2024 ACC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, February 20 to Saturday, February 24, 2023
- Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
- Defending Champions: NC State men / Virginia women
- Full Event Schedule
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Streaming
- Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
To kick off the second session of the 2024 ACC Championships, University of Virginia’s Jasmine Nocentini (21.55), Gretchen Walsh (19.95), Alex Walsh (20.82), and Maxine Parker (21.31) combined for a time of 1:23.63 to take down the NCAA and U.S. Open record in the 200 freestyle relay. Since Nocentini is Italian, the record cannot count as an American record.
The previous record was Virginia’s 1:23.87 from the 2023 ACC Championships, which still stands as the American record. Notably, this is the third-straight season where UVA broke the NCAA and U.S. Open record in the 200 free relay, as the team did so in 2022 as well.
Walsh’s 19.95 split is notably the first sub-20 second 50 free relay split in history for a female swimmer. She was the main reason why her team’s record was broken, as the average split of the other three swimmers (21.23) on this relay was slower than the average of the non-Gretchen Walsh swimmers (21.13) on the relay that held the previous NCAA and U.S. Open record.
Split Comparison
UVA, 2024 ACC Championships | UVA, 2023 ACC Championships |
Jasmine Nocentini — 21.55 | Kate Douglass — 20.95 |
Gretchen Walsh — 19.95 | Gretchen Walsh — 20.48 |
Alex Walsh — 20.82 | Lexi Cuomo — 21.14 |
Maxine Parker — 21.31 | Maxine Parker — 21.30 |
1:23.63 | 1:23.87 |
Virginia won this relay by over a second, with Louisville touching in second with a time of 1;25.39. Notably, this win happened even after Nocentini missed her flipturn on the leadoff leg.
Here is the race video of the relay, courtesy of the UVA Swimming YouTube channel:
And Nocentini went .4 faster in the individual 50…that record is going down by at least another half of a second at NCAAs
Alex Walsh swam the 4th leg of the previous record relay with a 21.30 split. She dropped 0.48 from last year compared to Gretchen’s 0.53 second drop. Both Walshes were the difference here.
Kate Douglass graduates and the relay goes FASTER???
Thank god for these videos because I’m being punished I don’t have cable 😞
unless I’m missing a name or two, Alex is now the 10th fastest relay performer, tied with Kylee Alons. All 9 of the swimmers above her except for Douglass are pretty much just sprinters
Outstanding!!!!
Congratulations on a great TEAM relay effort and record !!!