Four UVA Swimmers Represent Team USA at FINA World Championships

Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, Emma Weyant, and Leah Smith will swim for Team USA at the FINA World Championships in Budapest this week

Matt Newton | Jun 16, 2022

Three current Virginia swimmers and one UVA alum will represent Team USA at the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, which run from June 17th through July 3rd. Leah Smith (UVA '17) joins current UVA swimmers Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, and Emma Weyant on the roster. Virginia swimming & diving head coach Todd DeSorbo will also serve as the head coach for the the Team USA Women's Swimming Team.

According to the Team USA FINA World Championships roster, Leah Smith is available to compete in three events: the 400-meter freestyle (6/18), 800-meter freestyle (6/23), and 4x200-meter freestyle relay (6/22).

Smith has also been named one of the three team captains for the U.S. women's swimming team, alongside Lilly King and Natalie Hinds, as voted by the 41 members of Team USA's swimming team. This is not the first time Smith has been voted a captain on Team USA, as she was also a team captain at the 2019 FINA World Championships.

"I'm super honored to have been named a captain," Smith said. "I'm really proud of my other fellow captains. I think we're going to bring a lot of experience and fond memories with us to Budapest. I can't wait to see what we can accomplish together and with the team."

Smith played an instrumental role in the building of the swimming program in her time at UVA. She earned All-American honors in 16 events over the course of her four-year career, won ACC titles in 13 events, and won individual NCAA titles in both the 500-yard freestyle and 1650-yard freestyle events at both the 2015 and 2016 NCAA Championships. At the international level, Smith is a two-time Olympic medalist, taking bronze in the 400-meter freestyle and winning gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Leah Smith is joined by three Virginia swimmers who, in addition to winning the 2022 NCAA National Championship back in March, also have experience winning medals for Team USA at the international level.

Junior Kate Douglass is coming off of one of the greatest NCAA Championship performances in the history of collegiate swimming. Douglass became the first swimmer to ever win three individual NCAA titles in three different strokes in the same meet. She won the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, and 200-yard breaststroke and broke American records in all three events. Now, Douglass, who won a bronze medal in the 200-meter individual medley at the 2020 Olympics, returns to the international stage and will compete in the 200-meter breaststroke (6/23) and the 4x100-meter freestyle relay (6/18) for Team USA.

Sophomore Alex Walsh finished just ahead of Douglass in the 200-meter individual medley at the 2020 Olympics, earning the silver medal. Walsh also won three individual titles at the 2022 NCAA Championships in the 200-yard individual medley, 400-yard individual medley, and 200-yard butterfly. Walsh and Douglass were also members of UVA's title-winning 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard freestyle relay, and 400-yard medley relay teams. Walsh is slated to swim in the 200-meter individual medley (6/19) and 4x200-meter freestyle relay (6/22) at the FINA World Championships.

Coming off of a phenomenal first-year campaign at UVA, Emma Weyant will swim the 400-meter individual medley (6/25) for Team USA. Weyant won the 500-yard freestyle ACC title and finished second in that event at the NCAA Championships. Weyant also earned a silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

See the full schedule of events for the 2022 FINA World Championships here.

Preliminary heats for the swimming events will begin each day at 3am (ET) and will be streamed on the FINA Facebook page. NBC Sports will have live coverage of the swimming finals each day starting at 12pm (ET).

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