On This Date: Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass Medal at Tokyo Olympics

One year ago today, two UVA swimmers shared the podium at the Summer Olympics

One year ago, two Wahoos shared the podium at the Tokyo Olympics :: Courtesy of Rob Schumacher/USA TODAY Sports

One year ago today, two Virginia swimmers shared the podium at the Tokyo Olympics. On July 28th, 2021 (July 29th in Japan), Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass earned medals in the same event for Team USA at the Summer Olympics. 

After performing well in the heats and semifinal races, Walsh and Douglass qualified for the final in the 200-meter individual medley, meaning they were in the top eight in the world in this event. Kate Douglass was seeded first in lane four, and Alex Walsh was seeded third in lane three.

With a chance at an Olympic medal on the line, the two 19-year-old swimmers dove into the pool. After the butterfly leg, Douglass was in second, trailing China’s 15-year old Yu Yiting by 0.21 seconds. Alex Walsh sped through the backstroke leg to move into third place as the race was halfway done, and Douglass fell out of the top three.

Swimming is a sport often decided by hundredths of a second, so it is thrilling to watch and difficult to predict who will win. After qualifying for the Olympics as the top two swimmers in the event, where the difference in the top three finishers was 0.04 seconds, Walsh and Douglass knew firsthand that the tiniest bit of time could be the difference between elation and heartbreak.

Moving into the second half of the race, Walsh performed a strong breaststroke leg, as she is known for specializing in the middle 100 meters of the race. Walsh was in first place at the 150 meter mark, but Japan’s Yui Ohashi trailed by just 0.07 seconds and Britain’s Abbie Wood by 0.21 seconds.

Douglass was still very much in contention, as she joined Walsh, Ohashi, and Wood down the stretch for what boiled down into a four-person race. Douglass has traditionally finished strong in the freestyle leg, and this race was no different.

Ohashi turned on the jets from lane two to put herself in the lead, where she finished 0.13 seconds ahead of Alex Walsh, who clocked in at 2:08.65 to secure the silver. Kate Douglass was able to pass Abbie Wood and finish at 2:09.04, just 0.09 seconds ahead of Wood to snag third place and a bronze medal.

When the realization hit that the UVA and USA teammates had won silver and bronze medals, they embraced at the lane line dividing their two lanes. Winning an Olympic medal is an incredible achievement, and the fact that these two Cavalier swimmers were able to do it side-by-side was truly spectacular. 

National Champions ➡️ Olympic Medalists 🥈🥉

What a year for @UVASwimDive's Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/AbIaxCJCjR

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) July 28, 2021

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