Virginia’s Gretchen Walsh and Claire Curzan set NCAA records on their way to individual titles, helping the Cavaliers cruise to their record-tying fifth straight women’s swimming and diving championship Saturday night.
Curzan set a new mark in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1 minute, 46.82 seconds. Walsh broke her own record in the 100 freestyle with a time of 44.71 seconds. Curzan is the first swimmer to win individual NCAA titles for two different schools after winning the 200 backstroke while at Stanford in 2023.
The Cavaliers finished with 544 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Stanford with 417.
Virginia joins Texas (1984-88) and Stanford (1992-96) as the only schools to win five championships in a row.
“In my opinion, this is the best dynasty in college sports, period,” Virginia coach Todd DeSorbo said.
Five Cavaliers won gold medals led by the six from Walsh and four from Curzan.
Walsh also set NCAA and American records at the event in the 100 butterfly (46.97) and 100 freestyle (44.71). Walsh and Curzan were also members of Virginia’s 200 medley relay team that won in a record time of 1:31.1.
“It’s just a great ride, a great career,” Walsh said. “I’m going to miss doing it alongside all these girls over there.”
Other winners Saturday included Texas’ Jillian Cox with a winning time of 15:33.54 in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Stanford’s Lucy Bell won the 200 breaststroke in 2:04.28, Indiana’s Skyler Liu was the top platform diver with 382.15 points, and Virginia won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:06.01.
Emma Sticklen of Texas set an NCAA record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:49.11.
The four-day event was held at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
