ACC Championships, Day 3 Finals: Gretchen Walsh Breaks American, NCAA Records in 100 Fly at 48.25
Through three days, University of Virginia junior Gretchen Walsh has put together one of the great conference championship meet performances in history. She has secured two individual titles and two relay titles already at the ACC Championships, all in record or near-record time. Now, in the 100 butterfly, Walsh has once again recorded the fastest time in history, knocking two tenths off former teammate (and current training partner) Kate Douglass last season.
From the start, Walsh instantly took control of the 100 fly final, and sights were set on the record after Walsh took down her own American and NCAA records in the 50 free in both prelims and finals Wednesday. She was out in 22.41, seven hundredths quicker than Douglass’ American-record pace, and down the stretch, she extended the advantage on record pace by closing in 25.84. That resulted in a final mark of 48.25, beating the 48.46 that Douglass set at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Walsh actually swam quicker than Douglass’ record earlier this season but unofficially; at the Tennessee Invitational in November, she went 48.30 while swimming butterfly in a 100 free heat. But this mark will be official, with Walsh ironically swimming one hundredth quicker than her own American and NCAA records in the 100 backstroke.
That previous record was set in an anticipated showdown at last year’s NCAAs, where Douglass, Maggie Mac Neil and Torri Huske established themselves as the three fastest performers in history. All of those swimmers are absent from college swimming this year as Walsh has taken control of the event (with Douglass and Mac Neil now swimming professionally and Huske redshirting), but Walsh is no guarantee to swim the event at the NCAA Championships, given that she will likely have to choose between the 100 fly and 100 back on day three of the national meet next month.
This was Walsh’s only race in the Thursday evening session at the ACC meet after an astounding Wednesday when she became the first woman to split under 20 seconds for a 50 free, with a 19.95 split on Virginia’s record setting 200 free relay, as well as an individual record of 20.57 in the splash-and-dash. One day earlier, Walsh had become the third-fastest woman ever in the 200 free while leading off a Virginia 800 free relay that posted the second-fastest time ever.
Meanwhile, in the battle behind Walsh, Louisville’s Gabi Albiero led a trio of fine sub-51-second performances. Albiero clocked 50.68, four hundredths clear of NC State’s Abby Arens (50.72) while Pitt’s Sophie Yendell was a bit further back (50.87).
Event 18 Women 100 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
MEET: # 48.84 2/16/2023 Kate C Douglass, UVA-VA
CONF: % 48.46 2/16/2023 Kate C Douglass, UVA-VA
AMER: $ 48.46 3/17/2023 Kate C Douglass, UVA-VA
USOP: & 48.46 3/17/2023 Kate C Douglass, UVA-VA
NCAA: ! 48.46 3/17/2023 Kate C Douglass, UVA-VA
Pool: * 48.84 2/16/2023 Katherine Douglass, UVA-VA
50.69 A
52.20 IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
53.63 B
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Walsh, Gretchen UVA 49.32 48.25%A 32
r:+0.76 22.41 48.25 (25.84)
2 Albiero, Gabrie Louisville 51.15 50.68 A 28
r:+0.64 23.53 50.68 (27.15)
3 Arens, Abigail NC State 51.53 50.72 IV23 27
r:+0.67 23.70 50.72 (27.02)
4 Yendell, Sophie Pitt 51.24 50.87 IV23 26
r:+0.70 23.63 50.87 (27.24)
5 Regenauer, Chri Louisville 51.33 51.20 IV23 25
r:+0.68 23.65 51.20 (27.55)
6 Novelline, Carl UVA 51.85 51.77 IV23 24
r:+0.62 24.08 51.77 (27.69)
7 Carvalho, Giuli Miami 51.87 51.79 IV23 23
r:+0.61 24.08 51.79 (27.71)
8 Halden, Jenny FSU 52.13 51.99 IV23 22
r:+0.68 23.87 51.99 (28.12)
Other events in the Thursday evening session included the 400 IM and 200 freestyle for both women and men as well as the men’s 100 fly and men’s 3-meter diving. On the women’s side, Virginia remained undefeated in swimming events and extended their lead in the team competition while NC State men have opened up a significant advantage on their closest competition. But the top men’s performance of the night came from Notre Dame’s Chris Guiliano, who tied the conference record in the 200 free.
