The rise of Virginia women’s swimming and diving as a national powerhouse
By Caroline Connor | March 30, 2023Virginia joins the company of Stanford, Texas, Auburn and Georgia as the only schools to three-peat in Women’s Swimming and Diving.
Virginia joins the company of Stanford, Texas, Auburn and Georgia as the only schools to three-peat in Women’s Swimming and Diving.
In the midst of the spring season, there are plenty of reasons for optimism about various women’s sports.
The Cavaliers scored 154.5 total points, breaking numerous Virginia records in their final meet of the season.
Junior Kate Douglass and sophomore Alex Walsh were key to Virginia's victory with Douglass sweeping all three of her individual events.
With Coach Todd DeSorbo at the helm, the sky is the limit for the Cavaliers, especially the women who are on the hunt to become back to back NCAA Champions after capturing their first national team title a year prior.
The women finished with 1418 total points, winning 14 events en route to their 18th total ACC Championship.
The meet took place over three days and showcased improvement for both teams.
The Virginia women’s team is already setting the stage for a historic season, breaking nine pool records over the weekend.
The Virginia men’s and women’s swim and dive teams host a pair of highly ranked Texas squads for an important two-day dual meet Friday and Saturday at the Aquatic and Fitness Center in Charlottesville.
The women's team improved to 2-0 on the dual season with a 181-89 win, while the men's team got its first win of the season, finishing with a score of 186-94.
The Cavaliers are coming off an incredible season, with the women's swim and dive team winning an ACC Championship in February and an NCAA Championship in March and the men's team placing ninth in the NCAA Championship.
For four Cavaliers, a national championship was simply not enough, as they traveled to Tokyo to compete on swimming's biggest stage and brought home hardware for the United States.
The Cavaliers led from start to finish in a stalwart showing, never looking back from the jump.
Senior swimmer Paige Madden has suffered her fair share of injuries during her journey to the top of the ACC and has experienced both the physical and mental toll it can place on a student-athlete.
The Cavaliers finished behind No. 7 Louisville — who won the meet with 1181 points) — No. 5 NC State and No. 13 Virginia Tech in a meet loaded with top 25 teams,