Sara Curtis Posts #5 50 Back Ever as Virginia Claims All Top 10 Performances in 200 Med. Relay

2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Wednesday, March 18 – Saturday, March 21, 2026
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Defending Champions: Virginia (5x)
• Championship Central
• Preview Index
• Psych Sheet
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1
  • Final: Day 1

Women’s 200 Medley Relay – Final Heat

• NCAA Record: 1:31.10 – Virginia (Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, Parker), 2025
• American Record: 1:31.10 – Virginia (Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, Parker), 2025
• U.S. Open Record: 1:31.10 – Virginia (Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, Parker), 2025
• Championship Record: 1:31.10 – Virginia (Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, Parker), 2025
• 2025 Champion: Virginia (Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, Parker) – 1:31.10
• 2025 8th/16th Place Times: 1:34.54/1:35.38

Top 8:

1. Virginia (Curtis, Weber, Curzan, Greenwaldt) — 1:31.67
2. Stanford (Huske, Thomas, Johnson, Olasewere)/Louisville (Mishler, Gorbenko, Larsen, Dennis) — 1:32.35
3. —
4. Tennessee — 1:32.66
5. NC State — 1:33.05
6. Michigan — 1:33.18
7. Texas — 1:33.38
8. Alabama — 1:33.81

On the first day of the 2026 NCAA Championships, the Virginia women gave a preview of what’s to come for the remainder of the meet: dominance. While they lost this relay to Louisville at ACCs, the Cavaliers refused to be upset on the big stage. They claimed gold in the 200 medley relay for the 5th straight year, making history in numerous aspects of the race. Italian freshman Sara Curtiss led off with a new PB of 22.73 in the 50 backstroke, shaving a tenth off of her previous best (22.83) to jump from 11th to 5th in all time performances.

Top 10 50 Back Performances:

1. Gretchen Walsh – UVA: 22.10 (2024 NCAAs)
2. Maggie MacNeil – LSU: 22.52 (2023 SECs)
3. Gretchen Walsh – UVA: 22.54 (2023 Virginia vs Texas Super Finals)
4. Gretchen Walsh – UVA: 22.65 (2023 ACCs)
5. Sara Curtis – UVA: 22.73 (2026 NCAAs)
6. Katharine Berkoff – NC State: 22.76 (2022 NCAAs)
7. Gretchen Walsh – UVA: 22.77 (2023 NCAAs)
8. Gretchen Walsh – UVA: 22.80 (2024 Tennessee Invite)
9. Gretchen Walsh – UVA: 22.81 (2022 NCAAs)
10. Gretchen Walsh – UVA: 22.82 (2022 ACCs)

Curtiss’ split wasn’t the only highlight of the race however, as UVA now owns the entire top 10 leaderboard for the 200 medley relay—despite losing arguably the greatest short course swimmer in history, Gretchen Walsh, to graduation. Notably, the Cavaliers have used 13 different swimmers and 6 separate lineups throughout this top 10 list.

Top 10 200 Medley Relay Performances:

1. UVA — C. Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, M. Parker: 1:31.10 (2025 NCAAs)
2. UVA — G. Walsh, A. Walsh, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass: 1:31.51 (2023 NCAAs)
3. UVA — C. Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, A. Moesch: 1:31.53 (2025 Virginia vs Virginia Tech)
4. UVA — G. Walsh, J. Nocentini, C. Novelline, M. Parker: 1:31.58 (2024 NCAAs)
5. UVA — C. Curzan, A. Walsh, G. Walsh, A. Moesch: 1:31.61 (2025 Texas vs ASU, NC State, Virginia)
6. UVA — (S. Curtis, E. Weber, C. Curzan, B. Greenwaldt) — 1:31.67 (2026 NCAAs)
7. UVA — G. Walsh, A. Walsh, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass: 1:31.73 (2023 ACCs)
8. UVA — G. Walsh, A. Wenger, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass: 1:31.81 (2022 ACCs)
9. UVA — S. Curtis, E. Weber, C. Curzan, B. Greenwaldt: 1:31.91 (2025 CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge #3)
10. UVA — G. Walsh, A. Wenger, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass: 1:32.16 (2022 NCAAs)

With that swim, they bump NC State’s team of Berkoff, Maccausland, Alons, and Arens from 2023 NCAAs out of the leaderboard. That quartet finished 2nd to Virginia, and was the the 5th fastest performance in history at the time.