Cavaliers Now

Virginia Strengthens Lead on Day Two at NCAA Swim & Dive Championships

UVA added two more national titles on Thursday night and now leads by 46.5 points at the NCAA Women's Swim & Dive Championships

Matt Newton

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

Behind a spectacular performance by Kate Douglass in the 200-yard individual medley and a third relay title for the Cavaliers in the 200-yard freestyle relay, Virginia strengthened its lead to 46.5 points on Thursday night at the NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee.Β 

Coming into NCAAs, Alex Walsh held the NCAA record in the 200-yard individual medley at 1:50.08, but Walsh, UVA teammate Kate Douglass, and Stanford's Torri Huske were expected to challenge that record on Thursday night. Sure enough, all three swimmers came in under that previous record, but Kate Douglass stole the show, shattering the NCAA and American record with an incredible time of 1:48.37, beating the previous record by 1.71 seconds. Huske took second place for Stanford in 1:50.06, beating out Alex Walsh (1:50.07) by just one one-hundredth of a second. Virginia took first, third, and fourth place in the event as Ella Nelson finished fourth in 1:53.13, a personal best.Β 

Gretchen Walsh got a slow start off the block in the 50-yard freestyle and she managed to catch up and challenge LSU's Maggie MacNeil, but couldn't quite complete the comeback as MacNeil set a new NCAA record with a time of 20.79. Walsh was the runner-up with a time of 20.85. UVA teammate Lexi Cuomo took eighth in 21.71.Β 

North Carolina's Aranza Vazquez Montana won the 1-meter diving event for North Carolina with a total score of 358.75.Β 

In the final event of the night, Virginia made it 3 for 3 in relay events as the Cavalier team of Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, and Maxine Parker won the title with a time of 1:24.51, taking down a meet record previously held by Cal in 2019. UVA edged the rest of the field by more than a second, as Stanford took second in 1:25.70 and Louisville was third in 1:25.73.Β 

With the results of Thursday's events taken into account, Virginia now has 208.5 total points and leads second-place Texas (162) by 46.5 points with two more days of competition remaining in the meet.Β 

NCAA Women's Swim & Dive Championships Team Standings (through day 2)

  1. Virginia - 208.5
  2. Texas - 162
  3. Louisville - 117
  4. Stanford - 106
  5. Ohio State - 93
  6. Indiana - 83
  7. Florida - 76
  8. California - 74
  9. North Carolina - 73
  10. Georgia - 66.5

UVA will look to take one step closer to winning a third-straight national title on Friday with the 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, 3-meter diving, and 400-yard medley relay.Β Prelims are at 10am and the finals begin at 6pm with all of the action available for streaming on ESPN+.Β 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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