Vivi del Angel will look to defend her NCAA Championship
Six members of the Minnesota Golden Gophers Women’s Swimming and Diving team are in Washington for the 2025 NCAA Championships this weekend. Washington State is hosting the event in Federal Way, Washington where a trio of Gopher swimmers and a trio of Gopher divers will try and being back some hardware to Minneapolis.
Fifth-year swimmer Eliot Kennedy returns to the NCAA Championships for the second season in a row. She will swim in the 500 free and 1650 free. Kennedy set a new personal bests in both events at the Big Ten Championships. In the 500 free, she recorded a time of 4:39.82, finishing 8th. In the 1650 free, her time of 15:54.05 earned a third place finish, shattering her seed time by around 14 seconds. A year ago she swap a 16:10:14 in the CAA Championships in the 1650.
Sophomore swimmer Katie McCarthy also will compete in her second NCAA Championships in as many seasons will also take part in the 500 free and 1650 free, as well as the 400 IM. At the Big Ten Championships, she set a PR in the 500 free with a time of 4:40.44. McCarthy also clinched a personal best at the Last Chance Meet in Madison, Wisc., recording a time of 16:05.75 in the 1650 free. She swap 16:18:09 in the 2024 NCAA Championships.
Junior swimmer Ava Yablonski will make her NCAA Championships debut and will swim the 100 back and 200 back. Yablonski twice set a new school record in the 100 back during the Big Ten Championships, first notching a 51.63 in prelims before reaching 51.61 in the opening split of the 400 medley relay finals. She clinched a podium finish in both the 100 back and 400 medley relay. Yablonski also set a new personal record in the 200 back finals at this season’s Big Tens, recording a time of 1:53.69, which placed her tenth.
In diving, the Gophers home that Vivi Del Angel can regain the form that earned her a NCAA Championship a season ago. The junior will make her third straight trip to the NCAA Championships and will compete in the 1-meter, 3-meter, and platform events. The reigning platform national champion earned a silver medal in platform at the 2025 Big Ten Championships, and was named Second-Team All-Big Ten for the second-straight year.
Joining her are a pair of Gopher divers making their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. Sophomore Elna Widerstrom is scheduled to dive in the 1-meter after placing sixth in the event at the Zone Diving Championships. Widerstrom earned All-American honors after placing sixth in last season’s NCAA 1-meter with a score of 293.65. Junior Addie Albrecht will dive in the 1-meter after placing eighth in the Zone Diving Championships. Last season, Albrecht placed 38th in the same event with a score of 241.60.
The full schedule of when you can catch the Gopher swimmers and divers is below. All of the action will stream on ESPN+.
Thursday, March 20:
500 free prelims: Noon
1-meter diving prelims: 2:15 PM
Swimming and Diving Finals: 8 PM
Friday, March 21:
100 back, 400 IM Prelims: Noon
3-meter diving prelims: 2:15 PM
Swimming and Diving Finals: 8 PM
Saturday, March 22:
1650 free, 200 back prelims: Noon
Platform Diving Prelims: 2PM
Swimming and Diving Finals: 8 PM