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 20 1. Virginia, University of 846.5 2. Louisville, University of 683 3. North Carolina State Universit 573 4. Duke University 433.5 5. North Carolina, University of 401.5 6. VA Tech 308.5 7. Notre Dame, University of 276 8. Florida State University 266 9. Pittsburgh, University of 226 10. University of Miami (Florida) 221 11. Georgia Institute of Technolog 220
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 22 1. North Carolina State Universit 812.5 2. Notre Dame, University of 559.5 3. VA Tech 469.5 4. Louisville, University of 458 5. Florida State University 386 6. North Carolina, University of 380 7. Virginia, University of 344.5 8. Pittsburgh, University of 315 9. Georgia Institute of Technolog 309 10. Duke University 164 11. University of Miami (Florida) 94
- Meet Page
- Live Results
- Night 1 Women’s Recap
- Night 1 Men’s Recap
- Night 2 Women’s Recap
- Night 2 Men’s Recap
Women’s 400 IM
She has been frequently overshadowed by Olympian talent in her signature event, but Virginia’s Ella Nelson has put together a stellar collegiate career in the 400 IM, placing second, third and second at the NCAA Championships with only Stanford’s Brooke Forde and her UVA teammate Alex Walsh ever beating her on the national level. Now a fifth-year, Nelson has captured her fourth consecutive 400 IM conference crown in near-wire-to-wire fashion.
Nelson had a slight lead after the first 100 yards of butterfly, and after Cavaliers teammate Ella Bathurst closed the gap on backstroke, Nelson multiplied the margin on the breaststroke, her signature stroke. Nelson’s freestyle was also the quickest in the field as she powered into the wall at 4:03.80. The time was just off Nelson’s season-best time of 4:03.61 from the midseason Tennessee Invite, a mark which ranks sixth in the country.
NC State’s Grace Sheble used a stellar breaststroke leg to move into second place, and she held off off surging Louisville Cardinal Kim Herkle on freestyle, 4:09.51 to 4:09.89.
Event 16 Women 400 Yard IM
=========================================================================
MEET: # 3:59.33 2/16/2023 Ella E Nelson, UVA-VA
CONF: % 3:57.25 3/18/2022 Alex Walsh, UVA-VA
AMER: $ 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
USOP: & 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
NCAA: ! 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
Pool: * 3:59.33 2/16/2023 Ella Nelson, UVA-VA
4:03.62 A
4:11.36 IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
4:17.30 B
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Nelson, Margare UVA 4:09.07 4:03.80 IV23 32
r:+0.74 26.64 56.56 (29.92)
1:28.14 (31.58) 1:59.26 (31.12)
2:33.07 (33.81) 3:07.04 (33.97)
3:35.78 (28.74) 4:03.80 (28.02)
2 Sheble, Grace NC State 4:12.85 4:09.51 IV23 28
r:+0.69 26.46 56.65 (30.19)
1:28.90 (32.25) 2:00.66 (31.76)
2:35.42 (34.76) 3:10.93 (35.51)
3:40.75 (29.82) 4:09.51 (28.76)
3 Herkle, Kim Louisville 4:12.61 4:09.89 IV23 27
r:+0.73 27.36 57.87 (30.51)
1:31.28 (33.41) 2:03.56 (32.28)
2:37.88 (34.32) 3:12.96 (35.08)
3:42.20 (29.24) 4:09.89 (27.69)
4 Bathurst, Ella UVA 4:11.28 4:10.50 IV23 26
r:+0.72 26.77 57.30 (30.53)
1:28.79 (31.49) 1:59.83 (31.04)
2:35.89 (36.06) 3:12.53 (36.64)
3:41.75 (29.22) 4:10.50 (28.75)
5 Keating, Anna UVA 4:12.36 4:11.56 B 25
r:+0.71 27.24 57.80 (30.56)
1:31.76 (33.96) 2:04.66 (32.90)
2:38.57 (33.91) 3:12.90 (34.33)
3:42.94 (30.04) 4:11.56 (28.62)
6 Helms, Katherin NC State 4:12.86 4:12.55 B 24
r:+0.74 26.66 57.77 (31.11)
1:30.31 (32.54) 2:02.33 (32.02)
2:38.11 (35.78) 3:14.78 (36.67)
3:44.40 (29.62) 4:12.55 (28.15)
7 Campbell, McKen GT 4:13.64 4:13.13 B 23
r:+0.70 26.50 56.80 (30.30)
1:29.57 (32.77) 2:02.35 (32.78)
2:37.98 (35.63) 3:13.91 (35.93)
3:44.03 (30.12) 4:13.13 (29.10)
8 Ulett, Ryenne Louisville 4:14.49 4:17.78 22
r:+0.79 26.94 57.44 (30.50)
1:30.11 (32.67) 2:02.59 (32.48)
2:40.03 (37.44) 3:18.58 (38.55)
3:48.49 (29.91) 4:17.78 (29.29)
Men’s 400 IM
One night earlier, NC State’s Kyle Ponsler was in second place for most of the 500 freestyle A-final before falling back down the stretch and ending up fifth. But Ponsler was not going to let the medley final slip away as he dominated the race, taking over the lead from Louisville’s Thomas Bried on the backstroke leg and never surrendering the advantage.
