Virginia Women Win First NCAA Swimming & Diving Championship in ACC History

2021 NCAA WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Day 4 Finals Recap

For the first time in program history, the Virginia Cavalier women are NCAA team champions, earning at least one A-finalist in every individual event. Taking team runner-up was the NC State Wolfpack, making the team rankings an ACC 1-2 finish. No ACC team, men’s or women’s, has ever finished higher than third place at NCAAs. Before this meet, Virginia’s best team finishes were a pair of 5th-place scores in 2015 and 2016. NC State’s best finish before 2021 was 7th place, achieved between 2017-2019.

ACC Team Best Finish Year
UNC 3rd 1982
Louisville 4th 2019
Clemson 5th 1987, 1988
Virginia 5th 2015, 2016
NC State 7th 2017-2019

Texas wound up placing third after NC State out-scored the Longhorns by 12 points on the 400 free relay. Previously, Texas placed 5th overall in 2017 and 2019. Finishing in fourth place were the Cal Bears, which broke their 11-year top-3 streak at NCAAs, which ran since 2009. After winning the 400 free relay, the Alabama Crimson Tide took fifth overall, which ties their best finish in 1983, the 2nd-ever women’s NCAA Championship. In sixth place were the Michigan Wolverines, previously placing 3rd in 2019 and 4th in 2018. Hitting their first top-10 finish since 1983 were the Ohio State Buckeyes, placing 7th overall. In 2019, Ohio State placed 25th. Taking 8th place were the Georgia Bulldogs, with the Stanford Cardinal placing 9th and Tennessee placing 10th.

Virginia has now become the 10th program to win an NCAA Division I title in women’s swimming & diving history, tying with Arizona and USC. Meanwhile, Virginia head coach Todd DeSorbo is now the 12th person to win an NCAA Division I title in women’s swimming & diving history.

Full 2021 Championship Team: Virginia Cavaliers

YEAR POINTS EVENT PLACE TIME POWER EVENT PLACE TIME POWER EVENT PLACE TIME POWER
Madden, Paige SR 60 500 Free 1 4:33.61 836 200 Free 1 1:42.35 852 1650 Free 1 15:41.86 776
Douglass, Kate SO 54 50 Free 1 21.13 989 100 Fly 2 49.55 954 100 Free 2 46.3 965
Walsh, Alex FR 48 200 IM 1 1:51.87 909 200 Free 5 1:44.12 771 200 Breast 5 2:05.86 824
Nelson, Ella SO 48 200 IM 5 1:54.74 801 400 IM 2 4:02.33 817 200 Breast 2 2:04.35 870
Wenger, Alexis JR 28 50 Free 41 22.61 677 100 Breast 3 57.67 880 200 Breast 7 2:06.9 794
Tiltmann, Reilly FR 23 100 Fly 42 53.38 661 100 Back 9 51.33 784 200 Back 5 1:50.66 803
Harter, Abby FR 18 200 IM 29 1:58.23 691 100 Fly 12 51.93 758 200 Fly 6 1:53.86 793
Cuomo, Lexi SO 11 50 Free 26 22.38 717 100 Fly 8 51.8 767 100 Free 27 48.92 705
Gmelich, Caroline SR 11 50 Free 55 22.91 625 100 Back 8 51.78 755
Donohoe, Maddie SO 8 500 Free 15 4:44.79 672 1650 Free 11 16:09.01 666
Valls, Kyla SR 4 50 Free 51 22.85 636 200 Free 13 1:45.63 710 100 Free 54 50.03 615
Nava, Jessica JR 2 100 Fly 15 52.15 742 200 Fly 17 1:55.71 729
Bowen, Charlotte SO 0 1 mtr Diving 47 229.35 3 mtr Diving 33 263.75
Menkhaus, Julia JR 0 200 IM 55 2:00.51 623 200 Free 41 1:47.79 626 200 Fly 35 1:57.94 658
Bell, Jennifer SO 0 1 mtr Diving 46 231.2 3 mtr Diving 35 260.65
Keating, Anna FR 0 100 Breast 18 59.41 761 200 Breast 21 2:08.97 739
Porter, Jocelyn SR 0 1 mtr Diving 30 260.3 3 mtr Diving 22 290.75 Platform Diving 33 222.65

 

Team Titles
Stanford 11
Texas 7
Georgia 7
Auburn 5
Cal 4
Florida 2
Arizona 1
USC 1
SMU 1
Virginia** 1

 

NCAA Coach Titles
Richard Quick 12
Jack Bauerle 7
Teri McKeever 4
Greg Meehan 3
David Marsh 3
Mark Schubert 3
David Marsh/ Dorsey Tierney-Walker 2
Gregg Troy 1
Frank Busch 1
George Haines 1
Randy Reese 1
Todd DeSorbo** 1

