NCAA Women’s Championships: Alex Walsh Goes Wire-to-Wire in 400 IM Triumph; Becomes Fourth-Fastest Performer Ever in “New Event”<\/strong><\/p>\n

After clinching her second consecutive NCAA title in the 400 IM in American-record time Thursday evening,\u00a0Alex Walsh<\/strong> turned her attention to the 400 IM, which she would be racing on the NCAA level for the first time. She would be facing a tough field that included defending champion\u00a0Brooke Forde<\/strong> of Stanford and 400-meter IM Olympic silver medalist\u00a0Emma Weyant<\/strong>, but just like the earlier 200 IM, Walsh led from start to finish.<\/p>\n

Walsh was more than a second ahead of the field after the butterfly leg, and after flirting with American-record pace for the first half of the race, Walsh ended up becoming the fourth-fastest performer in history in a three-second victory. Walsh touched in 3:57.25, a time that only\u00a0Ella Eastin<\/strong>,\u00a0Katie Ledecky<\/strong> and\u00a0Katinka Hosszu<\/strong> have ever bettered.<\/p>\n

Forde placed second in 4:00.41, while Walsh’s Virginia teammates went 3-4 with Ella Nelson<\/strong> finishing third (4:02.45) and Weyant placing fourth (4:03.17). Forde is one of only 11 swimmers in history to ever break 4:00 in the 400 IM, but Friday’s effort was her fastest since 2019. In the B-final, Ohio State fifth-year\u00a0Kristen Romano<\/strong> blasted a time of 4:02.13, which would have been good enough for third place in the championship final.<\/p>\n

At her freshman year NCAA Championships, Walsh won the 200 IM but finished fifth in her other two individual events, the 200 freestyle and 200 breaststroke. Walsh has never raced the 400 IM at a major championship meet before this one, but after swimming a massive lifetime best at the midseason Tennessee Invitational, it became clear to Walsh and her Virginia coaches that adding the longer medley event to her program would be a smart call. That decision paid off with a title.<\/p>\n

“I was a little bit nervous because I don\u2019t swim it very often, so the race strategy, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve completely mastered it yet. I\u2019ve been doing a lot of 400 IM work this whole season, and that\u2019s just made me more confident in my ability to finish on the freestyle,” Walsh said. “I wanted to go out with that easy speed on the butterfly, and then that last 300, I just wanted to stay ahead and finish as fast as possible.”<\/p>\n

As for whether the 400 IM would remain in her program as she continues her college career, Walsh was intrigued by the idea of further pursuing the event to see if she can get closer to that American record.<\/p>\n

“(Virginia head coach) Todd <\/strong>(DeSorbo<\/strong>) was like, \u2018Are you nervous?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Yeah.\u2019 And he was like, \u2018This could be your last one if you don\u2019t swim it well,'” Walsh said. “I think I will keep swimming it. It\u2019s a new event, and I think I have a lot of room to keep improving in it.”<\/p>\n

Walsh will go for three-for-three in individual titles when she races another new event, the 200 butterfly, on Saturday. She has even less experience in that race than in the 400 IM, but after the smooth butterfly and overall form she has shown this week, it would be no surprise if Walsh makes another huge drop and upsets the 200 fly specialists to win another title.<\/p>\n