2023 NCAA WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 15-18, 2023
- Allan Jones Aquatic Center–Knoxville, Tennessee
- SCY (25 yards)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Stream
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Pick ’em Contest
- Day 1 Finals Live Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Live Recap|Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Live Recap|Day 3 Finals Recap
The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team has just captured their third consecutive NCAA Championship, doing so in dominant fashion. They scored a total of 541.5 points, beating out second-place finishers Texas by a whopping 127 points.
200 of Virginia’s points came from relays, as the Cavaliers won five out of five contested relays. They are the first team to complete this feat since the Stanford women did so back in 2018. Another 218 points came from Virginia’s “big four” of Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, and Ella Nelson. Douglass led the way with 60 points, which came from winning three titles and breaking three individual NCAA records in what was one of the greatest single-meet performances in NCAA history. G. Walsh scored 57 points and won two titles in addition to a second-place finish, and she also broke the NCAA record in the 100 back. A. Walsh had a first, second, and third place finish, while Nelson finished second, third and fifth in her races.
Virginia won 11 out of the 18 contested events at the NCAA Championships, breaking NCAA records in 7 of them (200 IM, 100 fly, 200 breast, 100 back, 200 medley relay, 400 free relay). But their win wasn’t only because of their stars, as 12 out of their 17 NCAA qualifiers scored points. In total, they amassed a total of 19 ‘A’ final and 8 ‘B’ final swims, and scored in every single swimming event.
This NCAA title also head coach Todd DeSorbo’s third title in the five seasons that he’s been at Virginia. There are now only five schools who have had more NCAA team titles than the Cavaliers.
List Of Schools by Women’s NCAA Team Titles:
- Stanford — 11
- Georgia/Texas — 7
- Auburn — 5
- Cal — 4
- Virginia — 3
- Florida — 2
- Arizona — 1
- USC — 1
Virginia’s Full NCAA Roster
| Swimmer | Year | Points | Event | Place | Time | Event | Place | Time | Event | Place | Time |
| Kate Douglass | Senior | 60 | 200 IM | 1 | 1:48.37 | 100 Fly | 1 | 48.46 | 200 Breast | 1 | 2:01.29 |
| Gretchen Walsh | Sophomore | 57 | 50 Free | 2 | 20.85 | 100 Back | 1 | 48.25 | 100 Free | 1 | 45.61 |
| Alex Walsh | Junior | 53 | 200 IM | 3 | 1:50.07 | 400 IM | 1 | 3:57.24 | 200 Fly | 2 | 1:50.23 |
| Ella Nelson | Senior | 48 | 200 IM | 5 | 1:54.06 | 400 IM | 2 | 3:59.54 | 200 Breast | 3 | 2:04.33 |
| Maxine Parker | Junior | 23.5 | 50 Free | 14 | 22.01 | 200 Free | 5 | 1:43.48 | 100 Free | 10 | 47.72 |
| Aimee Canny | Freshman | 19 | 200 IM | 19 | 1:56.10 | 200 Free | 3 | 1:42.50 | 100 Free | 14 | 48.1 |
| Reilly Tiltmann | Sophomore | 18 | 200 Free | 21 | 1:44.89 | 100 Back | 12 | 51.46 | 200 Back | 6 | 1:50.84 |
| Lexi Cuomo | Senior | 15 | 50 Free | 8 | 21.71 | 100 Fly | 14 | 51.28 | 100 Free | 16 | 48.31 |
| Abby Harter | Junior | 12 | 200 IM | 17 | 1:55.57 | 100 Fly | 18 | 51.71 | 200 Fly | 7 | 1:53.56 |
| Anna Keating | Junior | 12 | 100 Breast | 20 | 59.41 | 200 Breast | 7 | 2:06.73 | |||
| Emma Weber | Freshman | 11 | 100 Breast | 8 | 58,95 | 200 Breast | 40 | 2:11.76 | |||
| Maddie Donohoe | Senior | 7 | 500 Free | 10 | 4:39.46 | 1650 Free | 11 | 15:56.83 | |||
| Sam Baron | Junior | 0 | 200 IM | 49 | 1:58.77 | 100 Fly | DQ | N/A | 200 IM | 45 | 1:58.19 |
| Ella Bathurst | Sophomore | 0 | 200 IM | 32 | 1:57.42 | 100 Back | 43 | 53.12 | 200 Back | 42 | 1:55.22 |
| Jennifer Bell | Senior | 0 | 1-Meter Diving | 29 | 247.25 | 3-Meter Diving | 26 | 279.9 | |||
