UVA Well Represented at U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia swimming program will have a significant presence when the 2024 U.S. Swimming Olympic Team Trials get underway in Indianapolis this weekend. That presence starts at the top where Cavalier head coach Todd DeSorbo serves as the U.S. Olympic Team’s women’s head coach for this summer’s Paris Games. Virginia will have a total of 26 competitors from last season’s roster, three former Hoos and nine incoming first-year students at the nine-day competition.

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials will take place June 15-23 at Lucas Oil Stadium. It marks the first time the event will be staged on a football field. All events will be long course meters (LCM). A total 1,007 swimmers have qualified for the competition.

This year’s event marks the 100-year anniversary of the first time the Trials were held in Indianapolis. The city hosted the event in 1924 when the Summer Olympic Games were also held in Paris. It is the seventh time the Trials have been contested in Indianapolis.

Swimmers that finish in the top two for each event, and have an Olympic qualifying time, can earn a spot on the U.S. roster (pending confirmation from the federation). Swimmers for freestyle relays are also chosen by their times at the trials. The maximum size for the Olympic swim teams is 26 women and 26 men, which includes the relay swimmers. It is likely the top six finishers in the 100m and 200m freestyle will make the team for relay purposes should the overall U.S. roster not exceed 26. Each national team can have two competitors per event and one relay team per event at the Olympic games.

UVA Competitors

Men: Jack Aikins, Harry Belcher (F), Colin Bitz, Connor Boyle, David King (F), August Lamb, Jack Madoch,  Noah Nichols, Sam O’Brien, Nicholas Spencer (F), Matthew Styczen, Will Thompson, Dillon Wright (F)
Women: Ella Bathurst, Izzy Bradley, Katie Christopherson (F), Claire Curzan, Cavan Gormsen, Abby Harter, Bailey Hartman (F), Leah Hayes (F), Tess Howley, Anna Keating, Sophia Knapp, Anna Moesch (F), Ella Nelson, Carly Novelline, Maxine Parker, Reilly Tiltmann, Maggie Schalow, Zoe Skirboll, Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, Emma Weber, Charlotte Wilson (F)
Alumni: Kate Douglass, Paige Madden, Leah Smith
Note: (F) indicates incoming first-year at UVA

Olympians
UVA will have five swimmers with Olympic experience competing at the trials and all five have been medal winners at previous Games. Alex Walsh won silver in the 200 IM at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics while Kate Douglas claimed the bronze in the same race. Paige Madden won silver in the 4×200 free relay in Tokyo and was seventh in the 400 free. Leah Smith captured gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 4×200 free relay and brought home a bronze medal in the 400 free. She was also sixth in the 800 free that year. DeSorbo was an assistant coach for the U.S. Team in 2020 in Tokyo. Stanford transfer Claire Curzan was a silver medalist in the 4×100 medley relay at the 2020 Games. She also placed eighth in the 100 fly in Tokyo.

American LCM Record Holders
Several UVA competitors head into the U.S. Olympic Trials are current American (Long Course Meter) Record holders:
50 Free: Kate Douglass (23.91)
200 Breast: Kate Douglass (2:19.30)
50 Fly: Gretchen Walsh (25.11)
800 Free Relay: Paige Madden (7:40.73)

Broadcast Information
The Trials air live on NBC, NBCOlympics.com, the NBC Sports app and Peacock. Qualifying heats are 11 a.m. ET daily, live on Peacock. Semifinals and finals are at 8 p.m. ET daily, live on NBC and Peacock. Coverage also streams on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.

For a complete broadcast schedule by day, click here.

Schedule of Events
For a day-by-day breakdown of the daily schedule, click here.

Hoos in the Current USA Swimming Rankings

Men
200 Back
2. Jack Aikins – 1:56.21

100 Breast
10. Noah Nichols – 1:00.22

Women
50 Free
1. Kate Douglass – 23.91
3. Gretchen Walsh – 24.29

100 Free
1. Kate Douglass – 52.98
4. Gretchen Walsh – 53.17

200 Free
3. Paige Madden – 1:57.00

400 Free
2. Paige Madden – 4:03.02

800 Free
4. Paige Madden – 8:27.64

1500 Free
3. Paige Madden – 16:09.93

100 Back
2. Claire Curzan – 58.29

200 Back
2. Claire Curzan – 2:05.77

100 Breast
3. Kate Douglass – 1:06.36
4. Emma Weber – 1:06.50

200 Breast
1. Kate Douglass – 2:19.30
2. Alex Walsh – 2:22.87
4. Ella Nelson – 2:24.07

100 Fly
2. Gretchen Walsh – 56.14
4. Claire Curzan – 56.61

200 Individual Medley
1. Kate Douglass – 2:07.05
2. Alex Walsh – 2:07.63
5. Leah Hayes – 2:10.62

400 Individual Medley
2. Emma Weyant – 4:39.00
2. Leah Hayes – 4:39.36