Four-peat! UVA Women Win their 4th Consecutive NCAA Division I Championship

2024 WOMEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 20-23, 2024
• Gabrielsen Natatorium, Athens, Georgia
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• SwimSwam Pick ’em Contest

COMPLETE RESULTS (PDF)

In spite of losing one of the greatest college swimmers in history Kate Douglass, the Virginia women were still about as good as last year’s team en route to their 4th-consecutive NCAA Team Championship. The Cavaliers scored 527.5 points, 14 fewer than last season.

They did that on the strength of the Walsh sisters, including the younger Gretchen who had one of the great NCAA Championship meets ever with 3 individual wins and 3 all-time Records. That included a staggering 47.42 in the 100 fly when only five women have even been 48, and a 44.83 in the 100 free when only four women have even been 45.

But they also showed some new facets – like a breakout meet for transfer Jasmine Nocentini, who became a star at this meet by winning the 100 breaststroke in 56.09, and swimming some of the best sprint free times ever. Her 50 free time of 21.10 for 3rd place makes her the 7th-best performer ever in that event, and she also placed 4th in the 100 free in 47.00. She was a good swimmer, an All-American, before transferring to Virginia, but at this meet she became a bona fide star.

Nocentini swam two years at Florida International before transferring to Northwestern for the 2022-23 season. She ended her senior season at Northwestern early with a shoulder injury at a point when she was the top-ranked swimmer in the Big Ten in the 50 free and 100 breast. Her best 100 breast time coming into the 2023-24 season was 58.23; she won the 100 breast in Athens with 56.06, the 2nd-fastest performance in history.

Virginia also turned into a diving school, with Lizzy Kaye becoming the school’s first diving All-American ever when she finished 10th on 3-meter, then becoming the school’s first First Team All-American when she finished 8th on 3-meter. If Virginia can springboard themselves into a 30-point yearly diving program, the rest of the NCAA is in huge trouble.

There were a couple of key points in this meet where the Cavaliers aptly counterpunched areas that should have been dominant strengths for the Longhorns. Kaye was one of them. The other was in the 200 fly, where Virginia got two in the A-Final even with Alex Walsh opting to swim the 200 breast instead. Freshman Tess Howley, who hadn’t been a best time since 2021, finished 4th, while Abby Harter finished 6th – both moving way up from their 16th (Harter) and 17th (Howley) seeds.

Texas still won diving (77-18) and the 200 fly (56-28), but Virginia’s resilience in those events kept the Longhorns from the avalanches that they could have had.

Roster

Virginia sent a maximum roster of 18 athletes to NCAAs:

Special shoutout to Ella Bathurst, who qualified for NCAAs but was dropped to make room for Kaye.

Four-Peat

With the women, Virginia matches Cal as the 5th-most NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving titles in history. They also move into rare territory as only the third women’s program in D1 history to four-peat, joining Stanford, who five-peated from 1992 through 1996, and Texas, who five-peated from 1984 through 1988.

On the men’s side, only Texas (1988-1991, 2015-2018), Michigan (1937-1941), USC (1963-1966, 1974-1977), Auburn (2003-2007), and Indiana (1968-1973) have done it. noting that all but the Texas and Auburn streaks happened before the NCAA hosted its first women’s championship in 1982.

Coaches With NCAA D1 Women’s Titles, All-Time

Dorsey Tierney-Walker and David Marsh were officially recognized as co-head coaches for Auburn’s 2006 and 2007 NCAA titles.

Virginia Four-Peat, Margins

Credit to Texas, who after a rocky start to the meet had really good days 3 & 4 to make this the closest championship of Virginia’s run.

• 2021 – 137 points (NC State)
• 2022 – 145.5 points (Texas)
• 2023 – 137 points (Texas)
• 2024 – 86.5 points (Texas)

All-Time Team Champions

2024 NCAA Event Champions

• 200 Medley Relay – Virginia, 1:31.58 (Gretchen Walsh, Jasmine Nocentini, Carly Novelline, Maxine Parker)
• 800 free relay – Florida, 6:48.59 (Bella Sims, Isabel Ivey, Emma Weyant, Micayla Cronk)
• 500 free – Bella Sims, Florida, freshman, 4:32.47
• 200 IM – Alex Walsh, Virginia, senior, 1:49.20
• 50 free – Gretchen Walsh, Virginia, junior, 20.37 – NCAA, American, US Open Record
• 1 meter diving – Aranza Vazquez Montano, UNC, senior, 350.50
• 200 free relay – Virginia, 1:24.05 (Jasmine Nocentini, Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker) – NCAA Championship Record
• 400 IM – Alex Walsh, Virginia, senior, 3:55.97
• 100 fly – Gretchen Walsh, Virginia, junior, 47.42 – NCAA, American, US Open Record
• 200 free – Bella Sims, Florida, freshman, 1:40.90
• 100 breast – Jasmine Nocentini, Virginia, redshirt senior, 56.09
• 100 back – Katharine Berkoff, NC State, 5th year, 48.55
• 3-meter diving – Aranza Vazquez Montano, North Carolina, senior, 364.75
• 400 medley relay – Virginia, 3:21.01 (Gretchen Walsh, Jasmine Nocentini, Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker) – NCAA, US Open Record
• 1650 free – Abby McCulloh, Georgia, junior, 15:37.74
• 200 back – Phoebe Bacon, Wisconsin, senior, 1:48.23
• 100 free – Gretchen Walsh, Virginia, junior, 44.83 – NCAA, American, US Open Record
• 200 breast – Alex Walsh, Virginia, senior, 2:02.07
• 200 fly – Emma Sticklen, Texas, senior, 1:50.99
• Platform diving – Viviana Del Angel, Minnesota, sophomore, 327.90
• 400 free relay – Virginia, 3:05.89 (Jasmine Nocentini, Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, Maxine Parker)

Final Team Scores

1. Virginia 527.5
2. Texas 441
3. Florida 364
4. Tennessee 277
5. Stanford 250
6. Louisville 212
7. Indiana 206
8. Southern California 200
9. Ohio St 162
9. NC State 162
11. California 153
12. Michigan 147.5
13. Georgia 116
14. Texas A&M 104
15. Wisconsin 95
16. Duke 80
17. UNC 77
18. Purdue 57
19. Auburn 54
20. Minnesota 47
21. LSU 44
22. UCLA 36
23. Alabama 25
24. Arizona St 23
25. Utah 22
26. Virginia Tech 18
27. Northwestern 17
28. SIU 16
29. Penn 15
30. Nebraska 11
31. South Carolina 9
32. Notre Dame 6
32. Kansas 6
32. Miami (Ohio) 6
32. Rutgers 6
36. Akron 5
36. Arkansas 5
38. Florida St 4
38. Cincinnati 4
40. Houston 3
40. Washington St. 3
40. Miami (Fl) 3