The WIAA began sponsoring a tournament program in girls swimming in 1970. Madison Memorial won the first team championship with Menomonee Falls North finishing runner-up.
The first two State Meets were held at Beloit before it moved to Whitefish Bay from 1972-1975. It was held in Madison in 1976 and Whitewater in 1977. Since 1978, the meet has been held at the University of Wisconsin Natatorium in Madison with the exception of 2020 when the meet and the alternate fall season were held at Waukesha South during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Girls swimming and diving was conducted in a single division until 1992 when a two-division format was adopted. In 2020-21, there were two divisions plus an alternate season scheduled in the spring as an option for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Germantown won the first Division 2 team championship held at the UW Natatorium with Rhinelander placing runner-up, while Madison West won the Division 1 title in the first year of the two division format.
Either Madison Memorial or Madison West won all the championships through 1983. West has won the most State titles with 15, and Madison Memorial is right behind with 14. Next in line is Arrowhead with 12 and then comes Edgewood with eight team titles followed by Shorewood with seven championships.
Edgewood won the most number of consecutive team championships with eight, winning the Division 2 titles from 2015-22, including the alternate season title in 2020-21. Arrowhead won five consecutive team championships from 2002-2006. Other schools that have won four consecutive championships include Madison West, which accomplished the feat three times (1980-83, 1989-92 and 1995-98); Shorewood, which won four consecutive Division 2 championships from 1994-97.
Eighteen individuals have won four State championships in the same individual event during their careers with Connie Wright of Waukesha North accomplishing the feat in both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke (1978-81). The others are Kathy Treible of Brookfield Central in the 200-yard individual medley (1976-79), Gina Ketelhohn of Brown Deer in diving (1992-95), Terri Jashinsky of Menomonee Falls/Hamilton in the 100 butterfly (1992-95), Cortnee Adams of Appleton North in the 50 freestyle (1995-98), Sarah Wanezek of Brookfield East in the 100 backstroke (1997-00), Jane Evans of Madison Memorial in the 200 I.M. (1998-01), Andrea Boritzke of Arrowhead in the 200 I.M. (2002-05), Jenna Lennertz of Greendale in the 100 butterfly (2004-07), Kelly Winckler of DeForest in the 200 freestyle (2004-07), Kylie Rosenstock of Madison West in diving (2006-09), Aja Van Hout of Madison East in the 200 I.M. (2007-10), Beata Nelson of Verona/Mount Horeb in the 100 backstroke (2012-15), Ginger Lingard of Edgewood in diving (2013-16), Autumn Haebig of Grafton in the 500 freestyle (2013-16), Av Osero of Neenah in diving (2016-19) and Lucy Thomas of Brookfield East in the breaststroke (2019-22).
Boritzke has won the most titles by an individual with 16. Izzy Enz of Edgewood, Autumn Haebig of Grafton, Maggie Zblewski of Arrowhead and Michelle Jesperson of Madison West are next with 14. Aja Van Hout of Madison East swam to 13 titles. Jamie Belfor of Shorewood, Jane Evans of Madison Memorial, Kylsie Grimes of Arrowhead and Nelson each won 12 titles during their careers. Autumn Haebig of Grafton, Abby Reid of Edgewood, Lucy Thomas of Brookfield East, and Maggie Wanezek of Brookfield East have compiled 11 titles. Bridgette Alexander of Milton, Lauren Breunig of Sauk Prairie, Kelly Winckler of DeForest and Wright have 10 championship titles.
Arrowhead has won the most event championships with 91, and Madison West is next on the list with 86. Madison Memorial is third with 81 event champions, and Edgewood is a distant third 62 title and then Shorewood with 45.