Virginia Smashes NCAA Record in 400 Free Relay (3:05.84) to Punctuate Three-Peat

2023 NCAA WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Virginia’s quartet of Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker, and Gretchen Walsh chopped almost a full second off the NCAA, American, and U.S. Open records in the 400 free relay with a 3:05.84 on Saturday night, punctuating the team’s three-peat with a relay sweep.

The Cavaliers lowered their previous record of 3:06.83 from last month’s ACC Championships. They went with a lineup change for the NCAA Championships, switching out Lexi Cuomo for Parker along with some other tweaks to the order.

Douglass led off with a 46.37 split in her final collegiate swim. Gretchen Walsh took over anchor duties (45.85) instead of leading off while her older sister, Alex, moved from the anchor to the second leg.

After winning the individual 100 free race earlier in the evening (45.61), Gretchen Walsh clocked the only sub-46 split in the 400 free relay field to cap her meet. Parker posted a 47.04 after notching the highest finish of the three Virginia B-finalists in the 100 free (10th place, 47.72) a few events earlier.

Splits Comparison

Virginia, 2023 NCAAs Virginia, 2023 ACCs
1st Leg Kate Douglass, 46.37 Gretchen Walsh, 46.41
2nd Leg Alex Walsh, 46.58 Kate Douglass, 46.35
3rd Leg Maxine Parker, 47.04 Lexi Cuomo, 47.00
4th Leg Gretchen Walsh, 45.85 Alex Walsh, 47.07
400 Free Total 3:05.84 3:06.83

The NCAA relay record was Virginia’s second of the week after breaking the 200 medley relay mark to open the meet.

400 YARD FREESTYLE RELAY — TIMED FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 3:06.83, Virginia (G. Walsh, K. Douglass, L. Cuomo, A. Walsh) — 2023
  • Meet Record: 3:06.91, Virginia (K. Douglass, A. Walsh, R. Tiltmann, G. Walsh) — 2022
  • American Record: 3:06.83, Virginia (G. Walsh, K. Douglass, L. Cuomo, A. Walsh) — 2023
  • U.S. Open Record: 3:06.83, Virginia (G. Walsh, K. Douglass, L. Cuomo, A. Walsh) — 2023
  • 2022 Champion: Virginia (K. Douglass, A. Walsh, R. Tiltmann, G. Walsh) — 3:06.91

Top 8:

  1. Virginia (K. Douglass, A. Walsh, M. Parker, G. Walsh) — 3:05.84 (NCAA and American Record)
  2. Stanford (T. Huske, T. Ruck, A. Tang, C. Curzan) — 3:08.54
  3. Louisville (G. Albiero, C. Regenauer, J. Dennis, E. Welch) — 3:09.57
  4. NC State — 3:10.51
  5. Ohio State — 3:10.52
  6. Indiana — 3:12.39
  7. Texas — 3:12.59
  8. Florida — 3:12.62

Stanford earned second, touching 1.03 second ahead of third place Louisville. Torri Huske led off in 46.59, just off the 46.46 she clocked in the individual final to finish second. Next, Taylor Ruck swam 46.74, a great final NCAA swim for her. Amy Tang split 48.36, and Claire Curzan anchored in 46.85; a great split for her as well.

Louisville added .65 seconds from ACCs, but they still had plenty of room to spare as they finished almost a second ahead of NC State. Gabi Albiero posted 47.38, and then they got three 47-mid splits from the rest of their relay: Christiana Regenauer swam 47.24, Julia Dennis went 47.49, and Ella Welch brought them home in 47.46.

Indiana finished sixth out of heat three, closing out a strong championships for them. Aside from Virginia and Stanford, they were the only team in the top 8 that dropped from their seed.

Notably, both Alabama and LSU were disqualified.

FINAL FULL STANDINGS

  1. Virginia – 541.5
  2. Texas – 414.5
  3. Stanford – 333
  4. Louisville – 288
  5. NC State – 263
  6. Ohio State – 223
  7. Indiana – 219
  8. Tennessee – 214
  9. Florida – 179
  10. UNC-Chapel Hill – 152
  11. Cal – 137
  12. USC – 125
  13. LSU – 112
  14. Alabama – 111
  15. Wisconsin – 100
  16. Georgia – 90.5
  17. Minnesota – 53
  18. Arizona – 52
  19. Kentucky – 49
  20. Virginia Tech – 46
  21. Duke – 42
  22. Miami (FL) – 36
  23. Michigan – 33
  24. Purdue – 32
  25. Texas A&M – 26
  26. South Carolina – 25
  27. Arizona State – 19
  28. Northwestern/Arkansas – 18
  29. (tie)
  30. Auburn – 14
  31. Hawaii – 11.5
  32. Florida State – 11
  33. Miami (OH) – 9
  34. UCLA – 8
  35. Penn – 7
  36. Akron/Nevada – 5
  37. (tie)
  38. FIU – 4
  39. Georgia Tech/Utah – 2
  40. (tie)

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Tomek
1 year ago

The previous non-Virginia record was held by Bears Cal team consisting of Izzy Ivey (47.79), Katie McLaughlin (46.62), Amy Bilquist (46.48) and Abbey Weitzeil (46.07) combined time 3:06.96 at 2019 NCAA Division I Championships. The time did not count as an American Record because of Weitzeil’s wrapped arm.
Taylor Ruck, in the same race, split 45.65 for Cardinals who finished 3rd overall after Cal and Michigan, 

Last edited 1 year ago by Tomek
KeithM
1 year ago

Incroyable leadoff from KD after the 200Br.

Former Cal Student
1 year ago

Crazy respect for how much talent is on this UVA squad. I remember when Cal broke the record in 2019 I want to say and just being blown away by having a relay with 3 sub-47 splits with a freshman Ivey, who led-off with a 47 high and is now more than capable of a sub-47 leadoff let alone a sub-47 split. This Virginia group is just like “nah, we want a sub-46 too.” Just incredible stuff. I’m a firm believer that with a closer race that maybe they could have gone even faster. No disrespect to Amy Tang on the 3rd leg, but I’m only imagining what if Regan Smith didn’t turn pro and stayed on this relay. Sub… Read more »

MIKE IN DALLAS
1 year ago

A lovely 2nd place for the women’s Longhorns
— and with all that young talent returning,
they will be formidable for NCAA’s in 2024!

Mozart
Reply to  MIKE IN DALLAS
1 year ago

I can’t believe 2024 is next year

Yup
Reply to  MIKE IN DALLAS
1 year ago

They underperformed

JustinTime
Reply to  Yup
1 year ago

Who coaches Texas sprinters? Hmmmmmmmmm

About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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