Virginia Strengthens Leads on Second Night of NCAA Women's Swim Championships

The Cavaliers won three events and broke two records on Thursday night

Author:
Matt Newton
Publish date:
Mar 18, 2022 11:28 AM EDT

After the first day of competition at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, Virginia held a 16-point lead in the standings. On the second night, the defending champions stretched that lead to 82 points.

The Cavaliers won three events, breaking multiple records in the process, in a dominant performance on Thursday night at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

In the morning preliminaries, junior Kate Douglass was the talk of the meet as she set an NCAA and American record with a time of 20.87 in the 50-yard freestyle. That record stood for only a few hours, as Douglass went on to break that record again in the finals that night, touching in 20.84 to defend her NCAA title in the 50-yard freestyle. Douglass now holds the two-fastest times ever recorded in the event. Freshman Gretchen Walsh was right behind her teammate the entire day, as Douglass and Walsh were seeded 1-2 after the prelims and finished first and second in the finals, as Walsh finished in 20.95 seconds, becoming just the third swimmer to finish the 50-yard freestyle in less than 21 seconds.

Sophomore Alex Walsh also defended her NCAA title in the 200-yard individual medley. Walsh finished first with a time of 1:50.08, beating the rest of the field by over a second and shattering the NCAA and American record by nearly six-tenths of a second.

Virginia captured its third title of the evening in the 200-yard freestyle relay as the team of Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, and Gretchen Walsh held off Alabama for first-place with a time of 1:24.96.

Freshman Emma Weyant notched a podium finish in the 500-yard freestyle. Her mark of 4:34.99 was a career-best, third-fastest in program history, and good for second place at the meet behind Penn's Lia Thomas, who became the first transgender swimmer to win an NCAA title.

Virginia captured 136 points on Thursday and have a total of 210 points through the first two days of competition. The Cavaliers currently hold an 82-point lead over second-place Texas.

Current NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships Standings

1. Virginia - 210 points

2. Texas - 128 points

3. Stanford - 123 points

4. Alabama - 120 points

5. NC State - 99 points

6. Louisville - 95 points

7. California - 89 points

8. Ohio State - 83 points

9. Michigan - 66 points

10. Florida - 62 points

The third day of the 2022 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships will feature 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 on Friday.

See a full recap of Virginia's performance on the first day of NCAAs here: Virginia in First Place After Day One at NCAA Women's Swim Championships

Current NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships Standings

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