. Minnesota Golden Gophers (Previous rank: #16)
No real news here for either squad. The Gophers dominated Iowa and North Dakota in their most recent dual meets, while Ohio State took down Kenyon and Denison.
17. UCLA Bruins (Previous rank: #19)
Looked great in their with against Arizona, but we’ve learned to temper our expectations with UCLA’s dual meet performances. Still, you can’t overlook how much better the Bruins are than 12 months ago.
16. Wisconsin Badgers (Previous rank: #15)
Dropped to NC State and Georgia, but those were expected. The Badgers don’t have the depth to compete with top teams, but they’ll be frisky in a number of events at Big Ten’s and NCAA’s.
15. Auburn Tigers (Previous rank: #20)
Their defeat of archrival Alabama last weekend wasn’t that surprising, but the manner in which it went down was unexpected. The Tigers thrashed the Crimson Tide, going 1-2 or 1-2-3 in more than a half-dozen events. Aly Tetzloff has been lights-out; she’s #1 nationally in the 100 fly.
14. Arizona Wildcats (Previous rank: #11)
Fell to both L.A. schools last weekend, but we’re not too surprised in hindsight. This is a team that will keep getting better month-by-month.
13. Tennessee Volunteers (Previous rank: #14)
Kira Toussaint starting out hot. Her 51.79 100 backstroke is #1 in the nation by over a half-second, and likely earns her an NCAA invite already.
12. Missouri Tigers (Previous rank: #13)
Fell to Georgia in a surprising tight dual meet. The problem? Not much there in terms of sprint freestyles.
11. Indiana Hoosiers (Previous rank: #7)
Mixed bag for Indiana. They dropped Florida and Kentucky like a bad habit, eeked out a win over Tennessee, and were soundly defeated by Texas. Top talent across a lot of events, but their sprint freestyles need some serious help.
10. NC State Wolfpack (Previous rank: #10)
True freshman Ky-Lee Perry is the real deal. In NC State’s loss to Texas, Perry split 21.80 at the end of the medley relay, and followed it up with a 22.55 to tie for first in the 50 freestyle.
9. Michigan Wolverines (Previous rank: #8)
Fell to Virginia, but good to see a dominant performance from Siobhan Haughey. The All-American sophomore was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week after winning four individual events in the Wolverines’ double-dual against Penn State and Virginia.
8. Virginia Cavaliers (Previous rank: #9)
Nice wins over Michigan and Penn State. Plenty of depth questions, but the Cavaliers have a horse to rely on in nearly every event. Swim of note: Leah Smith’s 9:23.79 in the 1000 free, which is the top time nationally by more than 10 seconds.
7. Louisville Cardinals (Previous rank: #6)
Coming off a comfortable win against North Carolina, the Cardinals have a light schedule until fall invite season. There are some weaknesses in the butterfly and backstroke events that may hamper Louisville in dual meets, but their strengths elsewhere give us plenty of longer-term optimism.
6. Texas A&M (Previous rank: #4)
The Aggies have been busy since our last write-up, taking on both Florida (victory) and Texas (loss). There were questions heading into this season regarding A&M’s sprint freestyle depth outside of Beryl Gastaldello, and those concerns came into play. While it won’t matter as much at the NCAA level (where Sarah Gibson and Claire Rasmus can fill in on relays), but it definitely hurts the Aggies in dual meets.
5. Texas Longhorns (Previous rank: #12)
Biggest jump in our rankings by far after a great three weeks, highlighted by big wins over Texas A&M, Louisville, Florida, and Indiana. Doesn’t get an easier; the Longhorns take on Stanford and Cal this weekend. We’ll see how much faster Texas swims at their fall invite, and whether they can carry this momentum into the second half of the season better than years past.
4. USC Trojans (Previous rank: #5)
The Trojans were hard-pressed to top their SMU Classic performance time-wise, but their performances against conference rivals Arizona and Arizona State were still noteworthy. Outside of sprint butterfly, there’s really strong speed and depth across every event in the Trojan lineup
3. California Golden Bears (Previous rank: #3)
Noemie Thomas–one of the more underrated swimmers nationally–dropped an impressive 52.98 in the 100 fly against Washington State. This afternoon’s competition against the Texas Longhorns will be a good litmus test for the Bears’ depth.
2. Georgia Bulldogs (Previous rank: #2)
The ‘Dawgs have been busy since our last rankings, sweeping dual meets against Florida, Georgia Tech, and Wisconsin. Chantal Van Landeghem is rounding back into short course yards form with solid times of 22.7/49.5 heading into Georgia’s Fall Invitational.
1. Stanford Cardinal (Previous rank: #1)
This team is already tearing down record boards. Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel downed a combined three Avery Aquatic Center pool records in the Cardinal’s home opener against Washington State, including an absurd 4:36.43 in the 500 freestyle. The Cardinal host Texas this Saturday.
AB
When are you going to have the November men’s power ranking?
UGA is looking better and better as the year goes on, they need a breastroker though
Texas won 152-148
Live results TX vs Cal https://www.collegeswimming.com/results/82172/event/161111F007.htm
Texas with a big win over Cal!
Wow – what happened with Katie McLaughlin in 200 Fly in 2:00+? Has she been sick or injured? If she swims 1:56 (well within her ability) and gets at least 2nd, Cal ties this meet .
There also appears to be some poor dual meet tactics employed on Cal’s part. It looks like Cal split their 200 Med Relay line-ups – if they swim Bilquist, Li, Thomas, and Osman together – they win that event pretty easily and Cal wins the meet. In the 400 Free Relay, Cal knew they would need to get 1st and 2nd to win, so there they needed to split the relay lineups, but instead stacked the A, thereby handing the meet to Texas before the event even started. Maybe they just don’t care.
Correction: Leah Smith’s 9:23.79 was in the 1000 freestyle not the 100 freestyle. At least I hope it wasn’t in the 100 free.