UVA Women Claim Sixth Consecutive ACC Title

GREENSBORO, N.C.  – Virginia won its sixth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving championship on Saturday (Feb. 22) at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.

The title was the 21st in the Cavalier program’s history.

The UVA women totaled 1451.5 points, besting second-place Stanford by 310.5 points. The Cavalier men finished eighth.

With four gold medals on Saturday, the Cavalier women won 13 events over the five-day championship.

On Saturday, the Cavaliers won three individual titles: sophomore Claire Curzan won the 200 Backstroke (1:47.38), senior Gretchen Walsh the 100 Free (45.20) and grad student Alex Walsh the 200 Breaststroke (2:03.65). They closed out the meet with a victory in the 400 Free Relay, posting a meet-record time of 3:05.93..

Gretchen Walsh was named the ACC’s most valuable swimmer for the second straight year. During the course of the meet, she won a total of seven gold medals (three individual, four relay) to raise her career total to 23.

Alex Walsh finishes her career with the most overall titles (32) and the most individual titles (12) in ACC women’s swimming history. She is the first swimmer to win four straight ACC 200 Breaststroke titles.

For the men, freshman David King made his second trip to the podium, earning bronze in the 200 Back. His time of 1:38.36 was the fastest in UVA program history.

Women’s Notes

• Alex Walsh passed Sue Walsh of NC State (1981-84) for most career individual titles. Alex Walsh came into the meet with 26 overall titles, which was already the conference record
• Alex Walsh is the 18^th swimmer in conference history to win one event four times and the 8^th Cavalier to do so. The last was Kate Douglass who won the 100 Fly for the fourth time in 2023
• Two divers scored points for the Cavaliers on Plaform. Jessica Buntman was 13^th with a score of 245.60, ranking sixth on the UVA all-time list. Lizzy Kaye was 15^th with a 237.95
• Claire Curzan’s time of 1:47.38 in the 200 Backstroke was an ACC Championship Meet Record and a pool record
• Curzan leaves her first ACC Championship with a gold in the 200 Back, silver in the 100 Fly, and bronze in the 50 Free in addition to swimming on four winning relays

Men’s Notes

• Jack Aikins won the C-Final of the 200 Back

SMITHFIELD COMMONWEALTH CLASH

• The ACC Championship also served as the competition to decide the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash points between the Cavaliers and Virginia Tech. The two programs split points as the UVA women picked up the point for the Hoos while the Hokie men’s team finished ahead of UVA in the men’s standings. UVA currently leads the Clash 7.0-4.0

Team Scores
Women

1. Virginia, 1451.5
2. Stanford,  1141
3. Louisville, 935.5
4. California, 864
5. NC State, 787.5
6. North Carolina, 781.5
7. Florida State, 467
8. Pitt, 462
9. Virginia Tech, 411.5
10. Miami, 387
11. Duke, 376
12. Notre Dame, 275
13. Georgia Tech, 184
14. SMU 183.5
15. Boston College 103

Men

1. California, 1271.5
2. Stanford, 1065
3. NC State, 1021
4. North Carolina, 852
5. Florida State, 639
6. Virginia Tech, 654
7. Florida State, 639
8. Virginia, 529.5
9. Georgia Tech, 465
10. Pitt, 456.5
11. SMU, 434
12. Duke, 171
13. Boston College, 123
14. Miami, 84
15. Notre Dame, 45

Women’s ACC Titles (13)
50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, 500 Free, 100 Back, 200 Back, 200 Fly, 200 Breast, 400 IM, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay

ACC Champions (by swimmer)
Aimee Canny: 200 Free, 800 Free Relay
Claire Curzan: 200 Back, 800 Free Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay
Katie Grimes: 500 Freestyle, 400 IM
Anna Moesch: 400 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay
Maxine Parker: 200 Free Relay
Alex Walsh: 200 Fly, 200 Back, 800 Free Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay
Gretchen Walsh: 50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Back, 800 Free Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay

Women’s All-ACC Performances:
Aimee Canny: 200 Free, 200 Breast, 800 Free Relay
Claire Curzan: 50 Free, 100 Fly, 800 Free Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay
Cavan Gormsen: 500 Free, 1650 Free
Katie Grimes: 500 Frees, 400 IM
Anna Moesch: 100 Free, 200 Free, 400 Medley Relay
Maxine Parker: 200 Free Relay
Alex Walsh: 100 Fly, 200 Fly, 200 Breast, 800 Free Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay
Gretchen Walsh: 50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Back, 800 Free Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay
Emma Weber: 100 Breast

Men’s All-ACC Performances (2)
David King: 100 Back, 200 Back