2024 Cavalier Invitational
- February 6-8, 2025
- University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
- Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
- Day 1 Recap
- Full Meet Results
After the Walsh sisters’ breaststroke theatrics were the highlight of Friday’s racing at the 2025 Cavalier Invitational, Saturday’s session was quieter, with most of the big names in attendance using it as a pre-taper racing opportunity.
The highlight of Saturday’s action was Olympic silver medalist Katie Grimes, who joined the Cavaliers’ roster for the spring semester, breaking the longest-standing Pool Record at the Virginia Aquatic and Fitness Center.
In the 1650 free, she swam 15:53.40 which broke the old record of 15:58.46 set by Cara Lane in 2001 at the ACC Championships. That was the second-to-last time Virginia hosted ACCs (2004 was the most recent occurrence after bigger facilities in Atlanta, Christiansburg, and Greensboro took over most of those duties.
With the 1650 free not often swum at dual meets, and limited championship meets in Charlottesville, the pool record stood for almost 24 years.
Grimes’ lifetime best is a 15:26.17 from the 2022 Winter Juniors East, which is already 11 seconds better than the winning time from last year’s NCAA Championship meet. Her 15:53 from Saturday would have placed her 6th at NCAAs last season.
One of the big surprises came in the men’s 200 back final where Virginia junior Teddy Cross won the race in 1:42.76. That’s just over a one-second improvement for the swimmer who transferred from Loyola (Maryland) before the 2023-2024 season with a best time of 1:45 in this event.
He also swam best times in the 100 back (47.22) and 200 IM (1:47.00) at the meet. Cross wasn’t on the team’s ACC Championship roster last year, though a 1:42 would have put him in the B-Final. This was a weak event for the Cavaliers last season, though the return of National Teamer Jack Aikins to varsity competition helps them in that area.
The other major result from the weekend came from Richmond sophomore Melissa Nwakalor, who took three-tenths of a second off her school record in the 50 free, swimming 21.98. That also sets the Atlantic 10 Conference Record. That time would have easily qualified for last year’s NCAA Championship meet.
Other Meet Highlights
- Johns Hopkins freshman Jack Cornish won the 1650 free in 15:36.51, a time that ranks him 6th in D3 swimming this season.
- Virginia freshman Charlotte Wilson won the 200 back by more than three seconds in 1:53.02, knocking six-tenths off her lifetime best. It took 1:54.01 for an NCAA invite in this race last season, so that swim should lock her in.
- Virginia’s Joe Castagno went sub-two minutes in the 200 breaststroke for the first time, winning in 1:58.95 in the final.
- Virginia’s Tess Howley swam 1:53.30 in the 200 fly final.
- The Johns Hopkins relays went several best times at the meet, including in both 400 free relays to close the event. The women swam 3:25.71 and the men swam 3:00.31, led by a 43.80 split from Avery Clapp. Johns Hopkins doesn’t have a conference championship meet.
