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Virginia Wins Fourth-Straight ACC Women's Swim & Dive Championship

The UVA women won 14 individual ACC titles, broke four American records, and captured the 2023 ACC Swim & Diving Championship

Matt Newton

For the fourth-consecutive season, the Virginia Cavaliers are the ACC Women's Swimming & Diving Champions.Β 

The Cavaliers added three more ACC titles on the final night of competition on Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, giving them titles in 14 of the 18 events in the meet as Virginia cruised to the 2023 ACC Championship with a team point total of 1,536 points, 264 points ahead of second-place NC State.Β 

ACC Women's Swim & Dive Championships Final Standings

  1. Virginia - 1536
  2. NC State - 1272
  3. Louisville - 1077.5
  4. North Carolina - 813
  5. Duke - 718.5
  6. Virginia Tech - 654
  7. Florida State - 586
  8. Notre Dame - 539
  9. Georgia Tech - 388
  10. Miami - 332
  11. Pittsburgh - 315
  12. Boston College - 179

Virginia's Maddie Donohoe started the night with a second-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle, finishing the marathon race in 15:59.54, only trailing Georgia Tech's Deniz Ertan (15:55.77). UVA's Claire Tuggle and Sophia Knapp finished seventh and eighth in the event, respectively.Β 

Reilly Tiltmann notched a third-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:50.96, trailing NC State's Emma Muzzy and Kennedy Noble. Ella Bathurst clocked a seventh-place finish in the event.Β 

Virginia went 1-2 in the 100-yard freestyle and had four swimmers in the top seven. Kate Douglass became the third woman to ever break 46 seconds in the event, setting an ACC record with her time of 45.86 to win the ACC title. Gretchen Walsh finished second in 46.32. Lexi Cuomo placed sixth and Aimee Canny finished seventh.Β 

Kate Douglass won her third individual ACC title of the week with her win in the 100-yard freestyle and Alex Walsh joined her quickly after, dominating the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:03.68, beating the rest of the field by more than three seconds. UVA's Anna Keating and Emma Weber finished sixth and seventh, respectively.Β 

Finally, the Cavaliers completed their sweep of the relay events by breaking yet another NCAA, US Open, and American record in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Virginia's team of Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass, Lexi Cuomo, and Alex Walsh finished in 3:06.83, breaking UVA's own record set at the 2022 NCAA Championships by eight one-hundredths of a second.Β 

Kate Douglass was named the Most Valuable Swimmer of the ACC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships after winning three individual ACC titles and four relay titles. Alex Walsh also won three ACC titles and was part of four relay-winning teams.Β 

Here's a summary of the ACC titles Virginia won this week:Β 

  • 200-yard medley relayΒ - Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, Kate Douglass (NCAA, US Open, American record)
  • 800-yard freestyle relay - Reilly Tiltmann, Aimee Canny, Claire Tuggle, and Ella Nelson
  • 200-yard freestyle relay - Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, Alex Walsh (NCAA, US Open, American record)
  • 400-yard medley relay - Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Kate Douglass, Aimee Canny (NCAA, US Open, American record)
  • 400-yard freestyle relay - Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass, Lexi Cuomo, Alex Walsh (NCAA, US Open, American record)
  • Ella Nelson - 500-yard freestyle, 400-yard individual medley
  • Kate Douglass - 200-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly (US Open and NCAA record), 100-yard freestyle (ACC record)
  • Alex Walsh - 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke
  • Gretchen Walsh - 50-yard freestyle

On the men's side, Virginia finished fourth in the team standings with 946 points. NC State ran away with the ACC Championship with 1,615 points. Virginia Tech had a big final night on Saturday to push up into second place with 1,008 points. The Hokies finished above the Cavaliers in the standings, so the Virginia Tech men earn a point in the Commonwealth Clash. Virginia's women also earned a point towards the 2022-2023 Commonwealth Clash, which UVA now leads 6.0-4.0.Β 

ACC Men's Swim & Dive Championships Final Standings

  1. NC State - 1615
  2. Virginia Tech - 1008
  3. Louisville - 981.5
  4. Virginia - 946
  5. Notre Dame - 799.5
  6. Florida State - 661
  7. Pittsburgh - 660.5
  8. North Carolina - 514
  9. Georgia Tech - 484.5
  10. Duke - 321
  11. Miami - 210
  12. Boston College - 158

Virginia will compete in the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in March. The NCAA Zone A Diving Championships will take place March 6-8. The NCAA Women's Championship will be held March 15-18 in Knoxville, Tennessee and the NCAA Men's Championship will be March 22-25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.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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