New Stars Propel Virginia Women To Seventh Consecutive ACC Championship Title

2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships

• Dates:
  • Diving: Sunday, February 15–Tuesday, February 17
  • Swimming: Tuesday, February 17–Saturday, February 21
• Location: McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Defending champions: UVA women (6x); Cal men (1x)
• Live Video: ESPN+ ($)
• Schedule of Events (PDF)
• Championship Central
• Pre-Scratch Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 4| Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7
  • Finals: Day 1| Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6| Day 7
• Teams: Boston College, Cal, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami (women swimming & diving/men diving), NC State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Virginia, Virginia Tech

The Virginia women won their seventh-straight ACC Conference Championship as the week-long meet wrapped up at Georgia Tech on Saturday. The Cavaliers won by 371.5 points over the Stanford Cardinal. From the headline alone, this may seem like the powerhouse Virginia women’s team that’s taken over the NCAA for the better part of a decade marching along, business as usual. And while the Cavaliers have shown all season they are still the heavy favorites for another NCAA Championship title next month, this is a new look Virginia team.

The Cavalier women built their legacy on the success of NCAA-turned-Olympic stars Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, and Gretchen Walsh. As the trio’s successes grew and the records started to fall, other big names were attracted to Charlottesville. First national swimmers and then eventually international stars joined the Virginia Cavaliers, helping Douglass and the Walsh sisters build Virginia’s legacy. And now it’s those names the trio attracted that are extending the Virginia women’s domination: this is the first ACC title the Cavaliers have won without Douglass or the Walsh sisters on roster since their NCAA title streak began.

In their stead, it is the newcomers and underclassmen providing the bulk of the points. Olympians Claire Curzan and Katie Grimes are both in their second NCAA postseason for Virginia and led the team in individual point scoring with 92 points each. In fact, their top four individual point scorers are all underclassmen with sophomore Anna Moesch (91 points) and freshman Sara Curtis (84 points) rounding out the top four. Throughout Virginia’s 11 event wins, only senior Aimee Canny has been on Virginia’s NCAA roster for more than two seasons.

The Virginia women have been fast all season, particularly as swimmers like Curtis adjusted to yards swimming and Division II champion Bryn Greenwaldt reaped quick benefits from Charlottesville training. But they’ve also proven they know how to translate early season speed into postseason success and that was on display throughout these championships. Despite Louisville stunning with a 200 medley relay win, Virginia left little doubt who was winning the NCAA title, flexing depth and dominance throughout the meet.

Cavalier Event Winners

• 800 freestyle relay: Aimee Canny, Madi Mintenko, Cavan Gormsen, Anna Moesch — 6:45.34
• 200 freestyle relay: Bryn Greenwaldt, Claire Curzan, Anna Moesch, Sara Curtis — 1:23.75
• 500 freestyle: Katie Grimes, sophomore — 4:33.78
• 50 freestyle: Sara Curtis, freshman — 21.09
• 200 freestyle: Anna Moesch, sophomore — 1:39.72
• 100 backstroke: Claire Curzan, junior — 48.38
• 400 medley relay: Sara Curtis, Aimee Canny, Claire Curzan, Anna Moesch — 3:20.42
• 1650 freestyle: Kate Grimes, sophomore — 15:45.20
• 200 backstroke: Claire Curzan, junior — 1:46.09 (NCAA Record)
• 100 freestyle: Anna Moesch, sophomore — 45.71
• 400 freestyle relay: Claire Curzan, Anna Moesch, Aimee Canny, Sara Curtis — 3:05.30 (NCAA Record)

The Cavaliers swept the freestyle events–individual and relay–and Curzan took down her 200 backstroke NCAA record on the final night of competition. In fact, the final night of competition was perhaps the strongest example of how successfully the Cavaliers have rebuilt while still remaining on top of the league. They won all but a single event on the last night of the meet. In the event they did not win, the 200 breaststroke, Canny won silver and became a top five performer in event history. She continued to showcase her versatility in the yards pool, going from the 200 breaststroke to swimming on the 400 freestyle relay–the same type of versatility Douglass showed was possible in college swimming.

On the final night of competition, the team got wins from Grimes, Curzan, and Moesch, three of the main swimmers driving this new era of Virginia swimming. Then, the team closed out the night (and the championships) with Curzan, Moesch, Canny, and Curtis breaking the NCAA record in the 400 freestyle relay–a record that Douglass and the Walsh sisters all helped set in 2023.

By winning the women’s team’s 22nd ACC Championship title and extending the streak to seven, this Virginia women’s team has shown that they’ve successfully rebuilt the plane with it still in the air. This is not the same Virginia team that started the era of Cavalier dominance in the NCAA, but this title confirms the current team as one that has built upon the strengths of its predecessors, found new levels of its own, and is capable of extending the reign of Virginia women’s swimming past its architects.

The Virginia women will return to the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia next month as they look to extend their NCAA title-winning streak to six at the NCAA Championships from March 18-21.

Cavalier Individual Point Scorers 

1. Claire Curzan, junior — 92 points
2. Katie Grimes, sophomore — 92 points
3. Anna Moesch, sophomore — 91 points
4. Sara Curtis, freshman — 84 points
5. Aimee Canny, senior — 83 points
6. Cavan Gormsen, junior — 78 points
7. Bailey Hartman, sophomore — 75 points
8. Sophia Umstead, freshman — 74 points
9. Tess Howley, junior — 73 points
10. Madi Mintenko, freshman — 70 points
11. Leah Hayes, sophomore — 62 points
12. Zoe Skirboll, senior — 55 points
13. Charlotte Wilson, sophomore — 49 points
14. Emma Weber, senior — 39 points
15. Carly Novelline, senior — 26.5 points
16. Nina Sandrine Jazy, freshman — 24.5 points
17. Bryn Greenwaldt, senior — 22 points
18. Katie Christopherson, sophomore — 8.5 points

2026 ACC Championship Award Winners

• Most Valuable Women’s Diver: Chiara Pellacani, Miami
• Most Valuable Women’s Swimmer: Claire Curzan, Virginia
• Most Valuable Men’s Diver: Max Fowler, Georgia Tech
• Most Valuable Men’s Swimmer: Yamato Okadome, California

Final Scores

1. Virginia, 1410.5
2. Stanford, 1039
3. California, 1027.5
4. Louisville, 925
5. NC State, 851.5
6. Pittsburgh, 552
7. UNC, 522.5
8. Duke, 432.5
9. Virginia Tech, 409.5
10. Florida State, 371
11. Notre Dame, 366
12. Miami (FL), 322
13. Georgia Tech, 274
14. SMU, 261
15. BC, 98