Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1491111
FEBRUARY 2023 27 cial to be on this relay with her … and I am ready to do a few more." Alex holds UVA records in the 200 free- style, 200 butterfly, 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley. She has won back-to-back NCAA championships in the 200 individual medley, the same event she has conquered internationally. As for Gretchen, some of her top events are sprints. Known as a splash-and-dash, she also finds competition with fellow teammate and Olympian Kate Douglass. The pair often trade UVA and pool records depending on the events they are swimming that day. In Virginia's home meet against Virginia Tech Jan. 14, Gretchen broke two Aquatic & Fitness Center pool records. She finished first in the 50 freestyle with a pool record of 21.26, besting Douglass' record set in the fall season in UVA's dual meet with Florida. "Kate and I are amazing training partners," Gretchen said at the NCAA Championships. "We really help each other a lot in practice. Every single day we are doing some pretty cool stuff. "This morning, when she went a 20-point [time], I was like, 'I can go a 20-point, too.' When I saw my time I was thrilled. Seeing Kate lower that record is really cool. It is so cool what we are doing together. I really wanted to go one-two with her, and I am re- ally glad we did that." Gretchen currently holds school records in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Both are events she swam at the 2022 NCAA Championships and earned All-America hon- ors in. She credits her emergence onto the swimming scene with her training since she has joined the Cavaliers. "I felt a certain way at junior worlds that I haven't felt again since I got to UVA," Gretchen said. "I feel so good in the water, my strokes feel so efficient … everything I'm doing feels correct." Head coach Todd DeSorbo has created a culture of success and it looks like with the Walshes that doesn't seem to be coming to an end anytime soon. Having two sisters that are elevating the competition in the swim- ming world is quite possibly a first. After such a successful first-year campaign for the Cavaliers, Gretchen made her mark on the national stage during the summer of 2022 at the U.S. Summer Nationals. She earned a national title in the 100 butterfly — which she has admitted is her favorite event — with a time of 57.44. "It is my low-pressure event," Gretchen said. "Over the summer I started training the 100 fly once a week. Before that I didn't train butterfly at all so it's just kind of show up and have fun with it." As the pair is currently training for the col- legiate season, they are hoping to pace the Cavaliers to a third straight NCAA champion- ship. As of late January, Alex held the top time in the NCAA in the 500 freestyle, not an event she typically swims, and was second only to her teammate Douglass in the 200 breaststroke. Gretchen led the country in the 50 freestyle and was second in the 100 free- style and 100 backstroke. Once the 2023 NCAA Championships have concluded, the sisters will begin to train for the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Quali- fiers from Nationals will go on to represent Team USA in the 2023 World Championships in Japan. The Worlds are set for July 23-31, and hopefully will feature both Walshes while they look to continue their dynamic duo sta- tus on the swimming stage. "That was shocking because I did not expect to go that fast," Alex said after her gold medal at the 2022 World Champion- ships. "My coach and I are really excited now because we want to break the 2:07 barrier. Maybe go to a six [2.06] in the near future. So, yeah. I'm really excited for the road ahead." In the meantime, they can also follow along with their newest venture. With the inclusion of NIL, the Walsh sisters are able to partner up and create their own swimsuit line. "We started swimming together when we were around 4 and 5 years old," Alex said. "The fact that we were able to pursue this collaboration together, I think that was one of the main reasons that we just knew immediately that we wanted to sign with SwimOutlet." They used inspiration from their hometown of Nashville as well as their first international meet together in Barcelona. "It's very surreal to think about us — you know we have so many memories in the pool from when we were kids, just enjoying the water — and to think about someone coming up to us and telling us, 'Hey, you guys are going to be internationally re- nowned athletes with a partnership with the largest retailer of swimsuits in the world' — it's crazy really," Alex said. "I feel like that's another reason why doing the swimsuit collection is so important to us because we want to be able to inspire kids … because we used to be kids, so we just want young girls and boys to have the confidence and the fun that we had when we were kids." UVA TAKES AIM AT THREE-PEAT Virginia looks to become just the fifth program in NCAA history to win three consecu- tive NCAA swimming championships and the first since Stanford did so from 2017-19. The Cavaliers returned all three NCAA individual champions from the 2022 team. That includes fourth-year Kate Douglass, the 2022 Honda Sport Award winner and eight-time NCAA champion. The Walsh sisters, Alex and Gretchen, each return with four NCAA individual champion- ships between them. Alex, a third-year, won all three of her events in 2022 and Gretchen, a second-year, won one as a rookie in 2022. UVA boasted top-five times in 11 of the 18 events as of late January this season and will compete for its fifth consecutive ACC championship in February. Virginia won four of the five relay titles a year ago and lost just one swimmer from its medley relays. The Cavaliers finished almost 150 points ahead of second-place Texas at the national meet in 2022. With all but two of its All-Americans back, UVA looks to join swimming pow- erhouses Texas, Georgia, Auburn and Stanford as three-time champions. — Kristin Thurman " It is really wholesome and amazing what we are doing. I don't think many people get to say they are on national champion relays with their sister very often. " GRETCHEN WALSH