Aimee Canny Taking on Larger Role for Virginia in Final Season
Through her first three years racing or the Virginia Cavaliers, Aimee Canny has provided a key supporting role in dominant performances at the ACC and NCAA Championships. Each season, she has qualified for one championship final and one consolation final in her individual races at the national meet, and she won a pair of relay national titles as a freshman. The only time Virginia’s Olympic-medal-winning trio of Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh and Claire Curzan joined forces for an 800 freestyle relay, Canny provided the fourth leg as the Cavaliers swam the fastest time in history.
Canny is best known for her abilities as a mid-distance freestyler, both in college competition and internationally. Representing South Africa, she placed 12th in the 200-meter free at the Paris Olympics and the 2025 World Championships. But recently, major improvements in breaststroke and individual medley have made Canny an X-factor for Virginia entering this championship season. Head coach Todd DeSorbo and his staff have another versatile piece who could fill numerous holes for a team in pursuit of consecutive national title No. 6.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
On the eve of conference championship meets, Canny ranks among top-eight performers in the country in five individual events: she is third in the 500 free at 4:34.26, behind only defending national champion Jillian Cox and Kennedi Dobson, while sitting fourth in the 200 breast (2:06.54), fifth in the 200 IM (1:54.05) and sixth in the 400 IM (4:03.36). She achieved the performance in the long medley this past weekend at the Cavalier Invite, throwing her hat into an event she has scarcely competed in throughout her college career.
The 200 free, the race in which Canny placed third nationally in 2023 and fourth a year later, has seen so many exceptional performances this season that Canny ranks only eighth despite her top time of 1:41.85. She achieved that result as part of a three-win dual meet against North Carolina during the fall season. Of course, she remains a key part of Virginia’s 800 free relay alongside current No. 1 swimmer Anna Moesch and some combination of Curzan, Cavan Gormsen, Madi Mintenko, Leah Hayes and Katie Grimes.
Also at the Cavalier Invite, Canny clocked 47.79 in the 100 free to move into the top-30 in the country, and she is the likely fourth swimmer on Virginia’s 400 free relay, still a national-title contender in the post-Walsh era with Moesch, Curzan and Sara Curtis on the team. She could also make an appearance as a medley relay breaststroker; her 58.30 in the 100 breast sits at No. 13 in the country, within four tenths of Emma Weber and good for second-best on the Cavaliers’ roster.
The distance events are unlikely to be options for Canny, but she has gone 9:35.38 in the 1000 and 16:14.33 in the 1650 this year, putting her among the country’s 30 best performers in a whopping nine events, at least for the time being.
When considering her individual events for the NCAA Championships, Canny and her coaches will have tough decisions. With the new meet schedule debuting this season, she will have to pick between the 200 free and 400 IM for the first full day of competition. A day later, the 200 breast and 500 free take place back-to-back, leaving Canny with the opportunity to race only one of the events that are arguably her best. For the last day, the 200 IM is the obvious choice.
Regardless of which races she opts for, Canny is poised for her biggest point haul in her final year racing for Virginia. Combined with Curzan returning as a multi-event title threat and Moesch’s emergence in the freestyle races, Virginia has another group eyeing a title as spring beckons.