University of Virginia junior Gretchen Walsh reaffirmed her status as an Olympic contender with a stellar performance at the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving championships held on Thursday.
In an impressive display of dominance, Walsh shattered her own collegiate, American, and US Open records during the morning preliminaries of the 50-yard freestyle, clocking in at 20.41 seconds. Undeterred, she followed up with an even swifter time of 20.37 seconds during the finals, securing the victory.
This marks the fourth occasion this season that Walsh has surpassed the record, having previously made waves at the ACC conference championships just last month.
Walsh’s remarkable speed compensated for her slightly delayed reaction times at the start of both races at the Jack Bauerle Pool in Athens, Georgia.
Despite an improvement from .76 seconds in the preliminaries to .75 seconds in the finals, she remained the sole competitor with a reaction time exceeding .70 seconds. Moreover, Walsh exhibited improvement between races at the flip, achieving a time of 9.88 seconds in the finals compared to 9.99 seconds in the preliminaries.
Adding to her accolades, Walsh set yet another record on Wednesday as she blazed through the first leg of Virginia’s 200-yard medley relay in 22.10 seconds – the fastest split ever recorded in the event. Jasmine Nocentini, Carly Novelline, and Maxine Parker completed their legs, clinching the championship title with a time of 1:31.58, nearly two seconds ahead of the competition.
Although they narrowly missed breaking UVA’s program record in the event by seven-hundredths of a second, their performance was undeniably exceptional.
The powerhouse performance of the Walsh sisters continues to propel Virginia’s swimming dynasty forward. With mere minutes between Gretchen’s triumph in the 50-yard free and her older sister Alex’s victory in the 200-yard individual medley, the siblings showcased their formidable prowess in the pool.
Alex, a senior and Olympic gold medalist, secured her third national title in the event with a time of 1:49.20, the second-fastest in the program’s history. Later, the dynamic duo teamed up to propel the Cavaliers to victory in the 200-yard free relay, further solidifying Virginia’s position as a formidable force in collegiate swimming.
Since Alex’s commitment to Virginia in January 2019, the Walsh sisters have consistently dominated the swimming scene, amassing a plethora of accolades and etching their names into the annals of All-American history.
Alex’s Olympic success at the Tokyo Games in 2021, where she clinched a silver medal in the 200-meter individual medley, was a testament to her remarkable talent.
Following in her sister’s footsteps, Gretchen secured gold in the 100 medley relay at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, setting the stage for her potential Olympic triumph in Paris this summer. Both siblings are expected to secure spots on the United States Olympic team, under the guidance of Cavaliers head coach Todd DeSorbo.
