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Virginia Wins 200 Medley Relay to Open NCAA Championship

Lizzy Kaye
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ATHENS, Ga. – The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team opened the 2024 NCAA Division I Championships with a relay victory on Wednesday (March 20) at the Jack Bauerle Pool at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Georgia.

The Cavaliers won gold in the championship’s opening event, the 200 Medley Relay. The 800 Free Relay team finished fourth in the other race on the first night of the four-day event.

Junior Gretchen Walsh opened the 200 Medley by posting a 22.10 in the leadoff leg, the fastest 50-yard backstroke split ever. Grad student Jasmine Nocentini, sophomore Carly Novelline, and Maxine Parker rounded out Virginia’s gold-medal squad that posted a time of 1:31.58, just shy of the NCAA record set by the Cavaliers in 2023 of 1.31.51. It was the ninth-straight NCAA relay won by a Cavalier squad.

Virginia’s relay win streak was snapped in the next race with Florida taking the 800 Free relay in a pool-record time of 6:48.59. UVA finished fourth at 6:51.41, the third fastest time in program history. Sophomore Aimee Canny, senior Alex Walsh, grad student Ella Nelson, and junior Reilly Tiltmann all earned First Team All-America honors for their finish.

Virginia heads into the second day of the meet in second place, two points behind Florida.

Individual events begin on Thursday with the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 1-meter diving as well as the 200 free relay. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. with finals starting at 6 p.m.

Virginia Notes

  • Walsh holds three of the top four top times in the 50 back and five of the top seven
  • Walsh’s NCAA title was the 14th of her career. It was the third for Maxine Parker and the first for Novelline and Nocentini
  • Virginia was seeded second in the 200 Medley relay and had the top qualifying time in the 800 Free relay

HOW TO FOLLOW
All sessions will be televised live on ESPN+ for authenticated subscribers. Links for the live stream and live results are available on VirginiaSports.com. Live scoring is also available through the MeetMobile app.

Team Scores (through Day 1)

  1. Florida, 72
  2. Virginia 70
  3. Tennessee, 62
  4. Stanford, 54
  5. Texas, 50
  6. California, 48
  7. Three way tie Indiana, USC, Ohio State, 36

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