Caroline Bricker Has Dropped 12 Seconds in Two Years in the 400 IM

By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam

2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 19-22, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center — Federal Way, Washington
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Start Times: Prelims: 10 AM ׀ Finals: 6 PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
• Meet Central
• Official Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Live Recaps:
  • Prelims: Day 2 | Day 3
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Women’s 400 IM

• NCAA Record: 3:54.60 — Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• Championship Record: 3:54.60 — Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• American Record: 3:54.60 — Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• U.S. Open Record: 3:54.60 — Ella Eastin, Stanford (2018)
• 2024 Champion: Alex Walsh, Virginia — 3:55.97

TOP 8 FINISHERS:

1. Caroline Bricker (Stanford) – 3:57.36
2. Emma Weyant (Florida) – 3:59.05
3. Lucy Bell (Stanford) – 4:00.24
4. Katie Grimes (Virginia) – 4:01.10
5. Leah Hayes (Virginia) – 4:01.62
6. Mabel Zavaros (Florida) – 4:03.99
7. Callahan Dunn (Wisconsin) – 4:04.20
8. Sienna Angove (Ohio State) – 4:07.83

Stanford sophomore Caroline Bricker won the women’s 400 IM by more than a second-and-a-half, coming in at 3:57.36. This was a huge improvement from the 4th place finish she secured at last year’s Championships, and a new best time as well.

Bricker has seen significant improvement since being in college, dropping 12 seconds over the course of her college career so far, a standard that is almost unheard of at the collegiate level. She came into college at 4:09.57 from the Speedo Sectionals in March of 2023, and has continuously gotten faster since then.

At her first midseason meet, the 2023 Texas Invite, she dropped to 4:03.49, which accounts for six of the 12 total seconds. She went on to go another second faster at Pac-12s, swimming 4:02.32 before dropping another two tenths at last year’s NCAAs.

She had another breakthrough at this year’s Texas Invite, where she went under 4:00 to swim 3:59.88  for the first time. She was just off this time at last month’s ACCs, where she came in at 4:01.40, but she dropped another huge chunk tonight to come in at 3:57.36, and she still has two more years left of college.

Progression

**(Times are notated in total seconds– 3:57.36 is 237.36 seconds)**

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