Swimming & Diving: Walsh, Curzan set American records at Tennessee Invite

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed the three-day Tennessee Invitational meet on Friday at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatics Center in Knoxville, Tenn.

The Cavalier women swept the double dual against Kentucky and Tennessee, while the men defeated the Wildcats but lost to the Volunteers.

TEAM SCORES

Women: Virginia 234, Tennessee 153
Women: Virginia 282, Kentucky 105

Men: Tennessee 248, Virginia 134
Men: Virginia 226, Kentucky 159

Sophomore Claire Curzan opened the final session of the meet by setting an American record in 200 Backstroke with a time of 1:46.87. It was the second straight day that a Cavalier set an American record, with Gretchen Walsh setting the new standard in the 100 Butterfly on Thursday night.

Walsh’s 47.35 in the 100 Butterfly is an American, NCAA, US Open, Virginia program, meet and pool record, topping her own previous record of 47.42.

Curzan swam against Walsh in the two-athlete Super Final for the 200 Back. The Cavaliers also had both positions in the Super Final for the 200 Back on the men’s side, with freshman David King (1:39.82) winning by .02 against teammate Jack Aikins (1:39.84). The Cavaliers also had two swimmers in the Super Final for the 200 Breast, with Aimee Canny picking up the win (2:06.70).

Senior Lizzy Kaye won the platform diving event (243.00), completing the sweep of all three diving events in the meet.

Grad student Noah Nichols won the 200 Breast (1:52.96), and sophomore Tess Howley won the 200 Fly (1:54.06).

The Cavalier women won 13 of the 16 swimming events across the three days of the meet, including sweeping the relays.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Claire Curzan’s time in the 200 Back is an American, NCAA, US Open, UVA, meet and pool record
• Curzan broke the previous Virginia record of 1:49.35 set by Courtney Bartholomew in 2015. The previous American record of 1:47.16 was set by Regan Smith in 2019
• Gretchen Walsh’s second-place time in the 200 Back (1:48.18) also bettered the previous UVA record
• This is the 60th time a Virginia swimmer has broken an American record since 2021
• Aimee Canny’s win in the 200 Breast was her third victory of the meet after also winning the 200 Free and 500 Free
• David King’s 1:39.82 in the 200 Back ranks third on the UVA all-time list
• The men’s 400 Free Relay posted the fourth fastest time in program history with a 2:48.33, while the women’s relay had the fifth fastest at 3:06.93

UP NEXT

Select student-athletes will compete at the US Open Championships, Dec. 4-7 in Greensboro, N.C.