Virginia kept the ball rolling on Thursday night at the 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships in Greensboro as sophomore Kate Douglass won the third straight event for the Cavaliers tonight. But it was not a walk in the park for Douglass as she swam a 21.13 to just out-touch Michigan’s Maggie MacNeil at 21.17 as those two are on a collision course all weekend and will race all three of their individual events side by side.
Douglass has had a lot of hype around her name and is a big reason why this Virginia team is so dominant at the moment as last year was expected to be her coming out party but the meet was unfortunately cancelled.
“I definitely didn’t think I would go that fast today. Going a best time twice today was really great,” Douglass said after the race. “I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy race because Maggie is really fast and there were a lot of other really fast girls in the field, but I tried to focus on my own swim and hoped that would do the job.”
With that behind her, Douglass did not miss a beat, and although she dropped the 200 IM in favor of this event, she still won the national title and is expected to contend in her other two events – the 100 fly and 100 free.
Earlier in the night, Douglass put herself third all-time in the 50 freestyle with her 21.0 in leading off Virginia’s 200 free relay that finished second as her swim in the individual 50 is her second fastest time of her career, coming in with a 21.4 best time. MacNeil is now tied for fourth all-time with Stanford’s Simone Manuel.
Missouri’s Sarah Thompson scored her own best time in the 50 free with a 21.42 as NC State’s Kylee Alons was fourth at 21.51 and Katharine Berkoff was eighth at 21.96 to put the Wolfpack in third place overall ahead of Ohio State.
Thompson is now 13th all-time in the 50 freestyle with her swim.
North Carolina’s Grace Countie (21.60), Alabama’s Kalia Antoniou (21.85) and Northwestern’s Maddie Smith (21.92) also swam in the championship final in fifth, sixth and seventh place.
All-Time Rankings:
- 20.90, Abbey Weitzeil, California, 2019
- 21.03, Erika Brown, Tennessee, 2020
- 21.09, Kate Douglass, Virginia, 2021
- 21.17, Simone Manuel, Stanford, 2017
- 21.17, Maggie MacNeil, Michigan, 2021
- 21.19, Anna Hopkin, Arkansas, 2019
- 21.21, Olivia Smoliga, Georgia, 2016
- 21.27, Lara Jackson, Arizona, 2009
- 21.28, Liz Li, Ohio State, 2018
- 21.32, Farida Osman, California, 2016
- 21.34, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Auburn, 2011
- 21.41, Gretchen Walsh, Nashville, 2020
- 21.42, Sarah Thompson, Missouri, 2021
- 21.43, Torri Huske, Arlington, 2020
Event 5 Women 50 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 20.90 12/5/2019 Abbey Weitzeil, California
Meet: M 21.02 3/21/2019 Abbey Weitzeil, California
American: A 20.90 12/5/2019 Abbey Weitzeil, California
US Open: O 20.90 12/5/2019 Abbey Weitzeil, California
Pool: P 21.09 3/18/2021 Kate Douglass, Virginia
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Douglass, Kate SO Virginia 21.21 21.13 20
r:+0.65 10.33 21.13 (10.80)
2 MacNeil, Maggie JR Michigan 21.58 21.17 17
r:+0.65 10.43 21.17 (10.74)
3 Thompson, Sarah SR Missouri 21.61 21.42 16
r:+0.67 10.32 21.42 (11.10)
4 Alons, Kylee JR NC State 21.50 21.51 15
r:+0.61 10.35 21.51 (11.16)
5 Countie, Grace JR UNC 21.92 21.60 14
r:+0.69 10.32 21.60 (11.28)
6 Antoniou, Kalia JR Alabama 21.73 21.85 13
r:+0.68 10.77 21.85 (11.08)
7 Smith, Maddie SR Northwestern 22.03 21.92 12
r:+0.63 10.49 21.92 (11.43)
8 Berkoff, Katharine SO NC State 21.98 21.96 11
r:+0.70 10.76 21.96 (11.20)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Keil, Megan JR Missouri 22.14 21.87 9
r:+0.62 10.52 21.87 (11.35)
10 Gantriis, Emily FR California 22.18 21.90 7
r:+0.65 10.70 21.90 (11.20)
11 Dobler, Kaitlyn FR USC 22.11 21.92 6
r:+0.63 10.60 21.92 (11.32)
12 Parker, Maxine FR Georgia 22.17 21.96 5
r:+0.73 10.79 21.96 (11.17)
13 Wheal, Emma SO Stanford 22.15 21.97 4
r:+0.69 10.70 21.97 (11.27)
14 Albiero, Gabi FR Louisville 22.22 22.27 3
r:+0.64 10.80 22.27 (11.47)
15 Mack, Katie SO Florida 22.22 22.35 1.5
r:+0.68 10.59 22.35 (11.76)
15 Petrak, Taylor SR Ohio St 22.22 22.35 1.5
r:+0.64 10.71 22.35 (11.64)
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 5 1. Virginia 150 2. California 114 3. NC State 84 4. Ohio St 76.5 5. Georgia 73 5. Texas 73 7. Alabama 72 8. Stanford 62 9. Missouri 55 10. Michigan 48 11. Kentucky 45 12. Florida 44.5 13. UNC 38 14. Louisville 36 15. Wisconsin 23 15. Tennessee 23 17. Northwestern 18 18. Indiana 12 19. Virginia Tech 11 20. Southern California 10 20. Texas A&M 10 22. Nebraska 3 22. Akron 3 24. Houston 1
