ATHENS, Ga. – The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team won four events on Friday (March 22) at the 2024 NCAA Division I Championships at the Jack Bauerle Pool at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Georgia.
The Cavaliers won three individual events and a relay to remain at the top of the team leaderboard heading into the championship’s final day.
Virginia’s relay dominance continued with gold in the 400-meter Medley Relay, their third relay win of the championship. Junior Gretchen Walsh, senior Alex Walsh, junior Jasmine Nocentini, and senior Maxine Parker set an NCAA and US Open record with a time of 3:21.01 in the event. The mark eclipsed the previous mark of 3:21.80 set last year by Virginia. Both Walsh sisters were part of that relay as well.
The relay was the second record-setting performance of the night.
For the second straight day, Gretchen Walsh set American, NCAA, and US Open records en route to winning an individual title. She earned the top seed in the 100 Fly final after swimming a 48.26 in the prelims, .01 seconds off her own NCAA and American Record time of 48.25. In the final, she blasted past that mark, swimming a 47.42. Walsh set an NCAA, American and US Open record in the 50 Free on Thursday night.
"She obliterates the NCAA mark"
🇺🇸 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃 – 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐅𝐋𝐘- Gretchen Walsh with a 47.42 in the 100 Fly!!!!
American, US Open and NCAA Record!!!!
Watch the #NCAASwimDive Championships live on ESPN + 🔗 https://t.co/18yacjBZpZ pic.twitter.com/Yt1SqCFXYq— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) March 22, 2024
Alex Walsh opened the session by winning the 400 IM with a pool-record time of 3:55.97, three seconds faster than the second-place finisher. It was the third straight year she won the NCAA title in this event. Grad student Ella Nelson also competed in the A-Final, finishing sixth with a 4:04.33.
Nocentini won her first NCAA individual title in the 100 Breaststroke. Nocentini swam a personal-best time of 56.96 in qualifying, the second-fastest time of the day to earn her spot in the 100 Breaststroke final. In the night session, she bettered that time with a 56.09, the second-fastest time ever to take gold. She is the first ever 100 Breaststroke champion in UVA program history. Sophomore Emma Weber finished third in the B-Final.
The Cavaliers had several other swimmers turn in All-America performances.
Todd DeSorbo breaks down Day 3️⃣ of #NCAASwimDive #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/VMfzg2wdth
— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) March 23, 2024
For the second straight day, junior Lizzy Kaye made program history in the diving competition. After becoming the first UVA diver to earn honorary All-America status by advancing to Thursday’s B-Final in the 1M, she earned a spot in the 3M A-Final with a sixth-place finish in the preliminaries. She placed eighth in the final with a score of 267.30.
In another A-Final swim, sophomore Aimee Canny finished sixth in the 200 Free with a personal-best time of 1:42.33.
The championship wraps up on Saturday with the 1650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, Platform Diving and 400 Free Relay. Prelims start at 10 a.m., with the finals starting at 6 p.m.
The Cavaliers have won eight titles at the meet: three relays and five individual events.
Virginia Notes
- This was Gretchen Walsh’s fifth career individual NCAA Championship and 11th relay title
- Alex Walsh has seven NCAA individual and 10 relay titles
- 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.
- Alex Walsh has 24 All-America honors in her career
- This was Ella Nelson’s 18th All-America honor
- Sophomore Carly Novelline posted a personal best in the 100 Fly prelims at 51.60, finishing 22nd
- Freshman Tess Howley swam 51.99 in the 100 Back prelims, a personal best, finishing 27th