Virginia’s Alex Walsh breaks American, NCAA record in 200 IM

Alex Walsh of Virginia won the 200 IM at the NCAA Championships on Thursday, successfully defending her title while becoming the fastest yards swimmer in the event.

With a time of 1:50.08, the sophomore nearly became the first woman ever under 1:50 in the event. In the process, she rewrote the history books, breaking the NCAA, American and US Open records that were set by Ella Eastin in 2018 at a time of 1:50.67.

ALEX. WALSH.

𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊-𝐓𝐎-𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 2⃣0⃣0⃣ IM 𝓝𝓒𝓐𝓐 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓶𝓹𝓲𝓸𝓷 🥇

1:50.08 - AMERICAN, US OPEN, NCAA RECORD 🤯#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/DUc3ZEPRxG

— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) March 17, 2022

The swim was also a personal best for Walsh by over a second, who’s previous best time was a 1:51.53. She swam a 1:51.87 a year ago to win the national title.

Stanford freshman Torri Huske took second in a time of 1:51.81. Senior Isabel Ivey out of Cal took third.

An Olympic silver medalist in the 200 IM, Walsh told SwimSwam in a post race interview that she was “feeling really ready.”

“That’s really rare for me,” she said. “I feel like I get nerves a lot. And before this race I just knew what I had to do and I felt really awesome in warmup.

“I was really shocked to see that time on the board but I couldn’t be happier.”

The win continues to pad the points for Virginia. The Cavaliers are looking to defend last year’s NCAA title – their first ever – and are currently in the lead with 210 points.