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Alex Walsh Qualifies for World Championships on Night Three

INDIANAPOLIS – Senior Alex Walsh won silver in the women’s 400-meter IM on Thursday night at the US Phillips 66 Nationals to qualify for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.

Walsh cemented her spot with Team USA with a personal-best time of 4:35.46 to place second in the 400 IM.

Walsh’s sister Gretchen added a second individual event to her World Championship slate after placing second in the 100-meter butterfly with a UVA record time of 56.34. G. Walsh posted the second-fastest time in the world this year in the event.

Finishing just behind G. Walsh was Kate Douglass, who took third in the 100-meter butterfly. Douglass swam the third-fastest time in the world this year with a 56.43, but just missed qualifying for the event at Worlds.

Sophomores Emma Weber and Zoe Skirboll competed in the 50-meter breaststroke finals. Weber qualified for the A Final after posting a UVA record time of 30.92 in prelims. She finished eighth overall with a time of 31.02 in finals. Skirboll made the B Final and placed 14th with a time of 31.68.

Senior Noah Nichols just missed adding his name to the World Championship roster with a third-place finish in the men’s 50-meter breaststroke. Nichols broke the UVA record set by Ed Moses in 2001 with his time of 27.30.

G. Walsh completed her double on Thursday with a third-place finish in the women’s 50-yard backstroke, setting another UVA record with her time of 27.54.

Junior Jack Aikins closed out the night with an eighth-place finish in the men’s 50-meter backstroke in a time of 25.18.

Senior Abby Harter won the C Final of the women’s 100-meter butterfly with a personal-best time of 58.87 to place 17th overall.

IN PRELIMS

  • In the women’s 100-meter butterfly, senior Sam Baron finished 63rd (1:02.64) and sophomore Carly Novelline was 64th (1:02.71).
  • Junior Tim Connery was 48th (55.58) in the men’s 100-meter butterfly.
  • Senior Anna Keating was 26th in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke (32.42).
  • Junior Reilly Tiltmann finished tied for 20th (28.82) in the women’s 50-meter backstroke to make the C Final but scratched from the finals. Sophomore Carly Novelline was 36th with a time of 29.53.

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