2022-2023 NCAA Women’s Power Rankings: New Years Edition

As in previous years, 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 focusing on each team’s NCAA scoring potential (see the CSCAA poll for dual meet rankings). 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 our comments section.

Braden Keith, Spencer Penland, Robert Gibbs, Yanyan Li, Sophie Kaufman and Anya Pelshaw contributed to this report.

As we move into the second semester’s dual meets, which restart at scale this week, it’s time to evaluate where teams stand and where they’re headed mid-season. These rankings were heavily informed, though not dictated by, the mid-season scoring exercise.

Previous Ranks

• Pre-Season Edition
• October Edition

Honorable Mentions: Arkansas Razorbacks, Arizona State Sun Devils

#25: VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES -3 (PREVIOUS RANK: 22)

The Spanish freshman Carmen Weiler Sastre is living up to the hype with a 48.74 in the 100 free at the Ohio State Invite – BK

#24: ARIZONA WILDCATS -1 (PREVIOUS RANK: 23)

Delaney Schnell alone makes the Wildcats a top-20 contender. -JS

#23: TEXAS A&M AGGIES + (PREVIOUS RANK: NR)

You’ve been hearing a lot about the TAMU men, but the TAMU women are my sleeper team. Freshman Giulia Goerigk is ranked second in the nation for the 400 IM, Chloe Stepanek is incredibly consistent, and Olivia Theall is seeing major improvements. These three should be enough to vault the team into the top 25. -YL

#22: AUBURN TIGERS +2 (PREVIOUS RANK: 24)

Ryan Wochomurka has the Auburn men and women back on track in year 2. They could be higher than this, but we’ll have to see how they approach championship season this year. -BK

#21: MIAMI (FL) HURRICANES – (PREVIOUS RANK: 21)

A couple of swimming points to go with their elite diving crew (including NCAA Champion Mia Vallee) definitely has the hurricanes in the top 20. -BK

#20: NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS – (PREVIOUS RANK: 20)

Jasmine Nocentini is an early candidate for 2023 breakout swimmer of the year. -YL

#19: DUKE BLUE DEVILS – (PREVIOUS RANK: 19)

The Blue Devils will return to competition without head coach Dan Colella, who died in December. In the pool, they’re just a few tenths away from getting a 400 medley relay qualified for NCAAs. -BK

#18: LSU TIGERS – (PREVIOUS RANK: 18)

With an ‘A’ Cut relay, LSU will gain an extra boost alongside Maggie MacNeil’s individual NCAA points. -YL

LSU hit the ‘A’ cut in the 200 free relay, assuring that they’ll send a relay to NCAAs for the first time since 2016. That gives them the opportunity for points from somewhere besides their diving and Macneil, who’s been lights out so far this season. -SK

Not only did we see Maggie MacNeil perform well but also solid relay performances by the LSU squad. -AP

#17: KENTUCKY WILDCATS -2 (PREVIOUS RANK: 15)

A mid-season personal best from Lauren Poole in the 200 IM (she was 5th in the 400 IM at NCAAs last year) really adds to her value. A US Open title from Gillian Davey in long course will boost her confidence. The wildcats don’t have much to offer in relays this year, but still have some very good individual performers for March. -BK

#16: MICHIGAN WOLVERINES -1 (PREVIOUS RANK: 14)

Letitia Sim wasn’t close to her freshman-year bests at the mid-season Tennessee Invitational, but lest we read too far into that – she was lining up to represent Singapore at the World Short Course Championships, so her focus may have been there (she swam several best times). -BK

#15: WISCONSIN BADGERS -1 (PREVIOUS RANK: 13)

A huge breaststroke breakout from freshman Elizabeth Moore (1:00.7/2:10.5) at the mid-season Minnesota Invitational was a pleasant surprise for the Badgers. Might that be enough to get their medley relays to March? -BK

#14: USC TROJANS -1 (PREVIOUS RANK: 12)

Do. Not. Sleep. on Kaitlyn Dobler. She’s the best NCAA swimmer that nobody is talking about. -BK

#13: NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS – (PREVIOUS RANK: 16)

With most of their NCAA points from last season returning, and swimming very well this season, and a top-flight diver, the Tar Heels are on track for their best finish in a while this year. -BK

#12: FLORIDA GATORS -1 (PREVIOUS RANK: 11)

