Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh To Face Off In 100 IM At UVA Intrasquad (ENTRY LIST)

UVA Blue vs. Orange Intrasquad

• October 1, 2022
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Charlottesville, Virginia
• Full Entry List

The University of Virginia has released the entry lists for their annual Blue vs. Orange intrasquad meet, which is set to take place this Saturday at 9:00 AM. The event lineup consists of 50 and 150-yard races of all four strokes, a 300 free and IM, a 600 free, a 100 IM, and one/three-meter diving events for both men and women. In addition, there will also be a mixed 200 medley class relay (freshmen vs. sophomores vs. juniors vs. seniors) and a mixed 200 free relay between the blue and orange teams.

Full Event Order:

• Mixed 200 medley class relay
• 600 free
• 150 free
• 300 IM
• 50 back
• 50 breast
• 150 fly
• 50 free
• 150 back
• 150 breast
• 50 fly
• 300 free
• 100 IM
• 3-meter diving
• 1-meter diving
• Mixed 200 free relay

This meet serves as the 2022-23 season debut for three of the best women’s NCAA swimmers in the country: Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, and Alex Walsh. These three swimmers were the top three individual point scorers at the 2022 NCAA Championships, and will be facing off against each other in several events at this intrasquad.

Douglass and Gretchen Walsh will be going head-to-head in the 50 free, where they went 1-2 at NCAAs last year and swam times of 20.84 and 20.95 respectively (the first and fourth-fastest times in the event’s history). On the contrary, Douglass and Alex Walsh will be racing each other in both the 150 fly and 100 IM. In addition to their races against each other, Douglass is entered in the 50 fly, Gretchen Walsh is entered in the 150 free, 150 back, and 50 back, and Alex Walsh is entered in the 300 IM and 150 breast.

The battle between Douglass and Walsh in the 100 IM will be one of the most anticipated events of the meet, as this race is their first time competing against each other in an IM event since the Tokyo Olympics—where Walsh won silver and Douglass won bronze in the 200 IM. This race leans slightly in Douglass’ favor considering that she’s a sprinter, and also because the last time she raced the 100 IM at an intrasquad meet, she clocked a time of 52.48 which was the fastest in the history of the event. However, Walsh has been as fast as 53.08 in the event and is currently both the defending NCAA and World Champion in the 200 IM.

On the men’s side, there will be several showdowns between some of the best sprinters in the country. The 50 free and 150 free will consist of Matt King, Matt Brownstead, August Lamb, and Connor Boyle, who were the four members of Virginia’s American record-breaking 200 free relay last season. Joining them in both races will be Jack Aikins, who was a member of the team’s 400 free relay that took fifth at NCAAs.

The sprinting races between King and Brownstead will be interesting ones to watch. Brownstead holds the Virginia team records in the 50 and 100 free with times of 18.60 and 41.22 respectively, and has arguably been the better-performing swimmer in yards out of the two. However, King isn’t much slower than him, holding personal bests of 18.96 and 41.34. In addition, he’s coming off a major long course summer breakout where he took home U.S. national titles in the 50 and 100 free and is entering the NCAA season with a lot of momentum.

In addition, we will also get to see several of the top freshmen in the country make their first collegiate appearances at this meet. This includes Claire Tuggle, Carly Novelline, Emma Weber, and Sebastien Sergile —who were all ranked by SwimSwam as top 20 recruits in the class of 2022. Recent transfers Sam Baron, Maxine Parker, and Tim Connery will also swim their first meets as Cavaliers here.