Ponsler recorded a time of 3:41.18, getting himself into the national top-10. Pitt’s Max Matteazzi placed second in 3:42.38 while the Wolfpack secured a 1-3 finish as Owen Lloyd surged from last place into third with a brilliant freestyle leg, touching in 3:43.18.
Event 17 Men 400 Yard IM
=========================================================================
MEET: # 3:38.43 3/1/2017 Robert Owen, VT-VA
CONF: % 3:38.00 3/27/2009 Gal Nevo, Georgia Tech
AMER: $ 3:33.42 3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
USOP: & 3:28.82 3/24/2023 Leon Marchand, Arizona St.
NCAA: ! 3:28.82 3/24/2023 Leon Marchand, Arizona St.
Pool: * 3:33.65 11/18/2022Leon Marchand, ASU
3:38.90 A
3:42.99 IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
3:50.68 B
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Ponsler, Kyle NC State 3:44.50 3:41.18 IV23 32
r:+0.66 23.30 49.96 (26.66)
1:17.80 (27.84) 1:45.17 (27.37)
2:16.19 (31.02) 2:48.26 (32.07)
3:14.77 (26.51) 3:41.18 (26.41)
2 Matteazzi, Mass Pitt 3:45.07 3:42.38 IV23 28
r:+0.69 23.17 50.16 (26.99)
1:18.46 (28.30) 1:47.06 (28.60)
2:18.12 (31.06) 2:49.70 (31.58)
3:16.65 (26.95) 3:42.38 (25.73)
3 Lloyd, Kenneth NC State 3:44.07 3:43.18 B 27
r:+0.76 23.79 51.06 (27.27)
1:20.26 (29.20) 1:48.52 (28.26)
2:20.92 (32.40) 2:53.04 (32.12)
3:18.76 (25.72) 3:43.18 (24.42)
4 Sergile, Sebast UVA 3:45.22 3:44.23 B 26
r:+0.67 23.43 50.69 (27.26)
1:19.87 (29.18) 1:49.31 (29.44)
2:20.04 (30.73) 2:52.61 (32.57)
3:18.81 (26.20) 3:44.23 (25.42)
5 Dramm, Louis UNC 3:45.59 3:44.25 B 25
r:+0.71 23.42 50.61 (27.19)
1:18.99 (28.38) 1:46.80 (27.81)
2:18.41 (31.61) 2:50.26 (31.85)
3:17.93 (27.67) 3:44.25 (26.32)
6 Bried, Thomas Louisville 3:42.36 3:45.56 B 24
r:+0.62 23.02 49.03 (26.01)
1:18.10 (29.07) 1:46.42 (28.32)
2:17.86 (31.44) 2:50.67 (32.81)
3:18.23 (27.56) 3:45.56 (27.33)
7 Styczen, Matthe UVA 3:44.60 3:46.07 B 23
r:+0.71 23.61 50.41 (26.80)
1:19.69 (29.28) 1:48.84 (29.15)
2:19.86 (31.02) 2:52.25 (32.39)
3:19.50 (27.25) 3:46.07 (26.57)
8 Garcia, Nicolas VA Tech 3:45.90 3:46.78 B 22
r:+0.60 24.23 51.87 (27.64)
1:19.91 (28.04) 1:47.14 (27.23)
2:19.83 (32.69) 2:53.02 (33.19)
3:20.04 (27.02) 3:46.78 (26.74)
Men’s 100 Butterfly
Eleven months ago, Virginia Tech’s Youssef Ramadan pulled off a come-from-behind win at the national championships in the 100 fly, taking down Florida’s Josh Liendo by a quarter-second while becoming the second-fastest swimmer in history behind Caeleb Dressel. This time, Ramadan will go to the NCAA Championships seeded behind Liendo, but he pulled off a plenty special performance at the ACC Championships.
In the conference final, Ramadan went up by three tenths on the first 50 and extended the margin on his closest competitors, all NC State swimmers, down the stretch. He finished in 44.06, less than a second off his top time of 44.06 but short of the 43.89 that Liendo swam in prelims at the SEC Championships earlier in the day. Liendo will swim in the SEC final later Thursday night.