| Elizabeth Kaye | Junior | 0 | 1-Meter Diving | 17 | 266.95 | 3-Meter Diving | 17 | 302.8 | Platform Diving | 46 | 196 |
| Sophia Knapp | Freshman | 0 | 500 Free | 53 | 4:45.87 | 200 Free | 53 | 1:47.44 | 1650 Free | 37 | 16:27.55 |
| Carly Novelline | Freshman | 0 | 100 Fly | 27 | 52.15 | 100 Back | 21 | 52.01 | 200 Back | 35 | 1:54.34 |
| Jaycee Yegher | Fifth Year | 0 | 100 Breast | 25 | 59.67 | 200 Breast | 22 | 2:09.10 |
Relays:
| Relay | Swimmers | Place | Time |
| 200 Medley Relay | Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, Kate Douglass | 1 | 1:31.51 |
| 800 Free Relay | Aimee Canny, Alex Walsh, Reilly Tiltmann, Ella Nelson | 1 | 6:49.82 |
| 200 Free Relay | Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, Maxine Parker | 1 | 1:24.51 |
| 400 Medley Relay | Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Kate Douglass, Aimee Canny | 1 | 3:22.39 |
| 400 Free Relay | Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker, Gretchen Walsh | 1 | 3:05.84 |
In total, there were nine different individual NCAA champions coming from six different teams (Virginia, UNC, LSU, Stanford, Texas, Alabama). Douglass was the only swimmer who went three-for-three in NCAA titles, while G. Walsh, Kensey McMahon, diver Aranza Vazquez both had two titles apiece. Six different swimmers also managed to score 50 or more individual points.
All 2023 NCAA Women’s Champions
- 200 Medley Relay: Virginia (Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, Kate Douglass) — 1:31.51
- 800 Free Relay: Virginia (Aimee Canny, Alex Walsh, Reilly Tiltmann, Ella Nelson) — 6:49.82
- 500 Free: Kensey McMahon, Alabama — 4:36.62
- 200 IM: Kate Douglass, Virginia — 1:48.37
- 50 Free: Maggie MacNeil, LSU — 20.79
- One-Meter Diving: Aranza Vazquez, UNC — 358.75
- 200 Free Relay: Virginia (Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Lexi Cuomo, Maxine Parker) — 1:24.51
- 400 IM: Alex Walsh, Virginia — 3:57.25
- 100 Fly: Kate Douglass, Virginia — 48.46
- 200 Free: Taylor Ruck, Stanford — 1:42.36
- 100 Back: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia — 48.25
- Three-Meter Diving: Aranza Vazquez, UNC — 385.80
- 400 Medley Relay: Virginia (Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Kate Douglass, Aimee Canny) — 3:22.39
- 1650 Free: Kensey McMahon, Alabama — 15:43.84
- 200 Back: Claire Curzan, Stanford — 1:47.67
- 100 Free: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia — 45.61
- 200 Breast: Kate Douglass, Virginia — 2:01.29
- 200 Fly: Emma Sticklen, Texas — 1:49.95
- Platform Diving: Delaney Schnell, Arizona — 352.65
- 400 Free Relay: Virginia (Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker, Gretchen Walsh) — 3:05.84
Times in bold denote NCAA records.
Top Individual Scorers (Swimming Only)
- Kate Douglass, Virginia — 60
- Gretchen Walsh, Virginia — 57
- Alex Walsh, Virginia/Maggie MacNeil, LSU — 53
- Claire Curzan, Stanford — 51
- Torri Huske, Stanford — 50
Behind Virginia, Texas came in second, Stanford came in third, and Louisville came in fourth. Louisville scored 288 points in total, which is the most in school history.
Final Team Score
- Virginia — 541.5
- Texas — 414.5
- Stanford — 333
- Louisville — 288
- NC State — 263
- Ohio State — 223
- Indiana — 219
- Tennessee — 214
- Florida — 179
- UNC — 152
- Cal — 137
- USC — 125
- LSU — 112
- Alabama — 111
- Wisconsin — 100
- Georgia — 90.5
- Minnesota — 53
- Arizona — 52
- Kentucky — 49
- Virginia Tech — 46
- Duke — 42
- Miami (FL) — 36
- Michigan — 33
- Purdue — 32
- Texas A&M — 26
- South Carolina — 25
- ASU — 19
- Northwestern/Arkansas — 18
- Auburn — 14
- Hawaii — 11.5
- Florida State — 11
- Miami (OH) — 9
- UCLA — 8
- Penn — 7
- Akron/Nevada — 5
- FIU — 4
- Georgia Tech/Utah —2
UGA really needs help. Not sure that the two separate coaches system will work.Every sport other than football is struggling badly there.
