Cavalier Women Lead After First Day of Tennessee Invitational

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed the first day of the three-day Tennessee Invitational at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatics Center in Knoxville, Tenn.

The Cavalier women opened the evening with a victory in the 200 Free Relay. Senior Gretchen Walsh swam the second leg of the relay, posting a 20.09 on her split, the second-fastest 50 Free flying start of all time. Walsh also won the 50 Free later in the evening with a 20.54, the third-fastest time ever.

The women also added victories in the 500 Free and 1M Diving before closing out the night with a victory in the 400 Medley Relay.

For the men, junior Sebastien Sergile took the 200 IM and the 400 Medley Relay closed out the night by setting the Virginia record in the event.

The meet is a double-dual against Tennessee and Kentucky. The top two times in the morning preliminaries advance to a Super Final. Positions 3-8 advance to the B-Final. C and D finals are also competed, but no points are awarded.

Virginia leads both duals on the women’s side. The men trail Tennessee, but are leading Kentucky.

Team Scores (After Day I)

Women: Virginia 68, Tennessee 58
Women: Virginia 87, Kentucky 37

Men: Tennessee 90, Virginia 33
Men: Virginia 76, Kentucky 49

Women’s Results

• Gretchen Walsh’s split of 20.09 on the second leg of the relay was the second-fastest 50 free flying start of all time, trailing only her own 19.95 from last season’s ACC Championships
• Walsh’s 20.54 in the 50 Free was the third fastest time ever, trailing her 20.37 and 20.41 from last season’s NCAA Championship. This was her 14th time swimming a sub-21 second 50 Free. The time was also both a meet and pool record. Walsh owns the five fastest times ever in the event and eight of the top 10
• Walsh swam the lead leg of the 400 Medley relay, posting a 49.31 in the 100 Back
• Senior Lizzy Kaye won the 1M diving competition with a score of 312.45
• Junior Aimee Canny won the 500 Free with a PR of 4:35.43
• Sophomore Claire Curzan swam a 200-yard Free timed trial of 1:42.96, ranking seventh on the UVA all-time list
• Sophomore Cavan Gormsen swam an NCAA A-cut time in the 500 Free (4:40.02)
• The 200 Free Relay (Claire Curzan, Gretchen Walsh, Maxine Parker, Anna Moesch) posted a 1:24.68, ranking fifth on the UVA all-time list
• Freshman Leah Hayes qualified for the Super Final in the 200 IM, finishing second (1:53.84). Fellow freshman Katie Christopherson won the B-Final (third place overall) with a 1:56.39
• The meet began on Tuesday night with the 800 Free Relay, but Virginia did not compete in the event 

Men’s Results

• Sebastien Sergile’s 1:42.63 in the 200 IM was a personal best, ranking second on the UVA all-time list
• The men’s 200 free relay (Jack Aikins, Connor Boyle, Spencer Nicholas, Jack Madoch) posted an NCAA A cut time of 1:15.86, finishing second
• Freshman David King won the B-Final of the 500 Free (third-place overall) with a 4:16.30. Fellow freshman Dillon Wright placed fourth (4:18.69)
• The 400 Medley Relay (Jack Aikins, Noah Nichols, Spencer Nicholas, Connor Boyle) posted a 3:02.01, bettering the mark of 3:03.17 set last season. It is an A-cut time

UP NEXT

• The meet continues on Thursday (Nov. 21) with swimming prelims at 10 a.m., diving prelims at 12 p.m., diving finals at 5 p.m. and swimming finals at 6 p.m.
• Swimming events for Thursday: 100 Fly, 400 IM, 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 200 Medley relay (final only)
• Diving: Men’s 1M, Women’s 3M

SCHEDULE OF REMAINING EVENTS