{"id":578722,"date":"2024-02-22T21:40:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T04:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=578722"},"modified":"2024-02-23T05:33:40","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T12:33:40","slug":"acc-championships-day-3-finals-gretchen-walsh-breaks-american-ncaa-records-in-100-fly-at-48-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/acc-championships-day-3-finals-gretchen-walsh-breaks-american-ncaa-records-in-100-fly-at-48-25\/","title":{"rendered":"ACC Championships, Day 3 Finals: Gretchen Walsh Breaks American, NCAA Records in 100 Fly at 48.25"},"content":{"rendered":"

ACC Championships, Day 3 Finals: Gretchen Walsh Breaks American, NCAA Records in 100 Fly at 48.25<\/strong><\/p>\n

Through three days, University of Virginia junior\u00a0Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> has put together one of the great conference championship meet performances in history. She has secured two individual titles and two relay titles already at the ACC Championships, all in record or near-record time. Now, in the 100 butterfly, Walsh has once again recorded the fastest time in history, knocking two tenths off former teammate (and current training partner) Kate Douglass<\/strong> last season.<\/p>\n

From the start, Walsh instantly took control of the 100 fly final, and sights were set on the record after Walsh took down her own American and NCAA records in the 50 free in both prelims and finals Wednesday. She was out in 22.41, seven hundredths quicker than Douglass’ American-record pace, and down the stretch, she extended the advantage on record pace by closing in 25.84. That resulted in a final mark of 48.25, beating the 48.46 that Douglass set at last year’s NCAA Championships.<\/p>\n

Walsh actually swam quicker than Douglass’ record earlier this season but unofficially; at the Tennessee Invitational in November, she went 48.30 while swimming butterfly in a 100 free heat. But this mark will be official, with Walsh ironically swimming one hundredth quicker than her own American and NCAA records in the 100 backstroke.<\/p>\n

That previous record was set in an anticipated showdown at last year’s NCAAs, where Douglass,\u00a0Maggie Mac Neil<\/strong> and\u00a0Torri Huske<\/strong> established themselves as the three fastest performers in history. All of those swimmers are absent from college swimming this year as Walsh has taken control of the event (with Douglass and Mac Neil now swimming professionally and Huske redshirting), but Walsh is no guarantee to swim the event at the NCAA Championships, given that she will likely have to choose between the 100 fly and 100 back on day three of the national meet next month.<\/p>\n

This was Walsh’s only race in the Thursday evening session at the ACC meet after an astounding Wednesday when she became the first woman to split under 20 seconds for a 50 free, with a 19.95 split on Virginia’s record setting 200 free relay, as well as an individual record of 20.57 in the splash-and-dash. One day earlier, Walsh had become the third-fastest woman ever in the 200 free while leading off a Virginia 800 free relay that posted the second-fastest time ever.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in the battle behind Walsh, Louisville’s Gabi Albiero<\/strong> led a trio of fine sub-51-second performances. Albiero clocked 50.68, four hundredths clear of NC State’s\u00a0Abby Arens<\/strong> (50.72) while Pitt’s Sophie Yendell<\/strong> was a bit further back (50.87).<\/p>\n

Event 18  Women 100 Yard Butterfly<\/b>\r\n=========================================================================\r\n         MEET: # 48.84  2\/16\/2023 Kate C Douglass, UVA-VA\r\n         CONF: % 48.46  2\/16\/2023 Kate C Douglass, UVA-VA\r\n         AMER: $ 48.46  3\/17\/2023 Kate C Douglass, UVA-VA\r\n         USOP: & 48.46  3\/17\/2023 Kate C Douglass, UVA-VA\r\n         NCAA: ! 48.46  3\/17\/2023 Kate C Douglass, UVA-VA\r\n         Pool: * 48.84  2\/16\/2023 Katherine Douglass, UVA-VA\r\n                 50.69  A\r\n                 52.20  IV23 Invited NCAA 2023\r\n                 53.63  B\r\n    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points \r\n=========================================================================\r\n                            === A - Final ===                            <\/b>\r\n \r\n  1 Walsh, Gretchen     UVA                 49.32      48.25%A       32  \r\n    r:+0.76  22.41        48.25 (25.84)\r\n  2 Albiero, Gabrie     Louisville          51.15      50.68 A       28  \r\n    r:+0.64  23.53        50.68 (27.15)\r\n  3 Arens, Abigail      NC State            51.53      50.72 IV23    27  \r\n    r:+0.67  23.70        50.72 (27.02)\r\n  4 Yendell, Sophie     Pitt                51.24      50.87 IV23    26  \r\n    r:+0.70  23.63        50.87 (27.24)\r\n  5 Regenauer, Chri     Louisville          51.33      51.20 IV23    25  \r\n    r:+0.68  23.65        51.20 (27.55)\r\n  6 Novelline, Carl     UVA                 51.85      51.77 IV23    24  \r\n    r:+0.62  24.08        51.77 (27.69)\r\n  7 Carvalho, Giuli     Miami               51.87      51.79 IV23    23  \r\n    r:+0.61  24.08        51.79 (27.71)\r\n  8 Halden, Jenny       FSU                 52.13      51.99 IV23    22  \r\n    r:+0.68  23.87        51.99 (28.12)<\/pre>\n
Other events in the Thursday evening session included the 400 IM and 200 freestyle for both women and men as well as the men’s 100 fly and men’s 3-meter diving. On the women’s side, Virginia remained undefeated in swimming events and extended their lead in the team competition while NC State men have opened up a significant advantage on their closest competition. But the top men’s performance of the night came from Notre Dame’s\u00a0Chris Guiliano<\/strong>, who tied the conference record in the 200 free.<\/p>\n
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 20                 \r\n \r\n  1. Virginia, University of         846.5   2. Louisville, University of         683\r\n  3. North Carolina State Universit    573   4. Duke University                 433.5\r\n  5. North Carolina, University of   401.5   6. VA Tech                         308.5\r\n  7. Notre Dame, University of         276   8. Florida State University          266\r\n  9. Pittsburgh, University of         226  10. University of Miami (Florida)     221\r\n 11. Georgia Institute of Technolog    220<\/pre>\n
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 22                  \r\n \r\n  1. North Carolina State Universit  812.5   2. Notre Dame, University of       559.5\r\n  3. VA Tech                         469.5   4. Louisville, University of         458\r\n  5. Florida State University          386   6. North Carolina, University of     380\r\n  7. Virginia, University of         344.5   8. Pittsburgh, University of         315\r\n  9. Georgia Institute of Technolog    309  10. Duke University                   164\r\n 11. University of Miami (Florida)      94<\/pre>\n