Quest For 5 is Complete: Virginia Women Win 5th-Straight NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship

2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Yet again, the University of Virginia is your NCAA D1 Women’s Swimming and Diving Champion as the team completed the quest for its 5th-straight title in Federal Way on Saturday night.

Over the four day meet, the Virginia women threw down historic performances en route to scoring 544 points for a 127-point advantage over second-place Stanford. This marked the team’s second-highest point total of the dynasty, just falling short of the 551.5 points scored in 2022.

Virginia becomes just the third program to win five consecutive NCAA team titles in the sport and the first since 1996, joining Stanford (1992-96) and Texas (1984-88).

Led by the Walsh sisters, Todd DeSorbos squad claimed 6 individual titles and 4 out of the 5 relay titles to solidify their victory.

Individually, Gretchen Walsh was the team’s highest scorer, going a perfect 3-for-3 in her events and setting NCAA Records in all three of them, including the 100 butterfly (46.97), 100 freestyle (44.71), and 50 freestyle (20.37, relay lead-off). Her swim in the 100 butterfly made her the first woman to dip under the 47-second barrier. Walsh also contributed key legs to all four of Virginia’s winning relays, ending the meet with 7 total titles. Closing out her final meet as an NCAA swimmer, Walsh ends her NCAA career with 25 total NCAA Championship titles, including 9 individual titles, contributing to 4 team titles.

Her sister Alex Walsh also saw a historic performance over the week, claiming the individual title in the 100 breaststroke and adding 3 relay titles to her collection. Walsh is now the only swimmer to have ever been apart of 5 NCAA Championship winning rosters, as she has been essential to all 5 of Virginia’s victories. She is also the only swimmer to have won at least one individual event at 5 consecutive NCAA Championships.

In her first season of swimming for Virginia, Claire Curzan also boosted the team with individual titles in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, breaking the NCAA Record in the 200 backstroke with a 1:46.82. With her victories, Curzan, a Stanford transfer, became the first swimmer to ever win individual NCAA titles in the same event representing two different schools, as she won the 200 backstroke as a Cardinal back in 2023.

For Head Coach Todd DeSorbo, the team’s 5th title makes him the 3rd most decorated coach in NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving history, tying David Marsh. It also makes DeSorbo the fastest first-time head coach to win 5 NCAA Championships.

Virginia Swimming and Diving 2025 NCAA Championship Roster:

Virginia Coaching Staff:

Final Team Scores

  1. Virginia – 544
  2. Stanford – 417
  3. Texas – 394
  4. Indiana – 312
  5. Tennessee – 298
  6. Florida – 232
  7. Louisville – 209.5
  8. California – 202.5
  9. Michigan – 196
  10. NC State – 164
  11. USC – 130
  12. Wisconsin – 126
  13. Miami (FL) – 75.5
  14. Ohio State – 66
  15. Alabama – 65
  16. Georgia – 58
  17. North Carolina – 57
  18. Purdue – 53
  19. Arizona State – 41.5
  20. Virginia Tech – 37
  21. Duke – 33
  22. LSU – 32
  23. BYU – 29
  24. South Carolina – 28
  25. Kansas – 25
  26. Texas A&M – 22
  27. Minnesota/Pitt – 21 (Tie)
  28. Arizona – 20
  29. Southern Illinois – 17
  30. Houston – 16
  31. Cincinnati – 15
  32. Washington State – 14
  33. Nebraska – 13
  34. Auburn – 10
  35. Florida State – 8
  36. UCLA – 7
  37. Princeton/Ohio – 6 (Tie)
  38. Arkansas – 4
  39. Rutgers/Akron – 2
  40. Fresno State – 1

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Irviner
1 day ago

Is Alex Walsh the first athlete of any one NCAA sport to win 5 team championships?

Old Swimmer
1 day ago

It’s very possible that UVA will win a sixth title next year

swimmer fan
1 day ago

Is there a day 4 pick ’em update?

Truth Teller
1 day ago

Clair Curzan and her 57 points don’t transfer from Stanford to UVA, this meet is decided by 13 points…..

Bull Puoy
Reply to  Truth Teller
1 day ago

Don’t forget her relay contributions.

ACC fan
Reply to  Truth Teller
1 day ago

Claire wouldn’t have swum as well. She obviously wasn’t happy at Stanford.

Yikes
Reply to  ACC fan
1 day ago

She swam really fast at Stanford…? She was a national champ right?

Light
Reply to  Truth Teller
1 day ago

Something defunitely felt a bit off about this fifth title, Maybe it was the now somewhat questionable defections of Curzan and Smith from Stanford given the strong Stanford performance? Maybe it was the mid-year NIL-based recruitment of Grimes? Maybe it was the major contribution of a fifth-year Olympian?

gosharks
Reply to  Truth Teller
23 hours ago

What is the point of this comment? I could introduce other irrelevant hypotheticals like what if the pandemic never happened and fifth years didn’t exist.

Just because a swimmer starts at a team or school doesn’t mean that they are forever beholden to that choice. She has been at UVA for 2 years now after spending just 1 at Stanford. Get over it.

Long Strokes
1 day ago

Just as I predicted, Virginia won again! You can check the preview articles from last week if you don’t believe me.

bob
Reply to  Long Strokes
1 day ago

wow, a real savant!

Walsh-Madden-Grimes-Weinstein
1 day ago

Congratulations to the University of Virginia!

Todd DeSorbo has cemented his legacy. 5-peat!

Cassandra
1 day ago

i dont envy todds undertaking these next few years — managing a growing newish pro group, maintaining a crazy level of excellence with the womens program, and rebuilding a nascent mens program with sky high expectations.

with all the domestic stars already there on the womens side and domestic stars in the making heading there on the mens side — it sure feels like the future of usa swimming and even our home olympic hopes lowkey rests on todd shoulders.

Chucky
Reply to  Cassandra
21 hours ago

He needs better asst coaches if he’s going to manage or oversee all of those moving parts.

Last 15 Meters
1 day ago

Back to back to back to back to back is legendary. But at the cost of Katie Grimes’ international career? The cross is too much to bear. 😔

Fair for all
Reply to  Last 15 Meters
1 day ago

Get a grip. She’s been there for 2 months. Adjustment period maybe? 🤔

About Nicole Miller

Nicole Miller

Nicole has been with SwimSwam since April 2020, as both a reporter and social media contributor. Prior to joining the SwimSwam platform, Nicole also managed a successful Instagram platform, amassing over 20,000 followers. Currently, Nicole is pursuing her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After competing for the swim …

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