{"id":578670,"date":"2024-02-21T16:05:54","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T23:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=578670"},"modified":"2024-02-21T19:43:38","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T02:43:38","slug":"acc-championships-day-2-finals-gretchen-walsh-throws-down-19-95-split-first-ever-sub-20-as-virginia-breaks-200-free-relay-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/acc-championships-day-2-finals-gretchen-walsh-throws-down-19-95-split-first-ever-sub-20-as-virginia-breaks-200-free-relay-record\/","title":{"rendered":"ACC Championships, Day 2 Finals: Gretchen Walsh Throws Down 19.95 Split, First Ever Sub-20, as Virginia Breaks 200 Free Relay Record"},"content":{"rendered":"

ACC Championships, Day 2 Finals: Gretchen Walsh Throws Down 19.95 Split, First Ever Sub-20, as Virginia Breaks 200 Free Relay Record<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the first time in history, a woman has clocked under 20 seconds for a 50 freestyle relay split. Wednesday evening at the ACC Championships, University of Virginia junior\u00a0Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> did the honors of cracking that marker as she swam the second leg of her team’s 200 freestyle relay. Walsh split 19.95, beating the previous quickest split ever of 20.19, which Walsh set last month as Virginia hosted North Carolina and NC State in a tri-meet.<\/p>\n

Here, with the stakes higher, Walsh took over after Jasmine Nocentini<\/strong> led off in 21.15, putting the Cavaliers three tenths behind NC State, but by the end of Walsh’s leg, Virginia had more than a bodylength lead, and the crowd at the Greensboro Aquatic Center erupted as they realized Walsh had just gone under the barrier. The time is more than eight tenths quicker than the top time ever in the 50-yard free, the 20.77 that Walsh swam in prelims Wednesday morning in Greensboro, N.C.<\/p>\n

Walsh gave way to her older sister,\u00a0Alex Walsh<\/strong>, who split 20.82, and then\u00a0Maxine Parker<\/strong> came home in 21.31, resulting in a final time of 1:23.63. That knocked a quarter-second off the American, NCAA and U.S. Open records set by Virginia at this meet last year, an amazing accomplishment considering that the Cavaliers graduated multi-event American-record holder\u00a0Kate Douglass<\/strong> and relay stalwart\u00a0Lexi Cuomo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In the race behind Virginia, the deep Louisville Cardinals pulled ahead of NC State to grab the second spot. After\u00a0Gabi Albiero<\/strong> led off in 21.81,\u00a0Christiana Regenauer\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Julia Dennis<\/strong> split 21.0s before\u00a0Ella Welch<\/strong> anchored to a final time of 1:25.39. The Wolfpack placed third in 1:26.24. Notably, Berkoff led off in 21.14, a swim which made her the sixth-fastest woman ever in the 50 free. Only Walsh,\u00a0Maggie Mac Neil<\/strong>, Douglass,\u00a0Abbey Weitzeil<\/strong> and\u00a0Erika Brown<\/strong> have ever surpassed that mark.<\/p>\n

