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16 CAVALIER CORNER BY JIM DAVES B ack-to-back-to-back-to-back. Four-peat. Whatever term you choose, how- ever you want to phrase it, it all comes out the same. The Virginia women's swimming and diving team is dominating its sport like few programs ever have. This year, Virginia became the first school since 1996 to win four consecutive NCAA team titles. Stanford won five straight team championships from 1992-96. Texas is the only other program to have claimed four or more consecutive titles. The Longhorns won five straight championships from 1984-88. The Cavalier women became the second UVA program to win four consecutive NCAA titles, matching the men's soccer's team's run of national championships from 1991-94. UVA was simply dominant in the postsea- son at the ACC and NCAA Championships. Virginia won a total of seven individual events and four of the five relays at the national championships. It marked the third consecutive year the Cavaliers have won a total of 11 titles at the championship. The sister tandem of Alex and Gretchen Walsh led UVA's postseason medal count. Each Walsh sister won three individual events at the NCAA Championships: the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle for Gretchen, and the 200 individual medley, 400 individ- ual medley and 200 breaststroke for Alex. Gretchen swam on the four UVA relay teams that won NCAA titles (200 medley, 200 free, 400 medley and 400 free), and Alex swam on three (200 free, 400 medley and 400 free). In all, 13 Cavaliers earned first-team All-America honors at the NCAA meet: Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, Aimee Canny, Cavan Gormsen, Abby Harter, Tess Howley, Anna Keating, Ella Nelson, Jasmine Nocentini, Carly Novelline, Maxine Parker, Reilly Tilt- mann and diver Lizzy Kaye. Nocentini, a graduate transfer from North- western, had never scored a point at an NCAA Championship meet before this year. She fin- ished the 2024 event as an individual cham- pion in the 100 breast, as well with three relay titles and a fourth-place finish in the 100 free. Parker, a fourth-year, swam on all four winning relays, too, and Novelline, a second- year, swam on the 200 medley relay. Kaye made a little history of her own. She finished second in the B-Final, giving her an overall 10th-place finish in the event, earning her honorable mention All-America status, which was a first for a Cavalier diver. "I'm not sure I can put it into words," head coach Todd DeSorbo said after the team's NCAA-winning performance. "It's re- ally hard to digest even that we won. I really can't put words to it. "I'm just really proud of them and happy for them. And this one was a lot of fun." Absent from the competition roster during the season was Claire Curzan, who focused on international competition during the sea- son. That paid off in a big way at the World Championships, where she won six medals — including four golds — and was named the Best Female Swimmer at the event. At the conclusion of the season, Gretchen Walsh was named the ACC and national female swimmer of the season in addition to winning the Honda Award as the sport's top performer. DeSorbo was tabbed as both the Na- tional Coach of the Year and the ACC Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season. Also, for the fifth consecutive season, a Cavalier was named the ACC Women's Freshman of the Year when Gormsen picked up that honor after winning ACC titles in the 1,650 free and the 500 free. In June, at the U.S. Olympic Trials, the Cav- aliers were the dominant collegiate program. Virginia had a total of 26 competitors from the 2023-24 roster, three former Hoos and nine incoming first-year students at the nine- day competition. Five swimmers with UVA ties advanced to the Paris Olympics, making up 25 percent of the 20-woman U.S. roster. Gretchen Walsh and Emma Weber became first-time Olympians while Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh and Paige Madden are all headed to their second Games after competing in Tokyo in 2020. All three earned medals at that event. First-year Aimee Crosbie, a native of New Zealand, made that country's Olympic team to give the Cavaliers a total of six competi- tors at the Paris Games. With DeSorbo serving as Team USA's women's head coach, Paris will be the stage for the Cavalier program to show its abilities to a world audience. As good as the UVA pro- gram has been, that type of showcase could ensure UVA continues to attract the nation's top swimmers and continues its dominance on the college scene for years to come. TEAM OF THE YEAR 2023-24 IN REVIEW DOMINANT DOMINANT RUN RUN UVA Women's Swimming Wins Its Fourth Straight National Crown The Cavaliers became the first women's swim team since 1996 to win four consecutive NCAA team titles and are the first UVA squad to win four straight national crowns since men's soccer did it from 1991-94. (Photo courtesy UVA)