Virginia wins 2021 NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia women’s swimming & diving team won the programs first national championship on Saturday night after finishing with 491 points in the 2021 NCAA Championship at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

“I’m so proud of this group,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “They have been on a mission all year and just been grinding and excited for it. They just performed at a really high level all week. It is an exciting time for our program and our conference. To put someone in the ‘A’ Final in every single event is pretty impressive. It just shows overall depth. I think it takes a full team to win a national title and these ladies brought it every minute of every day.”

Virginia became just the ninth different school to win a women’s swimming national championship and the first in the Atlantic Coast Conference. NC State finished second with 354 points and Texas was third (344.5).

Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) was named Most Valuable Swimmer after winning three individual event titles, the most of any swimmer. Madden closed out her stellar meet with a win in the 1,650-yard freestyle in a career-best time of 15:41.86.

The Cavaliers picked up a pair of second place finishes, with Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y.) finishing second in the 100-yard freestyle in a UVA record time of 46.30 and Ella Nelson (Nashville, Tenn.) placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:04.35.

In the 200 breaststroke, Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn.) finished fifth with a time of 2:05.86. Alexis Wenger (Detroit, Mich.) was seventh in 2:06.90.

Abby Harter (Broadlands, Va.) picked up a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:53.86.

The final night concluded with the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Cavaliers finished second in the relay as Douglass, Madden, Walsh and Cuomo, respectively, combined for a time of 3:10.45.