Meanwhile, NC State occupied the next three spots in the final as the Wolfpack kept accumulating points. Aiden Hayes took second in 44.41, followed by Luke Miller (44.62) and Noah Henderson (44.80), with all three claiming spots in the national top-10.
Event 19 Men 100 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
MEET: # 43.90 3/26/2022 Youssef T Ramadan, VT-VA
CONF: % 43.15 3/24/2023 Youssef T Ramadan, VT-VA
AMER: $ 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
USOP: & 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
NCAA: ! 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Pool: * 43.93 2/16/2023 Youssef Ramadan, VT-VA
44.64 A
45.57 IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
47.08 B
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Ramadan, Yousse VA Tech 44.37 44.06 A 32
r:+0.59 20.24 44.06 (23.82)
2 Hayes, Aiden NC State 44.77 44.41 A 28
r:+0.65 20.51 44.41 (23.90)
3 Miller, Lukas NC State 45.01 44.62 A 27
r:+0.61 20.50 44.62 (24.12)
4 Henderson, Noah NC State 45.12 44.80 IV23 26
r:+0.64 20.41 44.80 (24.39)
5 Elaraby, Abdelr Notre Dame 45.50 45.03 IV23 25
r:+0.67 20.56 45.03 (24.47)
6 Bowers, Noah NC State 45.40 45.04 IV23 24
r:+0.64 20.99 45.04 (24.05)
7 Poelke, Boyd UNC 45.29 45.46 IV23 23
r:+0.69 20.97 45.46 (24.49)
8 Lowe, Dalton Louisville 45.38 45.56 IV23 22
r:+0.67 20.96 45.56 (24.60)
Women’s 200 Freestyle
The Virginia unbeaten streak in women’s swimming rolls on after Aimee Canny overtook a strong start from Louisville’s Paige Hetrick to claim victory in the 200 freestyle. Canny, a member of the Cavaliers’ 800 free relay Tuesday evening that established the second-fastest time ever, was two tenth back of Hetrick at the halfway point before pouring it on with a 26.38 third 50 split to take the lead and a 26.79 closing leg to pull away.
Canny finished in 1:43.10, a little bit shy of her season-best time of 1:42.93 that ranks 10th nationally. But as for the team competition, it was a landslide for the Cavaliers with five women in the A-final. Hetrick held on to take second in 1:44.02, but Virginia’s next three swimmers blasted their final legs to almost catch up. Maxine Parker, best known for her abilities in the sprint events, was third in 1:44.31, one hundredth ahead of a fourth-place tie between teammate Cavan Gormsen, the 500 free winner, and Duke’s Sarah Foley (both 1:44.32). Just behind was UVA’s Reilly Tiltmann in 1:44.45.
Event 20 Women 200 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
MEET: # 1:40.23 2/20/2024 Gretchen Walsh, UVA-AC
CONF: % 1:39.80 3/18/2018 Mallory Comerford, Louisville-KY
AMER: $ 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
USOP: & 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
NCAA: ! 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
Pool: * 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, CAL-PC
1:42.84 A
1:45.31 IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
1:47.12 B
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Canny, Aimee UVA 1:43.58 1:43.10 IV23 32
r:+0.75 24.14 49.93 (25.79)
1:16.31 (26.38) 1:43.10 (26.79)
2 Hetrick, Paige Louisville 1:44.72 1:44.02 IV23 28
r:+0.69 23.93 49.73 (25.80)
1:16.56 (26.83) 1:44.02 (27.46)
3 Parker, Maxine UVA 1:44.76 1:44.31 IV23 27
r:+0.74 24.16 50.27 (26.11)
1:17.33 (27.06) 1:44.31 (26.98)
4 Gormsen, Cavan UVA 1:45.20 1:44.32 IV23 25.5
r:+0.73 24.73 51.25 (26.52)
1:17.94 (26.69) 1:44.32 (26.38)
4 Foley, Sarah Duke 1:45.73 1:44.32 IV23 25.5
r:+0.68 24.41 50.85 (26.44)
1:17.70 (26.85) 1:44.32 (26.62)
6 Tiltmann, Reill UVA 1:44.40 1:44.45 IV23 24
r:+0.74 24.71 51.46 (26.75)
1:17.83 (26.37) 1:44.45 (26.62)
7 Howley, Tess UVA 1:46.03 1:45.71 B 23
r:+0.69 24.62 51.54 (26.92)
1:18.60 (27.06) 1:45.71 (27.11)
8 Crush, Annabel NC State 1:45.38 1:46.42 B 22
r:+0.74 24.40 51.03 (26.63)
1:18.70 (27.67) 1:46.42 (27.72)
Men’s 200 Freestyle
Chris Guiliano has an inside track on men’s swimmer of the meet honors in Greensboro after his second individual win of the competition in the 200 free. Guiliano, a Notre Dame junior who was a member of the U.S. World Championships team last year and already the winner of the 50 free Wednesday night, blasted his way home for a win over eight laps.
