NCAA Women’s Championships: Claire Weinstein Pulls Away for First NCAA Title
Night 3 of the 2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships continued with the 500-yard freestyle from the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
After being chased down by Jillian Cox in the mile, Cal’s Claire Weinstein was out strong and hung on for her first NCAA title.
Weinstein took the early lead, finishing the 100 in 51.66 with Virginia’s Madi Mintenko just behind (52.08).
Weinstein was still ahead of the 200 in 1:47.03 with Tennessee’s Ella Jansen in second (1:47.50), at the 250 and at the 300 at 2:42.34 for Weinstein.
Weinstein picked up the pace and turned at 3:09.81 at the 350.
Defending champion Cox made her move at the 400 mark but was still behind Weinstein, who turned ahead at the 450.
In the final lap, Weinstein had more in the tank and turned ahead and got to the wall in 4:30.09 to break the pool record for her first NCAA title.
“The mile really beat me down and I had to recover from that. I just wanted to passionately swim for my team,” Weinstein said in the on-deck interview.
Cox came into the meet as the defending champion and looked to complete the 1650 and 500 title sweep for the second year in a row. She finished second in 4:31.56.
Georgia’s Kennedi Dobson was third in 4:32.24, ahead of Tennessee’s Jansen (4:32.82) and Florida’s Julie Brousseau (4:34.63).
Virginia’s Cavan Gormsen was sixth (4:35.11) and Mintenko took eighth (4:36.68) sandwiched around Michigan’s Hannah Bellard, who was seventh n 4:35.80.
Event 13 Women 500 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
Meet: M 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
American: A 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
US Open: O 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
Pool: P 4:30.81 3/17/2016 Leah Smith, Virginia
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Weinstein, Claire FR California 4:36.66 4:30.09P 20
r:+0.73 24.67 51.66 (26.99)
1:19.29 (27.63) 1:47.03 (27.74)
2:14.81 (27.78) 2:42.34 (27.53)
3:09.81 (27.47) 3:37.04 (27.23)
4:03.94 (26.90) 4:30.09 (26.15)
2 Cox, Jillian SO Texas 4:33.89 4:31.56 17
r:+0.61 25.42 52.58 (27.16)
1:20.12 (27.54) 1:47.72 (27.60)
2:15.24 (27.52) 2:42.74 (27.50)
3:10.42 (27.68) 3:37.50 (27.08)
4:04.66 (27.16) 4:31.56 (26.90)
3 Dobson, Kennedi FR Georgia 4:34.73 4:32.24 16
r:+0.72 25.22 52.39 (27.17)
1:20.02 (27.63) 1:47.80 (27.78)
2:15.38 (27.58) 2:42.88 (27.50)
3:10.41 (27.53) 3:37.71 (27.30)
4:05.18 (27.47) 4:32.24 (27.06)
4 Jansen, Ella SO Tennessee 4:34.13 4:32.82 15
r:+0.74 24.97 52.26 (27.29)
1:19.85 (27.59) 1:47.50 (27.65)
2:15.25 (27.75) 2:42.99 (27.74)
3:10.62 (27.63) 3:38.38 (27.76)
4:05.91 (27.53) 4:32.82 (26.91)
5 Brousseau, Julie SO Florida 4:35.79 4:34.63 14
r:+0.76 25.55 52.67 (27.12)
1:20.00 (27.33) 1:47.62 (27.62)
2:15.43 (27.81) 2:43.43 (28.00)
3:11.24 (27.81) 3:39.11 (27.87)
4:07.10 (27.99) 4:34.63 (27.53)
6 Gormsen, Cavan JR Virginia 4:35.36 4:35.11 13
r:+0.74 25.33 52.88 (27.55)
1:20.57 (27.69) 1:48.37 (27.80)
2:16.29 (27.92) 2:44.03 (27.74)
3:11.87 (27.84) 3:39.81 (27.94)
4:07.80 (27.99) 4:35.11 (27.31)
7 Bellard, Hannah JR Michigan 4:37.00 4:35.80 12
r:+0.76 25.44 52.76 (27.32)
1:20.25 (27.49) 1:48.21 (27.96)
2:16.09 (27.88) 2:44.20 (28.11)
3:12.48 (28.28) 3:40.54 (28.06)
4:08.51 (27.97) 4:35.80 (27.29)
8 Mintenko, Madi FR Virginia 4:37.43 4:36.68 11
r:+0.73 24.80 52.08 (27.28)
1:19.89 (27.81) 1:48.07 (28.18)
2:16.27 (28.20) 2:44.54 (28.27)
3:13.12 (28.58) 3:41.80 (28.68)
4:09.81 (28.01) 4:36.68 (26.87)
