Cavaliers Set Two UVA Records on Final Day of Toyota U.S. Open
RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming teams set two school records on the final day of the Toyota U.S. Open at the SwimRVA in Richmond. Sophomore Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y.) captured her third UVA record of the week with her performance in the 100-meter freestyle, while freshman Anna Keating (Vienna, Va.) topped the UVA mark in the 200-meter breaststroke.
Richmond is one of nine sites hosting the Toyota U.S. Open. The meet split across different locations to help ensure safe travel for coaches and athletes as well as limit the number of participants at a single location.
Results from the nine locations will be combined to create a comprehensive report.
Women’s Meet
Douglass set her third school record in two days with a time of 55.24 in the 100-meter freestyle. Her time placed fifth overall and was the second-fastest time at the Richmond site. Douglass’ time topped the Virginia record time of 55.49 set by Lauren Perdue in 2011. Douglass also set a UVA record in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly during Friday’s competition.
Keating set a UVA record in the 200-meter breaststroke as she and teammate Ella Nelson (Nashville, Tenn.) topped the prior school record time of 2:30.30 set by Mary Claire Tansill in 2018. Keating swam a time of 2:29.38 for the third-best time overall and top time at the competition in Richmond, while Nelson’s time of 2:29.64 placed her fourth overall and second at the team’s race site.
Senior Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) swam a time of 16:36.84 to finish fourth overall in the 1500-meter freestyle and win the event in Richmond. Madden’s time placed her second all-time in program history behind Leah Smith, who holds the record at 16:01.02.
Freshman Abby Harter (Broadlands, Va.) turned in a time of 2:13.02 to finish fifth overall in the 200-meter butterfly. Her time was the fastest at the meet in Richmond and placed her sixth all-time in program history.
Freshman Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn.) recorded a time of 2:13.18 in the 200-meter backstroke to place sixth overall across the nine competition sites. She placed second in the competition at SwimRVA. Her time ranks eighth all-time in program history.
Sophomore Maddie Donohoe (Annandale, Va.) competed alongside Madden in the 1500-meter freestyle, clocking a time of 16:51.90 to finish 10th overall and third in Richmond.
Men’s Meet
Sophomore Sean Conway (Round Hill, Va.) and freshman Matt Brownstead (Port Matilda, Penn.) highlighted the Cavaliers during the men’s meet.
Brownstead placed 13th overall and finished in third place at the team’s competition site in Richmond in the 100-meter freestyle. The UVA first-year recorded a time of 50.21, the sixth-best time in program history.
Conway swam a time of 2:03.97 to place 29th overall in the 200-meter backstroke. He was the third swimmer to touch the wall at the meet in Richmond.
Quote from Todd DeSorbo
“We had another great day today and picked up some steam for the rest of the season,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “It was just great to be racing at an elite level meet again as this was the highest level competition we’ve seen since the ACC Championships in February. The men and women raced well and put themselves in a great position heading into the rest of the season. We had quite a few swims near lifetime bests which is great for this point in the season. Looking forward to racing again next weekend at Tennessee.”
Next
Virginia will return to action on Nov. 19 to compete against Alabama and Tennessee at a three-day meet in Knoxville, Tenn.