Event 7  Women 200 Yard Freestyle Relay<\/b>\r\n==================================================================================\r\n         MEET: # 1:23.87  2\/15\/2023 University of Virginia, UVA-VA\r\n                          K Douglass, G Walsh, A Cuomo, A Walsh\r\n         CONF: % 1:23.87  2\/15\/2023 University of Virginia, UVA-VA\r\n                          K Douglass, G Walsh, A Cuomo, A Walsh\r\n         AMER: $ 1:23.87  2\/15\/2023 University of Virginia, UVA-VA\r\n                          K Douglass, G Walsh, A Cuomo, A Walsh\r\n         USOP: & 1:23.87  2\/15\/2023 University of Virginia, UVA-VA\r\n                          K Douglass, G Walsh, A Cuomo, A Walsh\r\n         NCAA: ! 1:23.87  2\/15\/2023 University of Virginia, UVA-VA\r\n                          K Douglass, G Walsh, A Cuomo, A Walsh\r\n         Pool: * 1:23.87  2\/15\/2023 University of Virginia, UVA-V\r\n                          K Douglass, G Walsh, A Cuomo, A Walsh\r\n                 1:28.43  A\r\n                 1:29.21  B\r\n    School                           Seed     Finals       Points \r\n==================================================================================\r\n  1 UVA  'A'                      1:25.24    1:23.63#A       64  \r\n     1) Nocentini, Jasmine            2) r:0.14 Walsh, Gretchen       \r\n     3) r:0.26 Walsh, Alexandra       4) r:0.23 Parker, Maxine        \r\n    r:+0.61  21.55        41.50 (19.95)\r\n        1:02.32 (20.82)     1:23.63 (21.31)\r\n  2 Louisville  'A'               1:27.32    1:25.39 A       56  \r\n     1) Albiero, Gabriela             2) r:0.24 Regenauer, Christiana \r\n     3) r:0.96 Dennis, Julia          4) r:0.06 Welch, Ella           \r\n    r:+0.64  21.81        42.86 (21.05)\r\n        1:03.93 (21.07)     1:25.39 (21.46)\r\n  3 NC State  'A'                 1:27.50    1:26.24 A       54  \r\n     1) Berkoff, Katharine            2) r:0.05 Arens, Abigail        \r\n     3) r:0.28 Donald, Meghan         4) r:0.00 Sheehan, Miriam       \r\n    r:+0.70  21.14        42.74 (21.60)\r\n        1:04.63 (21.89)     1:26.24 (21.61)\r\n  4 Duke  'A'                     1:29.73    1:28.62 B       52  \r\n     1) Wall, Tatum                   2) r:0.08 Truong, KyAnh         \r\n     3) r:0.20 Foley, Sarah           4) r:0.03 Pfaff, Alison         \r\n    r:+0.70  22.10        44.40 (22.30)\r\n        1:06.70 (22.30)     1:28.62 (21.92)\r\n  5 Pitt  'A'                     1:30.06    1:29.09 B       50  \r\n     1) Yendell, Sophie               2) r:0.05 Jansen, Claire        \r\n     3) r:0.28 Gring, Sydney          4) r:0.17 Kudlac, Avery         \r\n    r:+0.71  22.19        44.13 (21.94)\r\n        1:06.56 (22.43)     1:29.09 (22.53)\r\n  6 VA Tech  'A'                  1:29.72    1:29.18 B       48  \r\n     1) Weiler Sastre, Carmen         2) r:0.22 Bentz, Caroline       \r\n     3) r:0.29 Summers, Anna          4) r:0.32 Claesson, Emily       \r\n    r:+0.69  22.35        44.09 (21.74)\r\n        1:06.81 (22.72)     1:29.18 (22.37)\r\n  7 UNC  'A'                      1:30.54    1:29.21 B       46  \r\n     1) Carlton, Delaney              2) r:0.27 Pattison, Greer       \r\n     3) r:0.21 White, Alexandra       4) r:0.21 Smith, Skyler         \r\n    r:+0.67  22.66        44.70 (22.04)\r\n        1:06.99 (22.29)     1:29.21 (22.22)\r\n  8 Notre Dame  'A'               1:29.80    1:29.56         44  \r\n     1) Brenneman, Grace              2) r:0.19 Christman, Madelyn    \r\n     3) r:0.25 Geriane, Jessica       4) r:0.06 Geelen, Lente         \r\n    r:+0.60  22.81        44.65 (21.84)\r\n        1:06.82 (22.17)     1:29.56 (22.74)<\/pre>\n
The women’s program on night two also included the 500 freestyle, 200 IM and 50 freestyle, along with 1-meter diving. The Walsh sisters were back up in the 200 IM and 50 free, respectively, and a Virginia 1-2-3 finish in the 500 free meant that the Cavaliers have not yet lost in swimming as they opened up a 78.5-point lead in the team competition.<\/p>\n
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 15                 \r\n \r\n  1. Virginia, University of           552   2. Louisville, University of       473.5\r\n  3. North Carolina State Universit    418   4. Duke University                   332\r\n  5. North Carolina, University of     328   6. Notre Dame, University of         274\r\n  7. VA Tech                         253.5   8. Florida State University          217\r\n  9. Pittsburgh, University of         183  10. Georgia Institute of Technolog    177\r\n 11. University of Miami (Florida)     162<\/pre>\n