David Rieder - Senior Writer - (Author)

How Gretchen Walsh Has Crushed All Limits in 100 Butterfly Three years ago, Gretchen Walsh opted to race the 100 backstroke instead of the 100 butterfly on the middle day of her sophomore-year NCAA Championships. The decision surprised no one, and Walsh established the fastest time in history in the...

Can American Men's Backstroke Make Jump in 2026? First Test This Week Traditionally dominant in the men's backstroke events, the United States had a dreadful performance at last year's World Championships. Ryan Murphy was on hiatus from racing and absent from the team for the first time in a decade,...

Teagan O'Dell to Continue College Career at Virginia; Another Star for Six-Time Champs Following a strong start to her college career, Teagan O'Dell has announced that she will move across the country and join the six-time defending national champions. O'Dell, who entered the transfer portal after o...

American Women's Freestyle Relays Will Could Off Potential in Fort Lauderdale Last year, the U.S. women brought a talented contingent of sprint freestylers to the Singapore World Championships, aiming for the country's first 400 freestyle relay win over Australia in eight years plus an upset in the ...

David Popovici Hoping for Return to World-Record Form in 2026 He might already be the best Romanian swimmer in history at just 21 years old. David Popovici already has two Olympic medals, including one gold, and he is a four-time world champion. No other Romanian man has ever won Olympic gold in swi...

One Year Later: Katie Ledecky Returns to Fort Lauderdale After Vintage 2025 Meet Through the back half of her career, Katie Ledecky did not need to set any additional world records. She secured her status as the greatest female swimmer ever long ago: four Olympic appearances, nine gold medals includ...

CSCAA Recommends Return of B Finals, Further Adjustments to NCAA Championships Expect to see consolation finals back on the program at next year's Division I NCAA Championships, but the meet will not simply return to the 2025-and-earlier status quo. A working group established by the College Swim Co...

Abbie Wood Closing in on World's Elite 200 IM Performers For the past half-decade, Great Britain's Abbie Wood has been among the contenders in the 200 individual medley, but she has never closed the deal to reach the podium at a global long course competition. She came closest on her first attempt, ...

Returning Sarah Sjostrom Central to 50 Free Championship and Record Chase A fractured wrist nearly derailed her campaign for the Tokyo Olympics, but Sarah Sjostrom pulled off a stunning return to win silver in the event. Since then, she has been utterly dominant in the one-lap freestyle race, winnin...

Luka Mladenovic Transferring to Texas, Joining Loaded Breaststroke Group On the way to a national title in men's swimming and diving this season, the Texas Longhorns scored a whopping 59 points in the breaststroke events. All four swimmers responsible for those points will return for the 2026-27 cam...

Following Bergen Breakthrough, Van Mathias Becoming Newest U.S. Breaststroke Star Three years ago, Van Mathias finished off a strong collegiate career at Indiana in style, scoring in all three individual events plus four relays at the NCAA Championships. After spending most of his career as a butter...

Following World Record Stunner, Cam McEvoy Leading Charge in Men’s 50 Freestyle With Rivals in Pursuit The title of fastest man in history was an elusive mark for swimmers to chase for more than 16 years. During the polyurethane-suit era of 2009, Fred Bousquet became the first man to swim under 21 s...

Anna Moesch Among American Swimmers Set for Valuable International Experience at AP London International Eight women set to represent the United States at this summer's Pan Pacific Championships train at the University of Virginia. Anna Moesch, fresh off an incredible college season in which she bec...

American Men Showing Elite Relay Potential With 100 Free Early Season Times Season-best times indicated that the United States had an enormous advantage in the men's 400 freestyle relay entering the 2025 World Championships. Jack Alexy was the newest member of the 46 club for the 100 free, and it to...

CSCAA Survey: College Coaches Overwhelmingly Support Return of B Finals to NCAA Championships If the majority of Division I swimming and diving coaches have their way, the absence of consolation finals from the NCAA Championships will be one-and-done. The College Swim Coaches Association of America ...

Freshman Josh Bey Plays Central Role in Indiana’s NCAA Success, Now Targeting Long Course The Indiana Hoosiers did not win any events at the NCAA Men’s Championships, and they did not get their usual points from diving, but the team still managed an impressive third-place finish in the team competit...

NCAA Exploring Change to Eligibility: Five Years, Age Restrictions, No Redshirts The rules regarding eligibility for college sports could soon undergo significant upheaval. According to a report from Yahoo Sports, the NCAA has laid out a proposal that would give all athletes five years of eligibilit...

Following Strong NCAA Performance, Ilya Kharun Aiming for Nationals Prior to Official U.S. Debut Camaraderie built the foundation of the Arizona State sprint group that swept all four relays at the recent NCAA Men's Championships. Prior to their swims, Sun Devils veterans Jonny Kulow and Andy Dobrza...

At Final NCAA Championships, Hubert Kos Instills Fear in Competitors, Augments Elite Credentials For some historically great swimmers, name recognition can defeat opponents before the race begins. Think Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Leon Marchand — so many races begin with their rivals knowing v...

Thomas Heilman Overcame Family Tragedy for Fine First NCAA Performance High-level swimming competitions are nothing new for Thomas Heilman, who recently wrapped up one of the most prolific age group careers in U.S. history. Heilman reached the World Championships as a 16-year-old, tying for fourth i...