Brendan Whitfield of Virginia Tech brought the outside smoke early on, flipping in 43.83 at the halfway point, but Guiliano was close enough in 44.46. He then split 23.72 on the third 50 to take the lead before coming home in 22.98, well ahead of anyone else in the race and his fastest 50 yards of the race aside from the opening split.
Guiliano’s final time was 1:31.16, which surpassed Alabama’s Charlie Hawke (1:31.30) for the top time in the country, although that is pending the results of the SEC Championships later Thursday evening. Guiliano also tied the ACC record that NC State’s Luke Miller set two years ago. Whitfield took second in 1:32.50 while NC State’s Daniel Diehl continued his impressive first ACCs by claiming third in 1:32.72, with Georgia Tech’s Batur Unlu (1:32.93) and Louisville’s Murilo Sartori (1:32.98) also breaking 1:33.
Event 21 Men 200 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
MEET: # 1:31.16 3/26/2022 Luke Miller, NC State
CONF: % 1:31.16 3/26/2022 Luke Miller, NC State
AMER: $ 1:29.15 3/27/2019 Dean Farris, Harvard
USOP: & 1:29.15 3/27/2019 Dean Farris, Harvard
NCAA: ! 1:29.15 3/27/2019 Dean Farris, Harvard
Pool: * 1:31.16 2/20/2024 Christopher Guiliano, Notre Dame-AC
1:31.74 A
1:32.85 IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
1:35.79 B
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Guiliano, Chris Notre Dame 1:32.91 1:31.16#A 32
r:+0.62 21.12 44.46 (23.34)
1:08.18 (23.72) 1:31.16 (22.98)
2 Whitfield, Bren VA Tech 1:33.81 1:32.50 IV23 28
r:+0.69 20.81 43.83 (23.02)
1:07.92 (24.09) 1:32.50 (24.58)
3 Diehl, Daniel NC State 1:33.31 1:32.72 IV23 27
r:+0.69 21.47 45.18 (23.71)
1:08.62 (23.44) 1:32.72 (24.10)
4 Unlu, Baturalp GT 1:33.09 1:32.93 B 26
r:+0.69 21.51 44.95 (23.44)
1:08.77 (23.82) 1:32.93 (24.16)
5 Sartori, Murilo Louisville 1:33.73 1:32.98 B 25
r:+0.71 21.55 45.10 (23.55)
1:09.28 (24.18) 1:32.98 (23.70)
6 Brooks, Guy Louisville 1:33.51 1:33.01 B 24
r:+0.69 21.12 44.71 (23.59)
1:09.42 (24.71) 1:33.01 (23.59)
7 Hussey, Patrick UNC 1:33.74 1:33.12 B 23
r:+0.67 21.49 44.94 (23.45)
1:08.96 (24.02) 1:33.12 (24.16)
8 Dominguez Calon VA Tech 1:33.88 1:33.62 B 22
r:+0.66 21.69 45.10 (23.41)
1:09.20 (24.10) 1:33.62 (24.42)
Men’s 3-Meter Diving
In the final springboard event of the competition, Pitt finished 1-2 as Cameron Cash scored 427.30 points and teammate Dylan Reed was second with 417.00. Miami’s Mohamed Farouk took third (409.15).
Event 22 Men 3 mtr Diving
=========================================================================
MEET: # 531.00 2/28/2014 Nick McCrory, Duke
CONF: % 531.00 2/28/2014 Nick McCrory, Duke
Pool: * 531.00 2/20/2014 Nick McCrory, DUKE
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Finals ===
1 Cash, Cameron JR Pitt 374.75 427.30 32
2 Reed, Dylan D GS Pitt 400.50 417.00 28
3 Farouk, Farouk SO Miami 350.25 409.15 27
4 Calderaro, Rena SO NC State 356.55 405.80 26
5 Nguyen, Ben D SO Notre Dame 356.25 379.25 25
6 Fisher, Jacob SO VA Tech 326.10 359.25 24
7 Vazquez, Rodolf FR UNC 330.00 349.95 23
8 Fowler, Max FR GT 338.10 258.75 22
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