Women’s Swimming and Diving Seeks Fifth Straight NCAA Title

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The top-ranked Virginia women’s swimming and diving team will compete in the 2025 NCAA Division I Championships at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Washington, from Wednesday, March 19 to Saturday, March 22.

A total of 18 competitors will represent UVA as the Cavaliers attempt to win their fifth consecutive NCAA team title. Cavaliers are scheduled to participate in 44 individual events (including diving).

Wednesday will kick off the Championships with two relay finals beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

Thursday-Saturday will begin with prelims at 1 p.m. ET and finals at 9 p.m. ET each day.

HOW TO FOLLOW

• All sessions will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required)
• Live scoring will be available on the Meet Mobile app

ORDER OF EVENTS

• Wednesday: 200 Medley Relay, 800 Free Relay
• Thursday: 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 200 Free Relay, 1m Diving
• Friday: 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 400 Medley Relay, 3m Diving
• Saturday: 1650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, Platform Diving, 400 Free Relay

SCHEDULED TO COMPETE FOR THE HOOS
Aimee Canny (200 Free, 500 Free, 200 Breast), Katie Christopherson (200 IM), Claire Curzan (50 Free, 100 Back, 200 Back), Cavan Gormsen (200 Free, 500 Free, 1650 Free), Katie Grimes (500 Free, 1650 Free, 400 IM), Bailey Hartman (500 Free, 100 Fly, 200 Fly), Leah Hayes (200 IM, 400 IM, 200 Breast), Tess Howley (200 Fly), Lizzy Kaye (1m, 3m, Platform), Anna Moesch (50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free), Carly Novelline (100 Fly, 200 Fly, 100 Back), Maxine Parker (50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free), Maggie Schalow (100 Fly), Zoe Skirboll (100 Breast), Alex Walsh (100 Breast, 200 IM, 200 Fly), Gretchen Walsh (50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Fly), Emma Weber (100 Breast, 200 Breast), Charlotte Wilson (200 Back)

TEAM NOTES

• UVA will be attempting to become the third ever school to win five consecutive NCAA team titles in women’s swimming and diving
• Stanford (1992 to 1996) and Texas (1984 to 1988) are the only schools to ever win five straight
• Virginia was ranked No. 1 in 2020 when the NCAA Championship was canceled due to COVID-19
• Virginia won its first NCAA swimming title in 2021
• The 2024 NCAA title was the 34th overall NCAA team championship for a University of Virginia team
• Grad student Alex Walsh looks to become the first swimmer to ever win five team titles and the first to win individual events in five different NCAA Championships
• Gretchen Walsh is vying for her fourth title.  Maxine Parker, Aimee Canny, Emma Weber and Lizzy Kaye are competing for their third team titles
• Eleven of the 18 Cavaliers competing helped lead the team to its 2024 NCAA team title
• Gretchen Walsh is the top seed in three individual events: 50 Free, 100 Fly, 100 Free. She is also the NCAA and American Record holder in those three events
• The Cavaliers are the top seed in three other individual events: 400 IM (Katie Grimes), 100 Breast (Alex Walsh), 200 Back (Claire Curzan)
• The Cavaliers have 15 individual seeds in the top eight and 25 in the top 16
• Gretchen Walsh looks to become a four-time champion in the 100 Free
• Alex Walsh looks to become a four-time champion in the 200 IM. Alex won the 400 IM each of the last three years but is not competing in it this year
• There have been 12 swimmers in NCAA history to win an event four times. Ella Easton (Stanford, 400 IM) and Lilly King (Indiana, 100 & 200 Breast) were the last two to do so in 2019. Three swimmers (including King) won two events four times, making it 15 times that a swimmer has won an event four times
• Alex Walsh comes into the championship with eight individual titles, tied for sixth-most all-time. Gretchen Walsh has six individual titles
• Sophomore Claire Curzan looks to become the first swimmer to ever win an individual event for two different schools. She won the 200 Back in 2023 as a freshman swimming for Stanford. She transferred to UVA after that season, but took a redshirt year last year (2024) to focus on international competition. This is her first NCAA Championship with the Cavaliers
• Virginia has the top-seeded relay in all five events (200 Free, 400 Free, 800 Free, 200 Medley, 400 Medley)
• Virginia is looking for its fourth-relay victory in every relay except the 800 Free. UVA was fourth last year in the event. The Cavaliers have won the 800 Free in two of the last four NCAA Championships

Career NCAA Event Titles

Alex Walsh leads the Cavaliers with 19 total golds, including eight individual, followed by Gretchen Walsh with 18 total and six individual gold.

Alex Walsh (19 Total, 8 Individual)
2024: 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 Breast, 200 Free Relay, 400 IM, 400 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay
2023: 400 IM, 400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Medley Relay
2022: 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 Fly, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay
2021: 200 IM, 800 Free Relay

Gretchen Walsh (18 Total, 6 Individual)
2024: 50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Fly, 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay
2023: 100 Back, 100 Free, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Medley Relay
2022:  100 Free, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Medley Relay

Maxine Parker (6)
2024: 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay
2023: 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay

Aimee Canny (2)
2023: 800 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay

Carly Novelline (1)
2024: 200 Medley Relay

Claire Curzan (1 Individual)
2023 (at Stanford): 200 Back

RECORDS

• Gretchen Walsh has set 12 Short Course Meters World Records (holds six current records, four individual (50 Fly, 100 Fly, 50 Free, 100 IM) and two relay
• Gretchen Walsh has set three Long Course Meters World Records (all current) including one individual (100 Fly) and two relay
• Walsh holds the world record in the 100 Fly in both SCM and LCM. She also has the NCAA and American Record in the 100 Fly for SCY
• After setting an NCAA Record in the 800 Free Relay at the ACC Championship, the Cavaliers now hold the NCAA Record in all five relays
• Cavaliers also hold eight of 14 NCAA Individual records for SCY and seven of 14 American records