Florida says there still has been no update on the school’s two big transfers, Emma Weyant and Caroline Pennington, being eligible this season. They move into the top 10 if those two show up for the varsity squad. -BK

#11: TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS -3 (PREVIOUS RANK: 8)

Josie Fuller had an amazing midseason but more absences on the Vols roster moves them down a spot for me. -AP

The bell is tolling for all of the swimmers that Tennessee said they expected back this semester. If they return, this team’s ranking will soar. -BK

There were some strong performances from swimmers like Josephine Fuller and Brooklyn Douthwright…..but then also half of their team is missing. -YL

#10: GEORGIA BULLDOGS +7 (PREVIOUS RANK: 17)

Zoie Hartman, Eboni McCarty, and Abby McCulloh form a very strong three-woman core for this team. If they can improve their relays throughout the season this could be a “surprise riser” team. -YL

#9: CAL GOLDEN BEARS +1 (PREVIOUS RANK: 10)

The Cal women are recovering and rebuilding – even with a substantial exodus in talent. They’re led by two of the most successful NCAA coaches of the last 25 years, so we shouldn’t be surprised by that. -BK

#8: INDIANA HOOSIERS +1 (PREVIOUS RANK: 9)

Don’t forget about Indiana’s divers. Don’t ever forget about Indiana’s divers. -BK

Kristina Paegle is going to single-handedly bring Indiana a double-digit increase in relay points. -YL

#7: OHIO STATE BUCKEYES – (PREVIOUS RANK: 7)

Bach returning really sets the Buckeyes up here to shine. -AP

Hannah Bach returning for her fifth year starting this spring semester is a big boost. -SK

I was close to moving Ohio State down a spot but then the news came out that Hannah Bach would be back. Historically they don’t really show their cards at invites so I’m not too worried. -YL

Hannah Bach back in the fold is a huge boost to the Buckeyes. -BK

#6: LOUISVILLE CARDINALS – (PREVIOUS RANK: 6)

We knew this was going to be a big year for Gabi Albiero, and it has been. But the Cardinals, as they always do, are developing the talent around her. That includes Christiana Regenauer, who had a huge mid-season meet, going 21.89 in the 50 free and 47.97 in the 100 free, plus a 51.62 in the 100 fly. The names aren’t all household, yet, but this is a deep team – BK

#5: ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE -1 (PREVIOUS RANK: 4)

Medley relays are looking good, free relays will need to be better than they were at Art Adamson if they have any shot at overtaking NC State. Unconfirmed rumors are swirling that a contributor won’t be back for the spring semester – whether those prove to be true or not could justify this one-spot slide in the rankings. -JS

#4: NC STATE WOLFPACK +1 (PREVIOUS RANK: 5)

Perhaps their top swimmers weren’t firing on all cylinders during the Wolfpack Invite, but NC State has an experienced group that should be able to rise to the occasion when the time comes. -JS

#3: STANFORD CARDINAL -1 (PREVIOUS RANK: 2)

I ended up going with Stanford over Texas simply because of how stacked they are at the top (I think they have more potential A-finalists than Texas), which is super beneficial for NCAA championships. Claire Curzan and Torri Huske dominated as a 1-2 punch, and their #1 freshman class also performed really well. -YL

Highlights include Torri Huske’s 100 free and Claire Curzan’s 200 back, but Stanford’s whole roster looked strong at their midseason invite. They own the most NCAA top times of the season on the women’s side with six. -SK

#2: TEXAS LONGHORNS +1 (PREVIOUS RANK: 3)

Texas’ goodness, rather than Stanford’s badness, motivated me to bump the Longhorns up to #2. Both teams swam well mid-season, but the Longhorns showed off their depth. -BK

Texas being right around their NCAAs times in multiple relays, as well as several of their sprinters hitting best times (Grace Cooper, Kyla Leibel, Bridget Semenuk) bodes well for March. Of course, their stars like Elendt, Jacoby, and Pash performed super well too. -YL

Texas had a strong midseason invite and when you factor in their diving, the battle for second remains as tight as ever. -SK

#1: VIRGINIA CAVALIERS – (PREVIOUS RANK: 1)

Aside from the top stars, invites weren’t particularly eye-popping for Virginia—but I feel like that happens every year and they end up just fine. I think we need to wait until ACCs to make any final judgment. The trio of Kate Douglass and the Walsh sisters continue to impress per usual. -YL

Individual Ballots