In Roman numerals, V represents the number 5. In the Roman Alphabet, V represents both the words “Victory” and “Virginia,” which in women’s NCAA Division I swimming have become almost synonymous over the last half-decade.
While Virginia is certainly in the title hunt next season, the 2025 championship is still the end of a certain era of the dynasty. The team’s big three of Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, and Gretchen Walsh, maybe unlike any trio of college swimmers we’ve ever seen together, blew our minds almost every time they entered the pool.
In their best events, they obliterated records and rewrote the framework by which all future swims will be measured. In their not-best events, they still blew our minds and sometimes found new best events – who knew the country’s best 50 freestyler and best 200 breaststroker could be the same swimmer?
So while the dynasty has not officially ended, their 5th title feels like a moment to pause and take stock of what they have achieved. Below, the data compares their 5 titles.
By the Numbers: Virginia’s 5 NCAA Championships
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Place | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| Points | 491 | 551.5 | 541.5 | 527.5 | 544 |
| Margin of Victory | 137 | 145.5 | 127 | 86.5 | 127 |
| Event Wins | 6 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| NCAA Records | 0 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 |
| Relay wins | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Number of Scorers | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 |
Of course this is just a snapshot of the end of the season. It doesn’t fully capture the ACC titles, Olympic medals, World Championships, World Records, records set at non-dual meets, American Records (which the Virginia program has set 83 of in all courses since 2021). It doesn’t account for Virginia owning 12 out of 19 NCAA Women’s records in swimming & diving. It doesn’t account for the thrills and the shivers that the swimmers have given us over the last five seasons.
The Virginia women are still very good. They have a roster of US National and Junior National Teamers, Olympic medalists, and World Championship medalists who are certainly capable of winning an NCAA team title. But Kate, Alex, and Gretchen, as one SwimSwam commenter put it, are a “cheat code.” They’re those transcendent stars who can smooth over a lot of things, who can lift their teammates, and who can will their teams to titles.
They are The Champions, the three-for-five, and a group unlike maybe we’ve ever seen before in collegiate swimming.
I hope we all enjoyed it.
2025 Champions
2024 Champions
Virginia Women 2024 NCAA Champions (photo: Jack Spitser)
2023 Champions
Virginia NCAA Champions (photo: Jack Spitser)
2022 Champions
Virginia Women Celebration (photo: Jack Spitser)
2021 Champions
Virginia 2021 NCAA Team Champions. Courtesy of the NCAA
Which 5-peat was most dominant? I thinks it’s probably 1992-1996 Stanford?
Real question (too lazy to look it up): Do they own 13 of 19 swimming & diving records (as stated in the article), or is it 13 of 19 swimming records?
I’m only counting 12 records: 50 Free, 100 Free, 100 back, 200 back, 200 breast, 100 fly, 200 IM, all 5 relays
maybe included 200 fly before Emma Sticklen broke it on day 4
Yep I think that’s what I did, thanks!
I remember at 2019 NCAAs, Paige Madden got 2nd to Brooke Forde in the 500, and this was around the time I first started watching college swimming. This was a week after Alex had committed to UVA as well, and I knew Ella Nelson had already committed. I remember thinking wow UVA is gonna be good in a few years.
Yeah, they ended up being good in a few years.
Idk why this commented twice
I remember at 2019 NCAAs, Paige Madden got 2nd to Brooke Forde in the 500, and this was around the time I first started watching college swimming. This was a week after Alex had committed to UVA as well, and I knew Ella Nelson had already committed. I remember thinking wow UVA is gonna be good in a few years.
Yeah, they ended up being good in a few years.
Let’s also have a little remembrance for the 2020 squad who were seeded to win NCAAs and likely would’ve done so, given UVA’s track record of outperforming seed. Glad that DeSorbo recognized them in the celebration interview.
thanks, braden, for making me mopier than I already was this morning!
Congrats to the coaches! Very well deserved and keep it up!
I think one of the coolest stats about the UVA dynasty is that they had 4 different girls score 60 points at NCAAs across the 5-peat: Madden once in 2021, Douglass in 2022 and 2023, Alex in 2022 and 2024, and Gretchen in 2024 and 2025.
To put it into context, since 2011, the only other swimmers to score 60 individual points (and they each only did it once) were Hosszu, Franklin, Baker, Eastin and Nelson. Ledecky kinda did it but she tied for the win in the 200 free in 2017, so she didn’t quite score 60
THAT IS COOL!
Is the Nelson Ella Nelson, or am I forgetting about someone who was really good?
It’s Beata Nelson (2019: 100bk, 200bk, 200IM). Ella Nelson was phenomenal but not quite that good.
Forgot about Beata, mainly because I didn’t start watching NCAA swimming until after COVID.