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In the early part of the season, we focus a lot on the additions that teams have made during the offseason. There’s been a lot of chatter about it this season given the Indiana and Texas men’s loaded transfer classes. But casting our eyes towards the trophies waiting far ahead at the end of the long NCAA season’s road, it’s also important to keep in mind the foundation of returning swimmers that the top teams have maintained.
Stanford and Michigan’s Strong Foundations
For the Stanford women and Michigan men, that foundation looks especially strong, as they are the only teams that finished in the top 15 at 2024 NCAAs that have retained 100% of their individual points. Stanford finished fourth last season with 250 points and Michigan scored 87.5 points for 14th—up six places from their 2023 finish.
The Alabama women returned all of their individual NCAA points for the 2022-23 season as many of their athletes used their fifth year of eligibility. But neither Stanford nor Michigan had any seniors score at 2024 NCAAs individually, highlighting that these teams relied heavily on their underclassmen to produce—and they did. While Stanford had three juniors score, Michigan only had one.
It’s a notable feat because both schools were in transition last season. Stanford was running with a young roster after losing their Olympian stars. They get one back this season—gold medalist Torri Huske returns. But instead of the narrative that she’s coming back to save the Cardinal, she’s only adding even more momentum off her incredible Olympic campaign to the wave the team is already riding. As for Michigan, it was the first season under head coach Matt Bowe and his staff, which was not an insignificant transition. But the team responded well, sending 10 swimmers to NCAAs, and in particular, their butterfly group was quite strong.
What About The Other Top 15 Teams?
On the women’s side, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Georgia, and Michigan return over 90% of their 2024 NCAA points, giving them strong launching pads for this season as well. Virginia, the four-time defending NCAA champions, have returned 232.5 of their 337.7 points. It’s not as strong of a percentage as some of the other teams but let’s not pretend that the Cavaliers are lacking for points, they are still far and away the big favorites to claim the 2025 NCAA title.
Part of that is due to just how many points they earned last season relative to other teams—you can afford to have a not-as-strong returning points percentage when your 232.5 returning points would’ve finished 6th at 2024 NCAAs.
The only two top 15 teams that are returning less than half their 2024 individual points are the runners-up Texas and the ninth-place Ohio State.
On the men’s side Florida, Tennessee, and Stanford return over 90% of their individual points. Here, it’s important to keep in mind that the Gators have lost Macguire McDuff, who didn’t score many individual points but was key on their relays. Stanford has also lost both Luke Maurer and Rex Maurer which are important losses, but last season, Luke scored on the relays and Rex was off at NCAAs.
The only team returning less than half their individual NCAA points is the defending champions. It’s no secret that Arizona State suffered losses during the offseason as athletes turned pro, transferred, or used up their eligibility, which makes it a challenge for them to defend their title against teams that are returning so many of their individual points and proven NCAA scorers.