All 2021 NCAA Women’s Champions

  • 800 Free Relay- Virginia (Kyla Valls, Paige Madden, Ella Nelson, Alex Walsh), 6:52.56
  • 200 Free Relay- Cal (Eloise Riley, Emily Gantriis, Elise Garcia, Izzy Ivey), 1:25.78 *Pool Record
  • 500 Free- Paige Madden (Virginia), 4:33.61
  • 200 IM- Alex Walsh (Virginia), 1:51.87
  • 50 Free- Kate Douglass (Virginia), 21.13
  • 1-meter Diving- Sarah Bacon (Minnesota), 357.20
  • 400 Medley Relay- NC State (Katharine Berkoff, Sophie Hansson, Kylee Alons, Julia Poole), 3:24.95 *U.S. Open/NCAA Record
  • 400 IM- Brooke Forde (Stanford), 4:01.57 *Pool Record
  • 100 Fly- Maggie MacNeil (Michigan), 48.89 *U.S. Open/NCAA Record
  • 200 Free- Paige Madden (Virginia), 1:42.35
  • 100 Breast- Sophie Hansson (NC State), 57.23 *Pool Record
  • 100 Back- Katharine Berkoff (NC State ), 49.74 *Pool Record
  • 3-meter Diving- Sarah Bacon (Minnnesota), 408.60
  • 200 Medley Relay- NC State (Katharine Berkoff, Sophie Hansson, Sirena Rowe, Kylee Alons), 1:33.18
  • 1650 Free- Paige Madden (Virginia), 15:41.86
  • 200 Back- Phoebe Bacon (Wisconsin), 1:48.32
  • 100 Free- Maggie MacNeil (Michigan), 46.02 *Pool Record
  • 200 Breast- Sophie Hansson (NC State), 2:03.86 *Pool Record
  • 200 Fly- Olivia Carter (Michigan), 1:51.33
  • Platform Diving- Tarrin Gilliland (Indiana), 338.40
  • 400 Free Relay- Alabama (Morgan Scott, Kalia Antoniou, Flora Molnar, Cora Dupre), 3:09.78

TEAM SCORES (FINAL)

  1. Virginia 491
  2. NC State 354
  3. Texas 344.5
  4. California 290
  5. Alabama 266
  6. Michigan 224.5
  7. Ohio State 215.5
  8. Georgia 181
  9. Stanford 159
  10. Tennessee 153
  11. Kentucky 152
  12. UNC 144
  13. Louisville 108
  14. Texas A&M 107.5
  15. Indiana 102
  16. Northwestern 96
  17. Florida 84.5
  18. Missouri 79
  19. Wisconsin 61
  20. Purdue 56
  21. Virginia Tech 55
  22. USC 51
  23. Miami 42
  24. Minnesota 40
  25. Arizona 34.5
  26. Nebraska 33
  27. Arkansas 26
  28. Georgia Tech 24
  29. Notre Dame 12
  30. LSU/Houston 9
  31. San Diego State/FGCU 6
  32. Duke 5
  33. Wyoming 4
  34. Akron 3
  35. Oakland/Navy 1

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Scott Morris
3 years ago

Congratulations to all Women’s NCAA swimmers! Excellent swimming By all ACC teams, especially UVA and NCState!

Washed Up
3 years ago

Are there teams that we know had some swimmers not tapered who are shooting for trials.

Admin
Reply to  Washed Up
3 years ago

None that we know.

Foreign Embassy
3 years ago

The fact that Texas outscored CAL by 54.5 points and had 54 points from diving AND Purdue was ahead of USC is yet another reason I wish diving would be separated from swimming. 😩

JigglyPuff
Reply to  Foreign Embassy
3 years ago

So you would rather Cal lost by 0.5 points?

SwimCanada
Reply to  Foreign Embassy
3 years ago

Texas (and others) choose to give valuable scholarship money to support their diving program. Other programs chose to focus their valuable scholarship money on swimming. While I completely get what your saying no one is getting any kind of unfair advantage. It doesn’t matter if they spend it on swimming or diving the same amount of scholarship is given. One would even say that the programs who chose not to spend their money on diving should have an advantage at NCAA’s because divers can only score in 3 individual events while swimmers can score in 3 individual and 4 relays.

Barbotus
Reply to  SwimCanada
3 years ago

Meh. But divers only count as 1/2 a swimmer for roster purposes. So theoretically you get 6 individual scoring chances with two divers versus 3 for one swimmer.

SwimCanada
Reply to  Barbotus
3 years ago

And yet relays provide double scoring points so any swimmer with any relay potential will always get more consideration to a diver despite their individual scoring capabilities. So do you recruit a diver or a relay scorer? All that being said these divers are obviously gifted athletes and I’m glad they have the opportunity to showcase their talent and help their team to a national prominence.

Barbotus
Reply to  SwimCanada
3 years ago

And yet the swimmers who are filling out roster spots 16-18 are most likely not contributing to your relays. Let’s face it, as a coach you are not removing your top swimmers to bring divers. And I am of course speaking specifically to the max roster situation where you have to decide whether to bring two divers or one swimmer. Not disparaging divers at all. Simply pointing out what I believe was a questionable argument in the original post.

BearlyBreathing
Reply to  Foreign Embassy
3 years ago

I hear you but personally, I’d rather we just get some divers.

SwimCanada
Reply to  BearlyBreathing
3 years ago

I hear you. Even a partial scholarship to Cal for that chance at a national title, a prominent academic degree and a chance to further your diving career should be a hard opportunity to pass up!

BaldingEagle
Reply to  Foreign Embassy
3 years ago

There are three diving events at D-1 championships. Moaning about other teams having divers is the same as moaning about other teams having IMers and 200 fly swimmers.

lightning
3 years ago

Might want to correct the article- SMU has never won a title.

lightning
3 years ago

Wahoowa!

PVSFree
3 years ago

I’m impressed by DeSorbo’s flip into the pool, didn’t know he had that in him

Poptart
3 years ago

GO PACK! WW!

Bevo
3 years ago

Well done. Great safety protocols to help us through this final stage towards Olympic Trials. Stay safe!

About Nick Pecoraro

Nick Pecoraro

Nick has had the passion for swimming since his first dive in the water in middle school, immediately falling for breaststroke. Nick had expanded to IM events in his late teens, helping foster a short, but memorable NCAA Div III swim experience at Calvin University. While working on his B.A. …

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