Ranking the 2026 Ladies’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: #8-5

As we proceed rating recruiting lessons, we have now made it to the highest 8 faculties for the 2026-2027 season.

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A couple of necessary notes on our rankings:

• The rankings are based mostly on our Class of 2026 Re-Rank and our Top 10 NCAA Diving Recruits. “HM” refers to our honorable mentions and “BOTR” refers to our Best of the Rest part for top-tier recruits
• Like most of our rankings, these placements are subjective. We base our staff ranks on various elements: prospects’ incoming occasions are by far the primary issue, however we additionally contemplate potential upside within the class, class dimension, relay influence, and staff wants. Greater weight is positioned on identified success in brief course yards, so international swimmers are barely devalued based mostly on the problem in changing lengthy course occasions to quick course manufacturing.
• Transfers are included, although they’re weighed lower than recruits who arrive with 5 seasons of eligibility. We additionally take note of what number of years the transfers have remaining. An athlete with one yr remaining shall be weighted decrease than an athlete with 4 years remaining.
• For the complete listing of all verbally dedicated athletes, click on right here. A giant thanks to SwimSwam’s personal Anne Lepesant for compiling the index – with out it, rankings like these can be far much less complete.
• Some groups had not launched a finalized 2026-27 staff roster on the time these articles had been revealed, which means it’s doable we missed some names. Let us know within the feedback under.

Honorable Mentions

• Ohio State, Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona

Previously Ranked

• #16 Arkansas Razorbacks
• #15 UNC Tar Heels
• #14 Florida Gators
• #13 Wisconsin Badgers
• #12 Harvard Crimson
• #11 Arizona State University Sun Devils
• #10 Duke Blue Devils
• #9 Michigan Wolverines

#8 Georgia Bulldogs

The Georgia Bulldogs have an enormous recruiting class for 2026 which incorporates one top-20 recruit, one Honorable Mention recruit, and three BOTR recruits together with two transfers, three extra home recruits, and one worldwide recruit.

Maya Schweikert, the #19 ranked recruit within the class, leads the Bulldogs together with her 1:52.03 within the 200 backstroke, which is nearly in NCAA scoring place. She can even are available because the quickest backstroker on the staff and shall be an enormous relay addition as a freshman.

Maddie Thornton was an Honorable Mention in our re-rank, leaping up from the place she was beforehand as a BOTR backstroker. She will are available as one of many prime IMers on the staff after Ieva Maluka’s commencement, and is one other potential NCAA qualifier.

The Bulldogs additionally grabbed three BOTR recruits. Brooke Bennett is one other sturdy IMer at 2:00.6/4:14.1, and she or he can even add depth to their distance freestyle program, a spot Georgia excels.

Virginia Hinds is one other sturdy backstroker at 52.6/1:53.9, and Ella Antoniewski brings broad-range freestyle prowess, however she is strongest within the distance races at 4:44.6 and 16:33. Both shall be probably SEC scorers, and potential NCAA qualifiers if they will drop time this yr.

Canadian World Juniors qualifier Kamila Blanchard can even add depth to the IM and breaststroke packages with finest occasions that convert to potential SEC scoring place.

The Bulldogs additionally grabbed Alabama diver Rin Drudge, who scored 10 factors on the 2026 SEC Championships. She shall be an enormous addition to the diving program that didn’t rating any factors finally yr’s SECs.

#7 Stanford Cardinal

Stanford shouldn’t be identified for bringing in large recruiting lessons, and this yr shouldn’t be completely different with solely six freshmen coming into the staff, 4 of which had been SwimSwam ranked recruits and the opposite two are worldwide.

Clare Watson is their highest ranked swimmer at #13. She comes into the staff as a butterfly specialist with a lifetime finest 100 fly of 51.75 and 200 fly of 1:54.29. The Cardinal graduated their prime 100 butterflyers in Torri Huske and Gigi Johnson after final season and Watson shall be a robust addition to the 200 fly roster of Caroline Bricker and Charlotte Hook.

Alyce Lehman, who was ranked #15, had the quickest 200 butterfly amongst highschool seniors final yr of 1:53.84, which is almost below the 1:53.24 it took to attain within the ‘A’ closing on the NCAA Championships.

Taylor Klein is one other butterfly with finest occasions of 52.36/1:54.79. Her 200 fly time can also be below the NCAA scoring threshold and she or he is close to the cutline within the 100 fly.

Their closing ranked recruit is BOTR IMer KC Braeger, who’s coming into a really sturdy IM program at 1:59.0/4:13.0 within the 200 and 400 IM respectively.

