Analyzing the Longest Active Streaks of Top-25 Finishes at NCAA Championships

A few months ago, Minnesota swimming and diving coach Kelly Kremer tweeted about his Gopher men’s 19th-place showing at the 2022 NCAA Championships, which extended their streak of top-25 finishes to 31 seasons in a row. Naturally, it sent us down a rabbit hole in the hopes of contextualizing the feat. 

In 1991, @GopherSwimDive Men led by Dennis Dale placed 18th at NCAAs. Since, we have finished in the Top 25 every single year. More often, inside the Top 20 (19th this season). I’m sure there are other programs that can claim this. But few. Proud of our History & Consistency!〽️

— Kelly Kremer (@MNCoachKremer) May 18, 2022

Minnesota’s longevity is only dwarfed by a handful of dynasties. Only six other men’s programs — Stanford (56), Texas (47), Cal (47), Arizona (45), Tennessee (39), and Michigan (33) — have posted more top-25 results in a row than the Gophers’ 31. The Minnesota women have also placed inside the top 25 for the past 16 seasons, good for the 10th-longest streak. The school is one of just seven along with Stanford, Texas, Cal, Georgia, Arizona, and Tennessee to have both its men’s and women’s teams rank among the 10 longest active top-25 streaks. 

Stanford secured the top spot on both lists. There was a three-way tie on the women’s side, with Stanford, Texas, and USC each tallying top-25 finishes for the past 40 seasons. The Cardinal women’s worst finish over the past 40 years was just 9th place, compared to 15th for Texas and 25th for USC. 

Because of the structure of the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, and the top-heavy nature of collegiate swimming & diving, one great swimmer or diver can be enough to keep a team in the top 25 at NCAAs — but only if that one is really good. 

While past Gopher teams have earned their rankings with depth, relays, and big squads of qualifiers, more recently the Gophers have been reliant on just a few stars to carry their load for their rankings. Last year, for example, Max McHugh scored 37 of the team’s 44 NCAA Championship points. Freshman distance swimmer Bar Soloveychik (4 points) and junior diver Jake Butler (3 points) chipped in a few to lift the team into the top 20.

On the women’s side, diver Sarah Bacon scored 37 of the team’s 43 points, with IM’er Megan van Berkom adding 6 more points to give the team a 21st-place finish.

Regardless of how it’s done, this is a feat to be proud of and shows a history of consistently turning out All-American swimmers. Check the lists below to see which other teams can boast streaks of top 25 finishes. Because this includes the 2022 championships, there can only be 25 teams on the active list per gender as any other streaks would have ended in March.

Active Streaks of Top-25 Finishes at NCAAs

Men

1. Stanford, 56
2. Texas, 47
3. Cal, 47
4. Arizona, 45
5. Tennessee, 39
6. Michigan, 33
7. Minnesota, 31
8. Georgia, 29
9. Florida, 23
10. Louisville, 12
11. Indiana, 11
12. Missouri, 11
13. NC State, 9
14. Miami (FL), 8
15. Alabama, 8
16. Texas A&M, 6
17. Purdue, 5
18. Georgia Tech, 3
19. Ohio St., 3
20. Virginia, 3
21. Virginia Tech, 2
22. LSU, 2
23. Arizona St., 1
24. Harvard, 1*
25. Columbia, 1

*Harvard didn’t compete during the 2020-21 season, but the program’s streak would stand at three top-25 finishes in a row if you don’t count the Crimson sitting out last year.

Women

1. Stanford, 40 (lowest finish was 9th)
2. Texas, 40 (lowest finish was 15th)
3. USC, 40 (lowest finish was 25th)
4. Georgia, 39
5. Arizona, 36
6. Cal, 26
7. Wisconsin, 26
8. Indiana, 23
9. Tennessee, 17
10. Minnesota, 16
11. Virginia, 14
12. Louisville, 10
13. NC State, 8
14. Kentucky, 8
15. Michigan, 7
16. Missouri, 7
17. Ohio St., 6
18. Florida, 3
19. North Carolina, 2
20. Northwestern, 2
21. Alabama, 2
22. Miami (FL), 2
23. Virginia Tech, 2
24. Duke, 1
25. Penn, 1