Virginia clinched the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving National Championship on Saturday, defending their inaugural national title from 2021.
Heading into the final night of competition in Atlanta, Virginia had all but locked up the championship, but continued to add to their lead Saturday. Freshman Kate Walsh first captured the NCAA title in the 100-yard freestyle, clocking a time of 46.05 for a pool record and the fourth-fastest time in the event.
Gretchen Walsh = 100 Free 𝓝𝓒𝓐𝓐 𝓒𝓗𝓐𝓜𝓟𝓘𝓞𝓝 🥇 49.05 - UVA & Pool record, 4th fastest performer 💪#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/LFqXAUyvFP— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) March 19, 2022
Gretchen Walsh = 100 Free 𝓝𝓒𝓐𝓐 𝓒𝓗𝓐𝓜𝓟𝓘𝓞𝓝 🥇 49.05 - UVA & Pool record, 4th fastest performer 💪#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/LFqXAUyvFP
Virginia’s Kate Douglass broke three American records for three gold medals in three different strokes at the NCAA Championships. The junior’s records came in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard breaststroke.
Kate Douglass = "G.O.A.T." - @RowdyGaines 3⃣ 𝘼𝙈𝙀𝙍𝙄𝘾𝘼𝙉 𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙊𝙍𝘿𝙎 🤯3⃣ 𝗡𝗖𝗔𝗔 𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗟𝗘𝗦 🥇 200 Breast Champion - 2:02.19 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/Kt0LFCvM9R— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) March 19, 2022
Kate Douglass = "G.O.A.T." - @RowdyGaines 3⃣ 𝘼𝙈𝙀𝙍𝙄𝘾𝘼𝙉 𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙊𝙍𝘿𝙎 🤯3⃣ 𝗡𝗖𝗔𝗔 𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗟𝗘𝗦 🥇 200 Breast Champion - 2:02.19 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/Kt0LFCvM9R
Alex Walsh also put on a world-class performance for the Cavaliers, clinching her third NCAA title in the 200-yard butterfly with a school-record time of 1:50.79.
Alex Walsh goes 3⃣-for-3⃣ 🤩200 Fly 𝓝𝓒𝓐𝓐 𝓒𝓗𝓐𝓜𝓟𝓘𝓞𝓝 🥇 1:50.79 - UVA Record#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/zAxmDhshr3— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) March 19, 2022
Alex Walsh goes 3⃣-for-3⃣ 🤩200 Fly 𝓝𝓒𝓐𝓐 𝓒𝓗𝓐𝓜𝓟𝓘𝓞𝓝 🥇 1:50.79 - UVA Record#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/zAxmDhshr3
Virginia broke another American record in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Douglass, Alex Walsh, Reilly Tiltmann and Gretchen Walsh teamed up for the historic swim to secure Virginia’s 11th title of the meet.
Final event of the championships, another AMERICAN RECORD 🇺🇸NCAA Champions 🥇Kate DouglassAlex WalshReilly TiltmannGretchen Walsh400 Free Relay - 3:06.91 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/XtQt8CLhqo— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) March 20, 2022
Final event of the championships, another AMERICAN RECORD 🇺🇸NCAA Champions 🥇Kate DouglassAlex WalshReilly TiltmannGretchen Walsh400 Free Relay - 3:06.91 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/XtQt8CLhqo
Texas finished 145.5 points behind Virginia, narrowly edging out Stanford for second place.
Erica Sullivan shined for the Longhorns, taking second place in the 1650 free Saturday. Texas added 42 points to their tally in the platform competition, with Junior Jordan Skilken taking bronze and junior Janie Boyle finishing in fourth.