Virginia Wins Three Events on Day Two of NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship

ATHENS, Ga. – The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team won three events on Thursday (March 21) at the 2024 NCAA Division I Championships at the Jack Bauerle Pool at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Georgia.

The Cavaliers won two individual events and a relay to move to the top of the team leaderboard on the second day of the championship.

Junior Gretchen Walsh won the 50 Freestyle while her sister, senior Alex Walsh won the 200 IM. The Walsh sisters combined with grad student Jasmine Nocentini and senior Maxine Parker to win the 200 Free Relay.

Gretchen Walsh won the 50 Free in an NCAA, American, and US Open record time of 20.37. She broke her own record of 20.41, which she set in the morning prelims of the event. This was the second time this year that Walsh set a 50 Free record in prelims only to break it again in the final. At the ACC Championship, she swam a 20.77 in the morning and a 20.57 in the finals. Nocentini took the bronze in the 50 Free with a personal best time of 21.10.

Parker gave the Cavaliers three swimmers in the 50 Free A-final after finishing in a three-way tie for seventh place in the prelims. Parker logged a 21.71, matching the identical times of Julia Dennis of Louisville and Grace Cooper of Texas. This forced a swim-off to determine which two would earn spots in the A-final. Parker won the swim-off with a personal-best time of 21.61. She finished seventh in the final with a 21.74.

Alex Walsh, who won the 200 IM at the 2021 and 2022 NCAA Championships, returned to the top of the podium with a gold-medal time of 1:49.20, a personal best that set the pool record. Grad student Ella Nelson finished seventh in the event with a 1:53.65.

The Cavaliers closed out the night with a victory in the 200 Free Relay with a time of 1:24.05, an NCAA Championship meet record.

Freshman Cavan Gormsen earned First Team All-America honors in her NCAA Championship debut. Gromsen swam a personal-best 4:35.37 in the 500 Freestyle, finishing fifth in the first individual event of the championship.

Virginia’s lone diver, junior Lizzy Kaye, finished 13^th in the 1-Meter prelims, becoming the first female diver in program history to advance to the finals at an NCAA Championship. She finished second in the B-Final, giving her an overall 10^th place finish in the event, earning her honorable mention All-America status, which is also a first for a Cavalier.

The Cavaliers, who trailed Florida by two points at the end of the first night of competition, moved into first place with 210.5 points. Florida is in second with 163.

Virginia Notes

• Gretchen Walsh owns or has participated in eight NCAA Records: 100 free, 50 free, 100 back, 100 fly, 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay.
• This was Gretchen Walsh’s fourth career individual NCAA Championship [100 Back (2023), 100 Free (2022 & 2023)] in addition to 10 relay titles
• Alex Walsh has six individual and nine relay NCAA titles
• Alex Walsh has 23 All-America honors in her career
• Alex Walsh’s time in the 200 IM is the second fastest ever, trailing only Kate Douglass’s record-setting swim in last year’s NCAA Championship (1:48.37)
• This was Ella Nelson’s 17^th All-America honor
• This was Maxine Parker’s seventh and eighth All-America honors
• Zoe Skirboll posted a personal best of 1:58.07 in the 200 IM prelims
• Aimee Canny just missed the B-final cut in the 500 free, finishing 17^th with a 4:39.11. She was the first alternate for the evening session

Team Scores Through Day II
1. Virginia 210.5
2. Florida 163
3. Texas 141
4. Stanford 105
5. Tennessee 104
6. Louisville 99
7. USC 94
8. Indiana 87
9. Michigan 80.5
10. Georgia 75

Order of Remaining Events
Friday: 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 3M Diving, 400 Medley Relay
Saturday: 1650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, Platform Diving, 400 Free Relay

American Records Set by Cavaliers at the NCAA Championships:
50 Free: Gretchen Walsh 20.37

NCAA Records Set by Cavaliers at the NCAA Championships:
50 Free: Gretchen Walsh 20.37

Event Titles at the NCAA Championships
200 Medley Relay, 200 IM, 50 Free, 200 Free Relay

NCAA Championships by Individual
Gretchen Walsh – 200 Medley Relay, 50 Free, 200 Free Relay
Jasmine Nocentini – 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay
Carly Novelline – 200 Medley Relay
Maxine Parker – 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay
Alex Walsh – 200 IM, 200 Free Relay

All-America – First Team
Gretchen Walsh – 200 Medley Relay, 50 Free, 200 Free Relay
Jasmine Nocentini – 200 Medley Relay, 50 Free, 200 Free Relay
Maxine Parker – 200 Medley Relay, 50 Free, 200 Free Relay
Alex Walsh – 800 Free Relay, 200 IM, 200 Free Relay
Ella Nelson – 800 Free Relay, 200 IM
Cavan Gormsen – 500 Free
Carly Novelline – 200 Medley Relay
Aimee Canny – 800 Free Relay
Alex Walsh – 800 Free Relay
Reilly Tiltmann – 800 Free Relay

All-America – Honorable Mention
Lizzy Kaye – 1M Diving