Virginia Women Break NCAA And U.S. Open Record In 200 Free Relay (1:23.63)

  7 Yanyan Li | February 21st, 2024

2024 ACC Championships

20 Feb 2024 – 25 Feb 2024

2024 ACC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

To kick off the second session of the 2024 ACC Championships, University of Virginia’s Jasmine Nocentini (21.55), Gretchen Walsh (19.95), Alex Walsh (20.82), and Maxine Parker (21.31) combined for a time of 1:23.63 to take down the NCAA and U.S. Open record in the 200 freestyle relay. Since Nocentini is Italian, the record cannot count as an American record.

The previous record was Virginia’s 1:23.87 from the 2023 ACC Championships, which still stands as the American record. Notably, this is the third-straight season where UVA broke the NCAA and U.S. Open record in the 200 free relay, as the team did so in 2022 as well.

Walsh’s 19.95 split is notably the first sub-20 second 50 free relay split in history for a female swimmer. She was the main reason why her team’s record was broken, as the average split of the other three swimmers (21.23) on this relay was slower than the average of the non-Gretchen Walsh swimmers (21.13) on the relay that held the previous NCAA and U.S. Open record.

Split Comparison

UVA, 2024 ACC Championships UVA, 2023 ACC Championships
Jasmine Nocentini — 21.55 Kate Douglass — 20.95
Gretchen Walsh — 19.95 Gretchen Walsh — 20.48
Alex Walsh — 20.82 Lexi Cuomo — 21.14
Maxine Parker — 21.31 Maxine Parker — 21.30
1:23.63 1:23.87

Virginia won this relay by over a second, with Louisville touching in second with a time of 1;25.39. Notably, this win happened even after Nocentini missed her flipturn on the leadoff leg.

Here is the race video of the relay, courtesy of the UVA Swimming YouTube channel:

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Swimfan27
1 year ago

And Nocentini went .4 faster in the individual 50…that record is going down by at least another half of a second at NCAAs

gosharks
1 year ago

Alex Walsh swam the 4th leg of the previous record relay with a 21.30 split. She dropped 0.48 from last year compared to Gretchen’s 0.53 second drop. Both Walshes were the difference here.

Hmm
1 year ago

Kate Douglass graduates and the relay goes FASTER???

Former swimmer
1 year ago

Thank god for these videos because I’m being punished I don’t have cable 😞

jeff
1 year ago

unless I’m missing a name or two, Alex is now the 10th fastest relay performer, tied with Kylee Alons. All 9 of the swimmers above her except for Douglass are pretty much just sprinters

rob davis
1 year ago

Outstanding!!!!

Scott Bonney
1 year ago

Congratulations on a great TEAM relay effort and record !!!