{"id":599814,"date":"2024-11-20T17:24:17","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T00:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=599814"},"modified":"2024-11-20T20:03:09","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T03:03:09","slug":"tennessee-invitational-gretchen-walsh-swims-second-fastest-time-ever-in-50-freestyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tennessee-invitational-gretchen-walsh-swims-second-fastest-time-ever-in-50-freestyle\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Invitational: Gretchen Walsh Swims Third-Fastest Time Ever in 50 Freestyle, Blazes in Relay Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tennessee Invitational: Gretchen Walsh Swims Third-Fastest Time Ever in 50 Freestyle, Blazes in Relay Action<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whenever\u00a0Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> races in any collegiate meet of significance, you can expect a record scare, and it was nearly inevitable that she would push some of her own NCAA and American marks as her University of Virginia Cavaliers raced this week at the Tennessee Invitational. Indeed, Walsh put on her usual show in the sprint events, posting the second-fastest 50 freestyle relay split ever, while on the men’s side, the Tennessee sprint group led by\u00a0Jordan Crooks<\/strong> showed out.<\/p>\n

Walsh split 20.09 in Virginia’s winning 200 free relay, combining with teammates\u00a0Claire Curzan<\/strong>,\u00a0Maxine Parker<\/strong> and\u00a0Anna Moesch<\/strong> to post a time of 1:24.68. That time was a whopping eight tenths quicker than Louisville swam to finish second behind Virginia at last year’s NCAA Championships while Walsh’s split was behind her own 19.95 from last season’s ACC Championships on the all-time list. Walsh also owns the third and fourth-best splits ever at 20.19 and 20.23, respectively.<\/p>\n

Notably, Tennessee took second in the relay as\u00a0Camille Spink<\/strong> split 20.98 on the second leg.\u00a0Jillian Crooks<\/strong>, Emily Armen<\/strong> and\u00a0Brooklyn Douthwright<\/strong> also raced for the Lady Vols on the way to a time of 1:27.11.<\/p>\n

Later in the session, Walsh swam a time of 20.54 to win the 50 free, the third-quickest mark in history behind her own times of 20.37 and 20.41 recorded at the NCAA Championships in March. The time beat the pool record of 20.79, which is especially notable since it was the fastest time ever when Maggie Mac Neil<\/strong> swam it on her way to winning the 2023 NCAA title in the event. Walsh tied the record last year before lowering the record to unthinkable heights in the spring.<\/p>\n

Behind Walsh, Spink finished second in 21.35, just off her lifetime best of 21.33 from prelims. Both times would have been good enough for fourth at last year’s NCAAs, trailing only Walsh and two swimmers who have exhausted their eligibility, Katharine Berkoff<\/strong> and\u00a0Jasmine Nocentini<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Finally, Walsh led off Virginia’s 400 medley relay in 49.31, a time that no other active college swimmer has ever beaten and just over a second off her own all-time top time of 48.10. Olympian\u00a0Emma Weber<\/strong> clocked 58.85 on the second leg, followed by Curzan going 50.14, and Moesch went 47.05 to put Virginia into the wall in 3:25.35. This time was quicker than any team but UVA and Texas swam at all last season.<\/p>\n

Tennessee’s women clocked 3:28.75 for second place, with Spink coming home in 46.56, while Virginia’s B-team was third in 3:29.03.<\/p>\n