Virginia women’s swimming qualifies 14 for NCAA Championships

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia women’s swimming qualified 14 to compete at the 2021 NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships held March 17-20 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.

Sophomore Lexi Cuomo (Clifton, Va.), sophomore Maddie Donohoe (Annandale, Va.), sophomore Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y.), senior Caroline Gmelich (Rumson, N.J.), freshman Abby Harter (Broadlands, Va.), freshman Anna Keating (Vienna, Va.), senior Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.), junior Julia Menkhaus (Charlotte, N.C.), junior Jessica Nava (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), sophomore Ella Nelson (Nashville, Tenn.), freshman Reilly Tiltmann (Brookfield, Wis.), senior Kyla Valls (Miami, Fla.), freshman Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn.) and junior Alexis Wenger (Detroit, Mich.) will represent the Cavaliers at the NCAA Championships.

UVA’s 14 swimmers are tied for the third-most and combined they qualified in 33 events. Florida led the way with 16, followed by Tennessee (15) and Kentucky (14). Virginia had 15 swimmers qualify for the 2020 NCAA Championships, but the meet was canceled due to COVID-19. UVA’s highest finish at the NCAA Championship was fifth in 2015 and 2016.

The Virginia women’s diving team will look to advance competitors to the national meet at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships held March 11-13 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. The host sites for the zone meets have been moved from five to three to ensure that the zone meets can be completed and NCAA staff can better manage the meets and adequately prepare hosts for all NCAA COVID health and safety measures.

About the meet

ESPN3 will provide digital broadcast coverage for preliminary and finals sessions Wednesday through Saturday. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour show at 7 p.m. Eastern time, Tuesday, April 6.

A total of 322 participants (281 swimmers and 41 divers) will compete in the championships. Swimmers qualified for the championships by meeting the established minimum time for the events in which they entered. Divers will be determined by performances at the Zone Diving Meets, which will take place, March 7-13.

The complete list of swimmers competing in the championships is available at www.usaswimming.org/ncaa. Selected divers will be announced Sunday, March 14. North Carolina State University and the Greensboro Sports Foundation will serve as co-hosts.