Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh Help Virginia Destroy Record in 200 Freestyle Relay

Virginia's Kate Douglass & Gretchen Walsh -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh Lead Virginia to Another Record in 200 Freestyle Relay

For the second consecutive day, the University of Virginia women have knocked off the all-time record in a sprint relay. The Cavaliers’ team of Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Lexi Cuomo and Alex Walsh combined for a time of 1:23.87, knocking off the previous American, NCAA and U.S. Open record set by the same quartet at this meet one year ago (with Alex Walsh swimming second and Gretchen anchoring). Those four swimmers were also responsible for an all-time record in the 200 medley relay Tuesday.

Douglass led off in 20.95, which lowered her own ACC meet record in the 50 free (21.00) and tied for the fifth-fastest performance in history, just 0.11 off her American record of 20.84. Gretchen Walsh, who ranks third all-time in the 50 free behind Douglass and Abbey Weitzeil, posted a career-best 20.48 split on the second leg, beating the 20.58 she swam on two separate occasions last season, and Cuomo went 21.14 on the third leg to clobber her top split from last season by almost three tenths. Finally, Alex Walsh closed in 21.30.

The Cavaliers won the race by almost a second-and-a-half, with Louisville’s team of Gabi Albiero, Christiana Regenauer, Julia Dennis and Ella Welch coming in second in 1:25.29. Despite finishing well off the pace of the record-breaking Virginia team, Louisville’s time actually eclipsed the 1:25.47 that Alabama swam to finish second in this event at the NCAA Championships last season. Albiero led off in 21.57, and her three teammates all went under 21.5, with Regenauer posting the top mark at 21.03.

NC State’s group of Katharine Berkoff, Kylee Alons, Annabel Crush and Abby Arens claimed third in 1:26.54, with Berkoff leading off in 21.66 and Alons hitting a 21.31 split on the second leg.

Results

Event 7  Women 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
         MEET: # 1:24.47  2/16/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
                          K Douglass, A Walsh, A Cuomo, G Walsh
         CONF: % 1:24.47  2/16/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
                          K Douglass, A Walsh, A Cuomo, G Walsh
         AMER: $ 1:24.47  2/16/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
                          K Douglass, A Walsh, A Cuomo, G Walsh
         USOP: & 1:24.47  2/16/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
                          K Douglass, A Walsh, A Cuomo, G Walsh
         NCAA: ! 1:24.47  2/16/2022 Virginia, University of, UVA-VA
                          K Douglass, A Walsh, A Cuomo, G Walsh
     GAC Pool: ^ 1:25.78  3/18/2021 California, CAL-P
                          E Riley, E Gantriis, E Garcia, I Ivey
                 1:28.43  A
                 1:29.21  B
    School                           Seed     Finals       Points 
==================================================================================
  1 UVA  'A'                      1:26.96    1:23.87#A       64  
     1) Douglass, Kate C SR           2) r:0.28 Walsh, Gretchen SO    
     3) r:0.17 Cuomo, Lexi SR         4) r:0.22 Walsh, Alex JR        
    r:+0.65  20.95        41.43 (20.48)
        1:02.57 (21.14)     1:23.87 (21.30)
  2 Louisville  'A'               1:27.03    1:25.29^A       56  
     1) Albiero, Gabi M JR            2) r:0.11 Regenauer, Chriiana SR
     3) r:0.24 Dennis, Julia FR       4) r:0.12 Welch, Ella FR        
    r:+0.64  21.57        42.60 (21.03)
        1:04.03 (21.43)     1:25.29 (21.26)
  3 NC State  'A'                 1:27.88    1:26.54 A       54  
     1) Berkoff, Katharine F SR       2) r:0.08 Alons, Kylee SR       
     3) r:0.28 Crush, Annabel SO      4) r:0.29 Arens, Abby JR        
    r:+0.71  21.66        42.97 (21.31)
        1:05.10 (22.13)     1:26.54 (21.44)
  4 UNC  'A'                      1:26.99    1:27.69 A       52  
     1) Countie, Grace K SR           2) r:0.28 Nel, Olivia SO        
     3) r:0.20 Pattison, Greer SO     4) r:0.30 Smith, Skyler SO      
    r:+0.71  21.64        43.47 (21.83)
        1:05.48 (22.01)     1:27.69 (22.21)
  5 VT  'A'                       1:28.97    1:28.68 B       50  
     1) Moore, Madelyn E SR           2) r:0.09 Shackelford, Sarah SR 
     3) r:0.33 Weiler Sastre, rmen FR 4) r:0.10 Bentz, Caroline JR    
    r:+0.63  22.47        44.29 (21.82)
        1:06.75 (22.46)     1:28.68 (21.93)
  6 Duke  'A'                     1:30.11    1:29.18 B       47  
     1) Wall, Tatum                   2) r:0.19 Snyder, Sarah         
     3) r:0.11 Smith, McKenna         4) r:0.17 Foley, Sally          
    r:+0.75  22.33        44.58 (22.25)
        1:07.02 (22.44)     1:29.18 (22.16)
  6 PITT  'A'                     1:31.19    1:29.18 B       47  
     1) Yendell, Sophie JR            2) r:0.33 Detwiler, Tatum SR    
     3) r:0.25 Jansen, Claire FR      4) r:0.28 Fuhrmann, Kate SR     
    r:+0.69  22.04        44.37 (22.33)
        1:06.87 (22.50)     1:29.18 (22.31)
  8 FSU  'A'                      1:30.74    1:29.59         44  
     1) Kurdi, Zsofia JR              2) r:0.19 Jernstedt, Edith SO   
     3) r:0.21 Muzito, Gloria SO      4) r:0.24 McDonald, Maddie 5Y   
    r:+0.72  22.90        45.08 (22.18)
        1:07.28 (22.20)     1:29.59 (22.31)

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use