They picked up two worldwide dash freestyle recruits in Skye Carter from England and Italian Tanni Stevanato. Carter’s finest occasions convert to 21.9 and 47.9 within the 100 free and 52.7 within the 100 fly.

Stevanato’s finest time within the 50 free converts to 22.3 and within the 100 free converts to 48.1. Both could have potential to be relay swimmers for the Cardinal this yr.

Stanford additionally picked up Virginia switch Sylvia Roy, however she doesn’t seem on Stanford’s roster for the season.

#6 NC State Wolfpack

NC State picked up an enormous recruiting class in pace, even when it’s on the smaller facet.

Their prime ranked recruit is #7 Emerson Callis. Two years in a row, we mentioned that Callis could be essentially the most versatile swimmer within the recruiting class, and she or he is coming into this system inside 3% of the NCAA cutline in 10 completely different occasions and shall be a possible scorer in two. She has a finest 200 fly time of 1:54.82 and a finest 400 IM of 4:06.52, that are each potential scoring swims. Both occasions are locations the place NC State might use a lift after they didn’t decide up factors in both occasion at NCAAs. She may also fill various different roles on the staff with sturdy fly/free/and even breaststroke occasions.

#10 ranked Zoe Smith will are available as one of many prime dash freestylers in this system as a possible NCAA qualifier and relay swimmer within the 50 free (22.18), 100 free (47.80), and 200 free (1:46.34). She can also be a robust backstroker, which NC State has proven prowess with growing.

Emma Cigna, who’s ranked #12, had an enormous senior yr to maneuver from Best of the Rest ranked to inside the highest 20. She is one other potential NCAA qualifier within the 400 IM (4:09.09), however she shines essentially the most within the 200s.. In the 200 again, she is below the cutline at 1:52.81, and a few second off the scoring time of 1:51.97 and within the 200 fly, she sits at 1:56.12, additionally below the cutline. Those occasions battle within the NCAA schedule, however we have now seen athletes race each earlier than. She can also be extremely versatile, nonetheless, and will swim the 200 IM or 500 free as properly.

Their closing ranked recruit is BOTR Vera Conic. She has a better of 52.57 within the 100, which might make her an ACC scorer and a possible qualifier.

Pitt switch Sydney Gring is one other big addition to the roster. The senior could have two years of eligibility remaining with the Wolfpack, and she or he is coming in after scoring factors in all three of her particular person occasions on the 2026 NCAA Championships. She shall be an enormous relay addition and can assist fill the vacancies left by Olivia Nel’s commencement.

#5 Cal Golden Bears

After bringing within the prime ranked recruiting class for 2025, the Cal Golden Bears picked up one other large recruiting class in 2026 headlined by the highest recruit within the class, Rylee Erisman.

The Florida native Erisman is a generational expertise within the freestyle occasions, and has the quickest occasions within the class within the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, and 500 free occasions. She reclassified to the recruiting class of 2026 and shall be becoming a member of the Bears this fall at simply 17 years outdated as a possible NCAA scorer and main relay contributor.

#9 ranked Kelsey Zhang is without doubt one of the prime 200 butterflyers within the class with a lifetime better of 1:53.51 from April of 2024. While she hasn’t matched that point since, she swam 1:55.05 in her senior yr, which continues to be below the NCAA cutline and if she will get again to her finest, she shall be a possible scorer. She can also be a possible scorer within the 100 fly (51.78), and could have sturdy coaching companions in Annie Jia and Mia West.

The Golden Bears picked up two BOTR ranked recruits in Ava DeAnda and Isabel Wolk. DeAnda is one other dash freestyler with finest occasions of twenty-two.4 and 48.2, which might each have been potential relay swims for the Bears final season. Wolk is an IMer with bests of two:00.2 and 4:13.8.

On prime of their ranked swimming Recruits, Cal nabbed the #2 ranked diver within the class in Madeline Kohel. She shall be joined by Egyptian platform diver Malak Tawfik.

The Golden Bears additionally picked up Estonian breaststroker Egle Salu, who set private bests in each the 50 and the 100 breaststroke final season and completed twelfth within the 50 breast on the European Championships final month.

Canadian Halle West, whose older sister Mia had an enormous breakout season with Cal this yr, can even be becoming a member of the staff as one other breaststroke expertise, and if she has anyplace close to the identical stage of success as her sister, she shall be big for the staff.

Kassy Yeung, a butterflyer from Hong Kong, can even be becoming a member of the staff and she or he has transformed finest occasions below the cutlines in each fly occasions.