{"id":513668,"date":"2022-09-30T05:15:25","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T12:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=513668"},"modified":"2022-09-30T05:15:25","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T12:15:25","slug":"defending-national-champion-virginia-women-to-open-season-with-intrasquad-meet-featuring-unique-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/defending-national-champion-virginia-women-to-open-season-with-intrasquad-meet-featuring-unique-events\/","title":{"rendered":"Defending National Champion Virginia Women to Open Season With Intrasquad Meet Featuring Unique Events"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defending National Champion Virginia Women to Open Season With Intrasquad Meet Featuring Unique Events<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just over six months ago, the University of Virginia women’s team completed a second consecutive dominating college championship season with a 145.5-point victory at the NCAA Championships<\/a>. Between the ACC Championships and the national meet, the Cavaliers broke American records in four out of five relay events<\/a> (200 and 400 freestyle plus 200 and 400 medley), and Kate Douglass<\/strong> and\u00a0Alex Walsh<\/strong> each clinched three individual national titles, with Alex’s younger sister\u00a0Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> adding a seventh individual title in the 100 free. Douglass joined a short list of swimmers to set American records in three different strokes<\/a>, and Alex Walsh swam the fastest time in history in the 200 IM<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The first moments of a search for a third straight title begins in earnest Saturday as Virginia competes for the first time at an intrasquad meet. While Virginia’s fall schedule includes traditional meets against powerhouse programs Florida (October 22) and Texas (November 4-5), this one will have some off-distances: 50 and 150-yard races of each stroke, plus a 300 and 600-yard freestyle and a 100 and 300 IM.<\/p>\n

The highlight races for the day include Douglass and Gretchen Walsh facing off in the 50 free, an event where they finished 1-2 at last year’s NCAAs, while Alex Walsh will race Douglass in the 150 fly (both were NCAA champions in a butterfly race last year) and 100 IM (both were Olympic medalists in the 200-meter IM in Tokyo). It’s very early in the season, but this intrasquad has been known to produce some swift efforts. Last year, Douglass swam as fast as 21.46 in the 50 free while popping a sub-21 relay split.<\/p>\n

The full lineup for Virginia’s three top stars is posted below, not including relays:<\/p>\n

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Kate Douglass<\/strong>: 150 butterfly, 50 freestyle, 50 butterfly, 100 IM<\/li>\n
Alex Walsh<\/strong>: 300 IM, 150 butterfly, 150 breaststroke, 100 IM<\/li>\n
Gretchen Walsh<\/strong>: 150 freestyle, 50 backstroke, 50 freestyle, 150 backstroke<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nAfter the 2021-22 college season, Alex Walsh emerged as the top 200 IMer in the world in long course as she cruised to her first world title in the event<\/a>, while Douglass won bronze in the 200-meter breaststroke at the World Championships, a meet where UVA head coach Todd DeSorbo<\/strong> served as the women’s head coach. Those two swimmers were out of training and competition for the rest of the summer as they reset for the following season, but Gretchen Walsh continued training and produced a breakout performance at U.S. Nationals<\/a>, where she won the title in the 100-meter butterfly<\/a> and placed second in the 50 free, 100 back and 100 free.<\/p>\n
This year’s Virginia women’s roster<\/a> also includes senior IMer and breaststroker Ella Nelson<\/strong>, who was a three-time A-finalist at the NCAA Championships last year, as well as backstroke A-finalist\u00a0Reilly<\/strong> Tiltmann<\/strong>, 200 breaststroke A-finalist Anna Keating<\/strong>\u00a0and senior relay star Lexi Cuomo<\/strong>. Virginia lost two significant contributors from last year, graduated breaststroker Alexis Wenger<\/strong>\u00a0and IMer\u00a0Emma Weyant<\/strong>, who transferred to Florida. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers’ freshman class includes\u00a0Claire Tuggle<\/strong>, who was third at U.S. Nationals in the 200 free.<\/p>\n
Virginia’s men, meanwhile, finished 10th at NCAAs last year after posting a pair of top-five performances in the sprint freestyle relays, and this year’s group includes a pair of swimmers who earned individual titles at U.S. Nationals in late July: junior sprint freestyler Matt King<\/strong> and sophomore backstroker\u00a0Jack Aikins<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
The full lineup for the intrasquad meet can be found below, courtesy of Virginia associate head coach\u00a0Tyler Fenwick<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
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Heat sheets for Saturday\u2019s Blue v Orange meet at Virginia! \ud83d\udd36\ud83d\udd37\ud83d\udd36\ud83d\udd37 pic.twitter.com\/J4JM02Kh1U<\/a><\/p>\n
— Tyler Fenwick \u2694\ufe0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@UVACoachFenwick) September 29, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n