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Virginia Wins Third-Straight NCAA Women's Swim & Dive National Championship

The Cavaliers won 11 events, broke six NCAA titles, swept all five relay events, and cruised to their third-consecutive national title
Matt Newton|
Virginia Wins Third-Straight NCAA Women's Swim & Dive National Championship
Virginia Wins Third-Straight NCAA Women's Swim & Dive National Championship

The Virginia women's swimming & diving team has officially reached the level of dynasty. The Cavaliers won 11 total titles, swept all five relay events, and cruised to their third straight national championship, winning the 2023 NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship. 

With the victory already well in hand, UVA added three more titles on the final night of competition on Saturday. In the 100-yard freestyle, Gretchen Walsh was the last swimmer off the block, but she had no trouble catching and overtaking the rest of the field, taking the title for the second-straight year in a pool record time of 45.61. 

Kate Douglass capped her legendary career with a brilliant showing in her final individual collegiate swim, winning the title in the 200-yard breaststroke and taking down yet another NCAA and American record in the process, finishing in 2:01.29. For the second year in a row, Douglass set NCAA and American records in each of the three events she swam at NCAAs, once again delivering one of the greatest NCAA swimming performances of all time. Douglass finishes her career with seven individual NCAA titles. 

Alex Walsh was shot out of a cannon to start the 200-yard butterfly and was on pace to shatter the American record, but faltered down the stretch, allowing Emma Sticklen of Texas to catch up and take the title in 1:49.95, with Walsh finishing second in 1:50.23. 

In the final event of the meet, Virginia became the first team since Stanford in 2018 to sweep all five relay events at the NCAA Championships, as UVA's team of Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker, and Gretchen Walsh brought home the 400-yard freestyle relay title with a time of 3:05.84, breaking another NCAA and American record. 

Here is the complete list of 11 NCAA titles Virginia won this week in Knoxville: 

  • 200-yard medley relay: Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, Kate Douglass [NCAA and American record]
  • 800-yard freestyle relay: Aimee Canny, Alex Walsh, Reilly Tiltmann, Ella Nelson [school and pool record]
  • 200-yard individual medley: Kate Douglass [NCAA and American record]
  • 200-yard freestyle relay: Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, Maxine Parker [meet record]
  • 400-yard individual medley: Alex Walsh [program record]
  • 100-yard butterfly: Kate Douglass [NCAA and American record]
  • 100-yard backstroke: Gretchen Walsh [NCAA and American record]
  • 400-yard medley relay: Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Kate Douglass, Aimee Canny [pool record]
  • 100-yard freestyle: Gretchen Walsh [pool record]
  • 200-yard breaststroke: Kate Douglass [NCAA and American record]
  • 400-yard freestyle relay: Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker, Gretchen Walsh [NCAA and American record]

Virginia finished with a staggering 541.5 team points, beating second-place Texas (414.5) by 127 points. 

NCAA Women's Swim & Dive Championships Final Team Standings

  1. Virginia - 541.5
  2. Texas - 414.5
  3. Stanford - 333
  4. Louisville - 288
  5. NC State - 263
  6. Ohio State - 223
  7. Indiana - 219
  8. Tennessee - 214
  9. Florida - 179
  10. North Carolina - 152

Read full recaps of each day of the 2023 NCAA Women's Swim & Dive Championships here:

Day One - UVA Wins Both Relays on Opening Night of NCAA Swim & Dive Championships

Day Two - Virginia Strengthens Lead on Day Two at NCAA Swim & Dive Championships

Day Three - Virginia Wins Four More Titles on Day Four at NCAA Swim & Dive Championships

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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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