Virginia Swimming & Diving Hosts No. 3 Florida on Friday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams host Florida in a dual meet at the Aquatic & Fitness Center on Friday, Oct. 18 in Charlottesville, Va.

Diving begins at 10 a.m. Swimming begins at 1 p.m.

Admission is free.

HOW TO FOLLOW

• The meet will stream live on ACCNX through the ESPN app. It is available through participating TV providers that carry ACC Network
• Live results will be available through Meet Mobile (get the app here).
• Fans can follow @UVASwimDive on Twitter and Instagram for updates

FAN INFO

• 1st 100 students will receive a free bucket hat
• 1st 500 fans will receive a “4-Peat” Tie-Dye Rally Towel
• The 2024 NCAA Championship banner will be unveiled ahead of the swimming events
• Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the first season of women’s swimming at UVA (all weekend)
• Free parking will be available across the street at Scott Stadium

ORDER OF SWIM EVENTS

• 200m Medley Relay, 800m Free, 200m Free, 100m Back, 100m Breast, 200m Fly, 50m Free, 100m Free, 200, Back, 200m Breast, 400m Free, 100m Fly, 100m IM Time Trial, 200m IM, 400m Free Relay

MEET NOTES

• The swimming events will be short course meters instead of yards
• The women enter the season ranked No. 1 in the preseason CSCAA poll with the men coming in at No. 14. Both remained at those same positions in this week’s updated rankings
• The Florida men were No. 2 in the CSCAA Preseason Poll but slipped to No. 3 this week. The Florida women remained at No. 3
• The women’s team has won the last four NCAA team titles, taking 25 individual titles and14 relays (including four of five last years and all five relays in 2023) in that span
• Team captains this year are Ella Bathurst, Emma Weber, Gretchen Walsh, Jack Aikins, Peter Thompson and Matthew Heilman. Aikins, Bathurst and Thompson are serving for the second consecutive season
• The women’s team returns 10 individual event All-Americans from last year’s NCAA Champion squad including three coming back as fifth-year graduate students: Anna Keating, Maxine Parker and Alex Walsh
• Of the six Cavaliers who competed at the Paris Olympics, four return to compete for UVA this season: Aimee Canny, Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh and Emma Weber. The returning Cavaliers collected five medals in Paris with Gretchen Walsh winning two golds and two silvers and Emma Weber taking home a gold
• Gretchen Walsh was the 2023-24 Mary Garber Award Winner by the Atlantic Coast Conference as the top female athlete across all sports. She was the 2024 Honda Sport Award winner for swimming & diving, the CSCAA Swimmer of the Year, the ACC Swimmer of the Year and ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
• The men’s team returns two All-Americans, including grad student Noah Nichols who finished top-six in both the 100 and 200 breast at the NCAA Championships
• Jack Aikins returns to action after taking last year off to focus on international competition. Aikins collected four medals at the 2024 World Championships including two relay golds
• Four Cavaliers on the current roster will compete in December at the 2024 World Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships, including Aikins, both Walsh sisters and Emma Weber. incoming freshman Katie Grimes, who will be joining the team in January, will also be competing as will alumnae Kate Douglass and Paige Madden. Kieran Smith of Florida will also be competing
• This weekend is the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the women’s swimming team at UVA. All of the alumnae from the program were invited back to Ground to celebrate with a weekend of activities starting with Friday’s meet. There will be a special seating area reserved for the alums
• The Florida men have won 12-consecutive SEC titles, while the women have won back-to-back
• Florida head coach Anthony Nesty was the US Men’s Olympic Head Coach in Paris, working alongside UVA head coach Todd DeSorbo who led the women’s squad

UP NEXT

• The Cavaliers face their first conference opponent of the season, swimming at North Carolina on Friday, Nov. 1