ATLANTA - No. 2 Stanford women’s swimming & diving saved its best for last, winning three national titles and overcoming a 30-point deficit in the team standings to finish as national runners-up for the second consecutive season.
The NCAA team silver under Paul A. Violich Director of Women’s Swimming Chris Lindauer gives the program its best finish in a head coach’s debut season since 1989, when Richard Quick won the national championship in his first year on The Farm.
Lucy Bell led off the night with her second national title in as many days, posting a lifetime-best 1:52.09 to become the NCAA champion in the 200 IM in the final individual swim of her career. Her first title in the event and the third overall of her career, Bell’s swim moved her to fourth all-time on Stanford’s Top 10 list.
Torri Huske followed with an equally impressive performance, shattering the 100 free program record with a 45.17 to win her third national title of the meet. Using a 21.41 opening 50 yards, Huske held off the fastest field in NCAA history with the fourth-fastest 100 free swim of all time. Huske also becomes the No. 2 performer in the event’s history, behind Gretchen Walsh.
Caroline Bricker earned her second First Team All-America honor of the meet in the 200 fly, finishing fifth in the “A” final with a 1:52.10, her best performance of the 2025-26 campaign. Bricker reached the medal stand in the event for the second year in a row after finishing third at last season’s championships.
Stanford also added a handful of All-American finishers in the morning session. Beginning with the 100 free, Annam Olasewere (47.28) and Gigi Johnson (47.35) finished 12th and 13th, respectively, to continue their successful weeks in Atlanta. For Johnson, the prelim swim was a career-best, moving her to No. 6 all-time in Stanford history.
For the second consecutive year, Emily Thompson completed the 200 IM-400 IM double with All-American finishes in both events. Thompson recorded a 1:55.91 in the 200 IM prelims to place 14th.
Natalie Mannion closed out her career with an All-American swim in the 200 back, turning in a career-best 1:51.81 to finish 14th overall. Now holding six NCAA All-America honors in her career, it was Mannion’s first time placing in the top 16 in the 200 back.
At the diving tower, Ellie Cole turned in a historic platform performance, setting an NCAA meet record with a score of 399.80 to become Stanford’s first diving national champion in a decade (Gracia Leydon-Mahoney, 2016). Emilie Moore also collected her second All-America honor of the weekend with an 11th-place finish, marking the first time Stanford has had multiple All-Americans in the platform dive since Daria Lenz and Mia Paulsen in 2020.
With the team race hanging in the balance heading into the final race, the 400 free relay quartet of Olasewere, Huske, Johnson, and Bell delivered a second-place time of 3:06.72, shattering the program record.
After four days of competition, Stanford finished with 380.5 points, trailing only NCAA champion Virginia. It is the Cardinal’s 36th top-three team finish and ninth in program history. Stanford remains the only program to finish in the top 10 at every NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships.