Texas at Virginia 2021: Day 1 Live Recap

Virginia vs. Texas

• Friday, November 5th-Saturday, November 6th, 2021
• Aquatic and Fitness Center, Charlottesville, VA
• Dual Meet Format
• SCY
• Live Results
• Results on Meet Mobile: “Virginia vs Texas”
• Live Stream (ACCN)
• Diving Results
• Swimming Results

No, we don’t normally live recap dual meets. But….

1. There’s a livestream on the ACC Network
2. The host team is using live results and published the link in advance…instead of just Meet Mobile and/or waiting to publish full results the next day
3. Each of the 2021 Division I Swimming & Diving champs are represented
4. I clearly have no social life…

…so things just kind of lined up.

The Texas Longhorns men won their 15th NCAA title last season, a week after the Longhorn finished 3rd, with one of their best NCAA performances in a while. UVA hosts coming off a banner season themselves, literally. The Cavalier women won their first-ever NCAA title, and in fact, are raising the championship banner in the AFC pool today shortly before the swimming portion gets underway. The UVA men finished 9th last season, tying the best finish in program history.

It’s hard to know exactly what to expect as far as times go today. The UVA women tend to swim pretty fast in-season. The Texas men historically have been slow in the fall, but that seemed to change in the last season or two. Swimmers on both teams haven’t necessarily been swimming their strongest events in dual meets so far this season, and if that changes, the electric atmosphere that comes with these two high-energy teams could produce some swift times, even in practice suits. Or…it may not, and this live recap could end up pretty dull. We’ll find out soon enough.

This is the first time these two schools have squared off in a dual meet since the fall of 2013, when Texas, Penn State, and West Virginia all came to Charlottesville for a two day quad-dual meet. UVA lost to Texas on both sides that year, with the Longhorn women winning 196-157, and the Texas men winning 225-128, in a meet that was interrupted by a fire alarm that Friday night.

To answer everyone’s first question..it doesn’t look like anyone is wearing a tech suit.

Women’s 200 Medley Relay

The UVA women  – Gretchen Walsh (23.33), Alexis Wenger (26.51), Alex Walsh (23.04), and Kate Douglass (21.37) came out swinging with a 1:34.25. That’s the fastest time in the country by 0.40s, besting the same quartet’s time from three weeks ago against Cal. That time also shattered the pool record of 1:35.40 from 2020. Wenger and Douglass were part of the previous record-setting relay team, with Douglass swimming fly then.

Texas may have lost by almost three seconds, but their time of  1:37.11 means they are the 4th-fastest team this season. Julia Cook led off in 24.53, Anna Elendt split 27.37 on breast, Olivia Bray nearly matched Walsh’s fly split (23.05), and Bridget Semunuk anchored in 22.16.

Men’s 200 Medley Relay

It was a much closer race on the men’s side, as UVA kept it close to Texas the whole way, but the Longhorns won with a 1:25.92, with UVA a bit behind at 1:26.32.

Freshman Anthony Grimm got the Longhorns rolling with a 21.99 backstroke, and while we don’t see splits for Caspar Corbeau and Alvin Jiang, Daniel Krueger appears to have anchored in 19.06. Matt Brownstead went 22.09 leading off for the Cavaliers, Noah Nichols split a strong 23.93 breaststroke leg, then Max Edwards (21.05) and Matt King (19.25) closed it out.

Women’s 400 IM

No surprise here, as Olympic medalist Emma Weyant led from start to finish. Her time of 4:05.68 set a new pool record, breaking the mark of 4:11.20 that Claire Crippen set back in 2009.  Teammate Ella Nelson took 2nd in 4:08.10, also under the old pool record, and Weyant and Nelson now rank 1st and 4th in the nation this season.

Men’s 400 IM

Again, no surprise in the winner, this time Texas’ Carson Foster. What is a bit surprising? Swimming a 3:40.48 400 IM in a brief. In November. That shatters the pool record of 3:45.99, set by UVA’s Ted Schubert in 2020. There’s no official record of this sort of thing, but that has to be one of the fastest times ever — probably the fastest time ever — done without a tech suit, and/or during a dual meet. That’s also the fastest time the country this season by over four seconds.

Women’s 200 Free

The Texas women finally got into the win column courtesy of a 1:45.88 by Kelly Pash. That moves her to #4 in the nation so far this season.

Men’s 200 Free

The times cooled off just a bit here, as Texas had the four fastest times, but no one under got under 1:36. Drew Kibler took the win with a 1:36.19, followed by Coby Carrozza at 1:36.41 and Luke Hobson (exhibition heat) at 1:36.61

Women’s 50 Free

And we’re back to breaking pool records. Kate Douglass‘s 22.07 downs Caitlin Cooper’s mark 22.13 from 2018. Douglass has already been a tad faster this season; her 21.96 from the Cal dual meet puts her at #3 in the NCAA, behind Maggie MacNeil (21.78) and teammate Gretchen Walsh (21.88).

Men’s 50 Free

The Texas men remain undefeated, as sprint star Daniel Krueger takes this one in 19.69. UVA’s Matt Brownstead was just behind Krueger at 19.77

TV intermission: the broadcasters have been interviewing the coaches during the break. Eddie Reese mentioned how much he respects Todd and said that he expects that the UVA women’ championship banner will be the first of many.

UVA dive coach Drew Livingston and Texas dive coach Matt Scoggin are getting interviewed together, and are effusive in praise for each other. Livingston dove for Scoggin as a member of the Longhorns, and Scoggin actually officiated the Livingstons’ wedding recently.

Women’s 200 Fly

Aaaand we’re back to close races and fast times. Texas’ Emma Sticklen got her hand on the wall first, touching in 1:54.56. Teammate Kelly Pash was right behind her at 1:54.57, then UVA’s Alex Walsh at 1:54.79.

Those are now the three fastest times in the country this season. All three of those women had previously been in the top four in the nation, with Walsh previously having the top time at 1:55.07. Sticklen just missed Jennifer Markkand’s 2018 pool record of 1:54.43.

Men’s 200 Fly

Carson Foster picked up his second win of the day, this time coming in an event he doesn’t race quite as often. Still, he won by nearly two seconds with a 1:44.29; that appears to be the 3rd-fastest time of his career. It’s worth noting that the UVA men have yet to win a race at this point in the meet.

Women’s 100 Back

Gretchen Walsh shaved 0.03s off of her time from the Cal dual. Her time of 51.12 downs the pool the record of 51.56, set by Courtney Batholomew in 2015. Walsh remains #2 in the nation this season. Texas’ Olivia Bray took 2nd in 52.36, putting her at #6 in the nation.

Men’s 100 Back

The Texas men keep rolling in another close race. Alvin Jiang got his hand on the wall first with a 47.93, followed closely by teammate Anthony Grimm (48.13) and UVA’s Sean Conway (48.23).

Women’s 100 Breast

Alexis Wenger took down her own pool record, popping a 58.88 that improves on the previous mark of 59.58. Texas’ Anna Elendt kept it fairly close, touching 2nd at 59.33. Wenger remains at #2 this season, while Elendt moves to #6.

Men’s 100 Breast

Another close race, but the Longhorns’ remain unbeaten. Caspar Corbeau held off Noah Nichols to win 52.82 to 53.13. That pair finished well ahead of the rest of the field, with the Longhorns’ Charlie Scheinfeld taking 3rd in 55.42. Corbeau and Nichols rank #4 and #9 in the nation this season.

Score update: assuming Meet Mobile is correct, it’s a tight race on the women’ side, where Texas leads 90-79. Meanwhile, the Longhorn men are running away with this meet, leading 127 to 42 with the 1000 and and the 400 medley relay to go.

Women’s 1000 Free

Fans were treated to a dual between freshmen Olympic medalists, but today, the one who won an IM medal finished ahead of the one who won a distance free medal. UVA’s Emma Weyant beat Texas’ Erica Sullivan, 9:42.71 to 9:47.39. That appears to be the 2nd-fastest time of Weyant’s career, and she’s now the fastest swimmer in the nation so far this season.

Men’s 1000 Free

David Johnston won the final individual event of the afternoon with a time of 9:01.85. That’s just a few seconds slower than his time of 8:57.37 against Texas A&M a few weeks ago. The Longhorns swept the top three spots, with Luke Hobson (9:08.62) and Alex Zettle (9:11.01) touching after Johnston.

Women’s 400 Free Relay

Kate Douglass led off in 48.44, followed by Gretchen Walsh (47.77), Lexi Cuomo (49.28), and Alex Walsh (48.65). Their combined time of a 3:14.14 is the top time in the nation by two seconds, and also shatters the pool record of 3:16.62 from 2020. The Texas quartet of Bridget Semenuk (49.21), Kelly Pash (48.17), Julia Cook (49.42), and Kyla Leibel (49.54) put together a 3:16.34. That time was also under the pool record and now puts the Longhorns at #2 in the nation this season.

Men’s 400 Free Relay

Once again, the UVA men kept it close for most of the race, but the Longhorns wrapped up the afternoon by staying undefeated. Each team led off with an impact transfer – Cameron Auchinachie for Texas and Matt King for Virginia, and the two had nearly identical times, 43.94 and 43.99 respectively.  Drew Kibler and Carson Foster each split exactly 43.44 the Longhorns, while August Lamb (43.64) and Justin Grender (43.36) followed for the Cavaliers. Texas had a mere 0.17s second lead as the anchor legs — Daniel Krueger for Texas and Matt Brownstead for Virginia – dove into the pool. Krueger looked like he had some pop in his stroke and opened up a lead fairly quickly. Brownstead battled hard, but Krueger scorched 42.34 anchor to Brownstead’s 42.69 to preserve the win, and the win streak. The Longhorns’ time of 2:53.16 puts them at #2 this season, behind NC State’s 2:52.79, while UVA’s 2:53.68 moves them to #4.

Scores Through Day 1

• Women: Virginia 103, Texas 102
• Men: Texas 156, Virginia 49

We’re assuming that the scores will continue tallying tomorrow. Texas racked up a lot of points early on with diving dominance, but with diving now complete, the UVA women should take the lead tomorrow. The UVA men haven’t managed to win a race yet, but they’ve come close, and it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if they could pick off Texas in at least one event, possibly a relay, tomorrow.

Action resumes at 10am eastern time.