Virginia Swim & Dive Adds Three Quality Transfers

Three incoming transfers will look to make an impact on one of the top swim programs in the nation next season

Matt Newton | Jul 5, 2022

Todd DeSorbo is building a swimming dynasty at the University of Virginia.

UVA's women's swimming & diving team won its second-straight NCAA National Championship in March and then had three swimmers - Alex Walsh, Kate Douglass, and Emma Weyant - win medals at the FINA World Championships in Budapest last month. With all three of those swimmers and most of the core of last year's team set to return next season, the Cavaliers will be an early favorite to defend their national title once again.

Along with those returning champs will be two key newcomers, as the Virginia swimming & diving program added three transfers for next season, one to the men's team and two to the two-time defending national champion women's team.

On May 7th, Georgia transfer Maxine Parker announced her commitment to UVA. Parker, a rising junior, has up to three years of eligibility remaining with the bonus COVID year. She swam at NCAAs in each of her two seasons as Georgia and has experience swimming the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, 400-yard freestyle relay, and 800-yard freestyle relay. The 800-yard freestyle relay was the only relay UVA did not win at the NCAA Championships this year, as the Cavaliers finished second to Stanford, so Parker could help the Hoos chase down the Cardinal in that event. Her times in the 200-yard freestyle could also help UVA tremendously next season.

Sam Baron transferred to Virginia on May 24th after two seasons at UCLA. A highly-touted high school recruit with impressive times even before arriving at UCLA, Baron had a fantastic freshman season, setting a program record in a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly at the Pac-12 Championships in 2021. She also finished fourth in the 200-yard butterfly and qualified for the NCAAs in both categories. Her sophomore season was less successful, but she still improved her personal bests in both the 200-yard individual medley and and 200-yard freestyle. Like Parker, Baron is a rising junior with potentially three years of eligibility remaining.

The Virginia men's swimming team, which admittedly has some catching up to do in order to keep up with the wild success of the women's team, received a significant commitment from Tim Connery from Texas on July 4th. In just one season at Texas, Connery won the Big 12 Championship in the 100-yard butterfly and qualified for three individual events at the NCAA Championships: 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, and 200-yard individual medley. Connery could potentially see time in several events for the Cavaliers, but he is most likely to swim the butterfly leg in the medley relays. He has three years of eligibility remaining.

2022-2023 looks to be another fantastic season in the pool for the Virginia Cavaliers.

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Published Jul 5, 2022

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.