Gretchen Walsh repeats in 50 freestyle, Virginia leads NCAA women’s swimming, diving championships

By AP News Published Mar 20, 2025 09:12 pm

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (AP) — Virginia finished 1-2 in the 50-yard freestyle with Gretchen Walsh winning the event for the second straight year to help the Cavaliers move into first on the team leaderboard Thursday night in the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships.

Walsh secured her seventh career national individual championship after beating teammate Claire Curzan with her fourth-fastest time of 20.49 seconds. Walsh now owns the top 10 times in the event.

Virginia also won the 200 freestyle relay for the fourth straight year, highlighted by Gretchen tying her record with a leg time of 20.37.

Virginia ended Day 2 in first with 225 points, followed by Stanford at 178 and Texas 152.

Texas’ Jillian Cox claimed her first individual NCAA title in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:31.58.

Stanford’s Olympic gold medalist Torri Huske pulled away from defending NCAA champion Alex Walsh to win the 200 IM in a career-best 1:49.67.

Miami senior Chiara Pellacani, who missed an Olympic medal by just nine points, earned her first national championship on the 1-meter with a score of 354.65. Teammate Mia Vallee came in second at 333.85 and UNC freshman Lanie Gutch third.

The four-day meet at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center continues on Friday.

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