Swimming & Diving: Virginia sets new AFC marks to close regular season at Cavalier Invite

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming teams hosted the fifth annual Cavalier Invite Thursday through Saturday at the Aquatic and Fitness Center in Charlottesville.

The meet followed a prelim/finals format where swimmers competed as individuals in an attempt to improve on seed times and hit qualifying standards ahead of the start of the postseason, with no team scoring for the meet.

The Virginia women set four pool records over the course of the three days.

Sophomore Claire Curzan set a pool record in the final of the 200 Free on Friday with a 1:41.99, the fourth-fastest time in the NCAA this season.

The marquee event of the meet was Friday’s women’s 100 Breaststroke. Senior Gretchen Walsh, swimming the event for just the second time in a collegiate meet, set a pool record with 57.34 in prelims. Her time also gave her the top seed in the evening final, with her sister Alex Walsh seeded second. In the final, Alex posted a 56.85, breaking Gretchen’s pool record. Gretchen finished second, just .01 seconds behind at 56.86. Those times are the top two in the NCAA this season and the eighth and ninth fastest of all time.

On Saturday, freshman Katie Grimes broke a 24-year-old mark in a time trial for the 1650 Free (15:53.40). The mark broke the record of 15:58.46 set by Cara Lane in 2001, which had been the Aquatic and Fitness Center’s longest-standing swimming record.

Over the three days, Cavalier swimmers won a combined 19 of the 26 individual events contested across both genders. Virginia only swam in one relay event.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Simon Lins (47.09) won the 100 Fly and the 50 Free (19.92)
• Charlotte Wilson won the 100 (51.68) and 200 Back (1:53.02)
• Teddy Cross won the 200 Back (1:42.76) and the 200 IM (1:47.00)
• David King (45.51) won the 100 Back
• Leah Hayes won the 200 IM (1:54.93)
• Carly Novelline (51.83) won the 100 Fly. Tess Howley won the 200 (1:53.30)
• Emma Redman won the 400 IM (4:11.08) and the 200 Breast (2:11.29)
• Zach Larrick (3:52.83) won the 400 IM
• Tristen Davin won the 200 Free (1:35.84)
• Aspen Gersper won the 100 Free (49.91)
• Jay Gerloff (53.87) won the 100 Breast
• Elise Clift won the 1650 Free (16:41.55)
• In addition to Alex and Gretchen Walsh, two other Cavalier Olympians also competed in the final of the 100 Breast, with Aimee Canny placing third (58.91) and Emma Weber fifth (1:00.59)
• Competing teams: Army, James Madison, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Richmond, South Carolina, St. Bonaventure, Towson, William & Mary

UP NEXT

Virginia competes at the 2025 ACC Championships at the Greensboro Aquatics Center in Greensboro, N.C., February 18-22.