UVA Swimming & Diving Breaks Two American Records at the ACC Championships

The Cavaliers set the American records for both the men's and women's 200-yard freestyle relay

Matt Newton | Feb 16, 2022

The Virginia swimming and diving program broke not one, but two American records at the ACC Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday night. Both the UVA women's and men's swim teams set new U.S. records in the 200-yard freestyle relay events as part of a fantastic series of performances for the Cavaliers on the second day of the ACC Championships at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

The team of Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, and Gretchen Walsh broke the American record in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:24.47. Freshman Gretchen Walsh sealed the deal with an incredible 20.58 split to anchor the relay. UVA won the event by more than two seconds over second-place NC State.

All 1:24.47 of our 𝒜𝑀𝐸𝑅𝐼𝒞𝒜𝒩 𝑅𝐸𝒞𝒪𝑅𝒟 200 free relay! 🤯 🇺🇸 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/xHxBt8QD0z
— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) February 16, 2022

Then, the UVA men's team of Matt Brownstead, Matt King, Connor Boyle, and August Lamb broke the American record for the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:14.467.

The victory was the first ACC Championship in a relay event for the UVA men since 2013.

It was a historic moment for the Virginia swimming & diving program, breaking two U.S. records in a matter of minutes in back-to-back events.

The No. 1 Virginia women's swimming & diving team, which came into the second day of competition in fourth place in the ACC Championships, jumped into first place by winning all four events on Wednesday night.

Kate Douglass set a new UVA and ACC record with a time of 21.00 to win the ACC title in the 50-yard freestyle. Gretchen Walsh finished in second with a time of 21.04, the second-fastest time in school history.

Alex Walsh defended her ACC title in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing in a season-best 1:52.38. Emma Weyant captured her first-career ACC title, finishing first in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 4:37.23. Maddie Donohoe turned in a time of 4:38.82 in the 500-yard freestyle for a third-place finish.

All of this comes after an opening night that saw UVA set a new ACC record with a 6:53.57 finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The team of Reilly Tiltmann, Ella Nelson, Ella Bathurst, and Alex Walsh finished first to win Virginia's 15th consecutive ACC Championship in the event.

After day two of competition, here are the standings for the ACC Swimming & Diving Championships:

1. Virginia - 421 points

2. NC State - 415 points

3. Louisville - 274 points

4. Duke - 232 points

5. Virginia Tech - 221 points

⚔️ #Hoos with the Top Spot after Day 2⃣! pic.twitter.com/RHp0y0DfZ1
— The ACC (@theACC) February 17, 2022

The win for the UVA men in the 200-yard freestyle relay pushed the Cavaliers into third place in the ACC Championships. The men's standings after day two are as follows:

1. NC State - 506.5 points

2. Louisville - 361.5 points

3. Virginia - 336 points

4. Virginia Tech - 319 points

5. Georgia Tech - 264 points

Competition in the 2022 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships continues on Thursday, with prelims starting at 10am and the finals taking place at 6pm. You can watch the Hoos chase more ACC titles on ACC Network Extra.

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