AMERICAN (SCY) AND NCAA RECORDS HELD BY UVA SWIMMING

Event        Name                   Time         Meet
50 Free      Gretchen Walsh         20.37+^      2024 NCAA Championships
100 Free     Gretchen Walsh         44.83+^      2024 NCAA Championships
100 Back     Gretchen Walsh         48.10+^      2024 ACC Championships
200 Back     Claire Curzan         1:46.87+^     2024 Tennessee Invitational
200 Breast   Kate Douglass        2:01.29+^      2023 NCAA Championships
100 Fly      Gretchen Walsh         47.35+^      2024 Tennessee Invitational
200 Fly      Alex Walsh            1:49.16^      2024 ACC Championships
200 IM       Kate Douglass         1:48.37+^      2023 NCAA Championships
200 FR       Kate Douglass ,       1:23.87+       2023 ACC Championships         
             Gretchen Walsh, Lexi Cuomo , Alex Walsh
200 FR       Jasmine Nocentini,   1:23.63^       2024 ACC Championships
             Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker
400 FR       Kate Douglass ,      3:05.84+^      2023 NCAA Championships
             Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker, Gretchen Walsh
800 FR       Gretchen Walsh,      6:44.13^       2025 ACC Championships
Alex Walsh, Aimee Canny, Claire Curzan
200 MR       Gretchen Walsh,      1:31.51+^      2023 NCAA Championships
             Alex Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, Kate Douglass
400 MR       Claire Curzan,      3:19.58+^      2025 ACC Championships
             Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, Anna Moesch

+ American (SCY) Record
^ NCAA Record

VIRGINIA’S OLYMPIANS at this NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

• Gretchen Walsh: 2 golds, 2 silvers at Paris Olympics (including individual silver in 100 Fly)
• Alex Walsh: Two-time Olympian, silver medalist in Tokyo (200 IM)
• Katie Grimes: Two-time Olympian, Silver in Paris in the 400 IM, also competed in the 1500 Free (10th) and the 10K Open Water Swim (15th). Was the youngest member of the US Olympic Team in Tokyo at 15 years old (finished 4th in the 800 Free)
• Emma Weber: Olympic gold medalist Paris (4×100  Medley Relay – swam in prelims), competed in 100 Breast
• Aimee Canny: Two-time Olympian representing South Africa, competed in the 200 Free

Final Paris Olympic Medal Tally All Cavaliers: 12
Gold (5): 200 Breaststroke (Kate Douglass), Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay (Gretchen Walsh); 4×100 Medley Relay (Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass, Emma Weber)
Silver (6): 100 Fly (Gretchen Walsh), 200 IM (Kate Douglass), 400 IM (Katie Grimes), 4×100 Free Relay (Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh), 4×200 Free Relay (Paige Madden)
Bronze (1): 800 Free (Paige Madden)

2024 SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Gretchen Walsh was named the Best Female Swimmer of the 2024 World Aquatics 25m Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
• Walsh had 11 world records (nine individual, two relay) and seven world titles (five individual, two relay) in the six-day meet held in a 25-meter pool en route to being named the Best Female Swimmer. She won the title in all five of her individual events (50 SCM Freestyle, 100 SCM Freestyle, 50 SCM Buttery, 100 SCM Butterfly, and 100 SCM Individual Medley) and both of her relays (4×100 SCM Freestyle, 4×100 SCM Medley).
• Of her 15 individual swims in her five events, nine were world records. In the 100 Fly, she became the first swimmer to set a world record in the heats (53.24), semifinals (52.87) and finals (52.71) of the same event at a championship meet. Of the 30 world records set at the championship, Walsh was part of 11 of them.
• She is one of six US swimmers ever to win four or more titles at a single global championship, joining Mark Spitz, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Katie Ledecky and Caleb Dressel.
• Walsh is the second Cavalier swimmer to earn the Best Female Swimmer award at a world championship, as sophomore Claire Curzan earned the title at the 2024 World Aquatics Long Course (50m) Championships in Doha, Qatar in February.

2025 SCW Medals by UVA Athletes (25)

• Gretchen Walsh (7): 7 Gold (50 Free, 100 Free, 50 Fly, 100 Fly, 100 IM, 4×100 Free, 4×100 Medley)
• Kate Douglass (7): 4 Gold (200 IM, 200 Breast, 4×100 Free, 4×100 Medley), 2 Silver (50 Free, 100 IM), 1 Bronze (100 Free)
  Alex Walsh (6): 2 Gold (4×200 Free, 4×100 Medley), 2 Silver (200 IM, 4×100 Mixed Medley), 2 Bronze (200 Breast, 4×50 Mixed Medley)
• Katie Grimes (3): 1 Gold (4×200 Free), 1 Silver (400 IM), 1 Bronze (800 Free)
• Paige Madden (1): 1 Gold (4×200 Free)
• Emma Weber (1): 1 Gold (4×100 Medley)

2025 NCAA ZONE A DIVING RECAP

For the third consecutive year, Lizzy Kaye qualified for all three diving events at NCAA Championships. She won the 1m (602.90) and was the runner-up in the 3m (674.25). She placed 10th in platform. Finishing in the top 12 of Platform after earning qualifications in the 1m and 3m enabled her to opt into the field for the event at the NCAA Championships. Kaye was an All-American in the 3m last year, finishing eighth, and an honorable mention All-American in the 1m (13th).