Story Links Virginia swimmers don’t just win — they set the standard. The Cavaliers currently hold 12 of the 19 NCAA swimming records and 11 of 18 NCAA championship meet swimming records, the most of any women’s program in recent history. The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team continues to rewrite the record books. Team […]
Virginia swimmers don’t just win — they set the standard. The Cavaliers currently hold 12 of the 19 NCAA swimming records and 11 of 18 NCAA championship meet swimming records, the most of any women’s program in recent history.
The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team continues to rewrite the record books.
Team title No. 5
- 544 – Virginia’s team points at the 2025 championship, the second-most during its five-year championship streak.
- Virginia is now one of only three programs in Division I women’s swimming and diving history to win five consecutive team championships.
- Texas: 1984-88.
- Stanford: 1992-96.
- Virginia: 2021-25.
- No team has ever won six in a row.
Record holders: Virginia’s imprint on the record books
With blistering times, historic streaks and a fifth-straight national title secured Saturday, the Cavaliers left no doubt at the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Here’s a look at their dominant run by the numbers.
NCAA records held by Virginia (12)
- Gretchen Walsh
- 50-yard freestyle: 20.37 – March 21, 2024, and March 20, 2025 (leadoff leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay).
- 100-yard freestyle: 44.71 – March 22, 2025.
- 100-yard backstroke: 48.10 – Feb. 23, 2024.
- 100-yard butterfly: 46.97 – March 21, 2025.
- Claire Curzan
- 200-yard backstroke: 1:46.82 – March 22, 2025.
- Kate Douglass (Virginia alum)
- 200-yard breaststroke: 2:01.29 – March 18, 2023.
- 200-yard individual medley: 1:48.37 – March 16, 2023.
- Relays
- 200-yard freestyle relay: 1:23.63 – Feb. 21, 2024.
- Jasmine Nocentini, Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker
- 400-yard freestyle relay: 3:05.84 – March 18, 2023.
- Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker, Gretchen Walsh
- 800-yard freestyle relay: 6:44.13 – Feb. 18, 2025.
- Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Aimee Canny, Claire Curzan
- 200-yard medley relay: 1:31.10 – March 19, 2025.
- Claire Curzan, Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, Maxine Parker
- 400-yard medley relay: 3:19.58 – Feb. 21, 2025.
- Claire Curzan, Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, Anna Moesch
- 200-yard freestyle relay: 1:23.63 – Feb. 21, 2024.
Championship meet records held by Virginia (11)
- 50-yard freestyle – Gretchen Walsh (20.37 – March 21, 2024, and March 20, 2025, leadoff leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay).
- 100-yard freestyle – Gretchen Walsh (44.71 – March 22, 2025).
- 100-yard backstroke – Gretchen Walsh (48.26 – March 17, 2023, and March 22, 2024).
- 100-yard butterfly – Gretchen Walsh (46.97 – March 21, 2025).
- 200-yard backstroke – Claire Curzan (1:46.82 – March 22, 2025).
- 200-yard breaststroke – Kate Douglass (2:01.29 – March 18, 2023).
- 200-yard individual medley – Kate Douglass (1:48.37 – March 16, 2023).
- 200-yard medley relay – Virginia (1:31.10 – March 19, 2025).
- 400-yard medley relay – Virginia (3:20.20 – March 21, 2025).
- 200-yard freestyle relay – Virginia (1:24.05 – March 21, 2024).
- 400-yard freestyle relay – Virginia (3:05.84 – March 18, 2023).
Walsh sisters: Legendary careers
- 4 – Gretchen Walsh, a four-time Olympic medalist at the Paris Games, became the 14th swimmer in NCAA Division I women’s championship history to win the same event four times, claiming her fourth straight title in the 100 free.
- 9 – Gretchen Walsh and her sister, Alex, now own nine individual NCAA titles each, becoming just the sixth and seventh swimmers in NCAA history to reach that milestone. They joined Florida’s Tracy Caulkins, California’s Natalie Coughlin, SMU’s Martina Moravcova, Stanford’s Jenny Thompson and Georgia’s Kara Lynn Joyce.
- Alex Walsh, a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympic Games, joined Caulkins as the only swimmers to win individual NCAA Division I women’s swimming titles in at least five different events.
Stacked Resume: Virginia’s all-time standing
- 51 – Individual NCAA event championships in program history.
- 45 of those have come in the past five years.
- Virginia now ranks sixth in total all-time individual event titles, behind Stanford, Florida, Georgia, Texas and California.
- Virginia’s five team titles are tied with Auburn for fourth all-time in Division I women’s swimming and diving history. Stanford (11), Texas (7) and Georgia (7) are the top three.
- Virginia’s 10 individual titles at the 2025 championships mark the 10th time in the history of the Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships that a team has won 10 or more individual events. Florida and Stanford still hold the record, with 13.
Most all-time individual Division I women’s swimming and diving championships
- 1. Stanford 186.
- 2. Florida 91.
- T3. Georgia 79.
- T3. Texas 79.
- 5. California 75.
- 6. Virginia 51.
Olympic presence
The six Cavaliers were among more than 35 Olympic swimmers and divers competing at the 2025 NCAA championship. Virginia’s Olympic presence matched Tennessee’s six Olympians: Regan Rathwell (Canada), Julia Mrozinski (Germany), Mona McSharry (Ireland), Ella Jansen (Canada), Brooklyn Douthwright (Canada) and Jillian Crooks (Cayman Islands).
Virginia’s championship meet roster included six Olympians: Aimee Canny (South Africa), Emma Weber (U.S.), Claire Curzan (U.S.), Katie Grimes (U.S.) and the Walsh sisters (U.S.).
Coaching legacy
- Virginia head coach Todd DeSorbo becomes just the second coach in NCAA Division I women’s swimming and diving history to lead a team to five straight national championships.
- The only other coach to do so? Richard Quick, who actually led Texas (1984-88) and Stanford (1989) to six combined national titles in a row. Quick accounted for the five-year Stanford streak from 1992-96.