I think you left Emma Weber off the list of Virginia’s scoring swimmers.
Next year race will be a closer one but Virginia has a solid chance to make 4 in a row. Did Nelson announced whether she is coming back for 5th year? The incoming class is solid, Gormsen, Moesch, Hayes have potential of scoring points as freshman, if Novelline will improve on her high school times Virginia will be hard to beat next year.
Aren’t Cuomo and Donohoe also seniors this year? Hayes is the class of 2024, not 2023. Howley is 2023.
UVA discourages 5th years….that is from University! Even in normal years, they don’t give scholarship for an extra semester or two!
Unless your name is Kihei Clark.
Moesch, &!Hayes are class of 24. Another year to wait.
Gormsen, Howley, Schalow, Mullins arrive at UVA later this year. Gormsen and Howley have the greatest potential to final/score. Wouldn’t surprise me if UVA gets a couple transfers too, just like they did last year with Maxine Parker and Sam Baron. A sprinter or two is probably most needed since they lost two legs of their sprint relay (Cuomo and Douglass) and their incoming class is mostly distance/mid-distance and stroke specialty (butterfly). The Northwestern sprint freestyler who entered the portal recently is the first possible prospect that comes to mind. I would think most sprinters who may have plateaued or are eager to see an improvement in their times would be jumping at the chance to train with a proven… Read more »
Notable presences during the UVa pool plunge celebration after the team awards ceremony: UVa President Jim Ryun & UVa, Athletics Director Carla Williams & UVa Foundation head Dirk Katstra.
They all showed up, just as they did last year, to support a women’s non-revenue sport.
Of course, one has to be impressed with UVA 3 superstars, but I was as impressed with the rest of the team who stepped up all week! To me, almost every swimmer keeps improving each year and that is so tough to do….hats off to Todd and staff! Definitely a team championship well earned and well deserved!!
Once again you left out Kensey MCMahon. Like Arianza, Kensey also won two National championships 500 and the 1650. Amazing accomplishment not mentioned
Just curious not complaining about it but why does the 4th place team get awarded at big events but only top 3 individuals at meets such as conference?
Also with Lydia’s comments about not peaking in high school I couldn’t help but think of how similar her story could be to Amanda Beards. I’m hoping for a great story to continued to be written for both Amanda & Lydia 🙂
Top 4 get trophies. All else get handshakes! They treat it like Final Four and replicate it similarly
Arizona has an NCAA women’s chanpionship…… and they scored zero swimming points this weekend….
Fire Busch lite
That was 15 years ago.
Look at Cal now. They are a program on the downside and they are out of the top 10.
Well, Arizona competes against ASU getting California swimmers. There are some Arizona swimmers but it seems that the recent cycle there are less than in the past even though thousands of Californians have come to Maricopa and some to Pima where U of A is at. in recent years and not just senior citizens but folks with families.
Not like all the Arizona HS girls are going to ASU. Their women aren’t much better!
And the highest rated AZ woman in the 2023 class is going to… NC State
There are enough good girls all around the country, Arizona is just obviously having a hard time attracting or developing them
As Rowdy mentioned in regards to Texas A&M being down this year, “it’s a cyclical business”…even Cal had a relatively down year this year. UCLA is still in build mode, USC is down relative to what they aspire toward.
The concern for Zona is quite different than for Cal now. That as given, absent a staffing shakeup not sure how Zone attracts the recruits over other PAC12 rivals poised for a climb. Just my guess.
Sad. For a chance combined program, the difference between men’s and women’s shouldn’t be as one sided as it is. Same training, same coaches. ASU is another example. Few points on women’s side but yet people predicting men to score big. Yes, there will always be up and down years with recruiting and graduations. However, the differences by between the 2 teams at U of A cannot be ignored.
In fact, ASU has gotten worse and worse. Not even sure if Bowman went to Knoxville!? If someone is getting paid to coach both, then they should be accountable to both programs!
Busch Lite leaves Virginia Todd takes over. Busch Lite takes over at AZ and women don’t score a single point for swimming. Something is wrong.