20-03-2025
NCAA Championships Day 1: UVA Wins The 200 Medley Relay With A New Record
ATHENS, GEORGIA - MARCH 23: Gretchen Walsh of the Virginia Cavaliers competes in the Women's 400 ... More Yard Freestyle Relay finals during the Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships held at Ramsey Center on March 23, 2024 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Alex Slitz/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
To no one's surprise, on day one of the 2025 Women's Division I NCAA Championships, the University of Virginia women claimed a win in the first relay event, the 200-yard medley. Eyeing their fifth consecutive national title, Virginia posted a time of 1:31.10, taking down their own NCAA, American, and U.S. Open record of 1:31.51 set in 2023.
Stacked with three Olympians, Virginia opened the meet with Claire Curzan, Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, and Maxine Parker. Thanks to Curzan's opening lead split of 23.17, the swimmers dominated the race from the start. Gretchen Walsh, maintaining her momentum in the butterfly, put up an impressive split of 20.88. Her time was 0.1 seconds away from the fastest split ever and helped her outsplit 24 of the 26 freestyle legs in the medley relay.
'I'm definitely pleased with the win and the record. That race is notoriously always difficult because it's the first one. But I'm really happy that we got the record because I knew that we would be capable. This is probably the best team UVA has ever seen, and I know that we're going to have way more historic swims like that in the next couple days.' said Walsh
Notably, Stanford placed second with a program-record time of 1:33.00. The Cardinals were led by Annika Parkhe, Lucy Thomas, Gigi Johnson, and Torri Huske, who returned to college swimming after a year amid training for the Paris Olympics.
In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Stanford's Caroline Bricker (participating in her 3rd 200 free of her collegiate career), Aurora Roghair, Lillie Nordmann, and Kayla Wilson placed first. Posting one of the fastest times in history, 6:46.98, the four Cardinals won the event for the first time since 2022 by nearly five seconds. Virginia trailed behind by posting a time of 6:51.29, following anchor Katie Grimes' performance.
Currently, Stanford and Virginia are tied in first place with 74 points, followed by Florida at 60.
With head coach Todd DeSorbo's guidance, Virginia women are aiming for their fifth consecutive national title. In the first three wins, the UVA claimed the victories with ease, outscoring the competition by at least 127 points. In 2024 they won the meet by 86.5 points. With four Olympic swimmers in the 2025 squad, the Cavaliers are aiming to become the third-ever team in history to clinch five NCAA titles in a row in women's swimming and diving.
