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SUMMER 2024 17 BY JIM DAVES W hen Cavalier fans debate who should be on the Mount Rushmore for Virginia athletics, there are plenty of great candi- dates: Ralph Sampson, Barry Parkhill, Dawn Staley, Bill Dudley, Ryan Zimmerman and Kate Douglass, to just name a few. After this season, you can add third-year swimmer Gretchen Walsh to that discussion. A year after Douglass dominated the sport and led the Cavaliers to their third consecu- tive NCAA title, Walsh might have even topped Douglass' incredible fourth-year season. How good was Walsh's 2023-24 cam- paign? Some collegiate swimming pundits say it ranks as possibly the best ever. After a regular season in which she showed glimpses of greatness and had several record performances, Walsh amped it up in February and March and put the swimming world on its head. At the ACC Championships in February, she won the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly and was a part of UVA's victorious relay teams in the 400 free relay, 400 medley relay, 800 free relay and 200 free relay. She set a total of four American records during the meet. "I didn't expect this great of a meet," Walsh said at the conclusion of the ACC Championships. "It couldn't have gone bet- ter honestly. The four records, absolutely mind-blowing. I'm really proud of myself, but I know that there's more in the tank. "I'm ready to get back and start training again for NCAAs and hopefully break some more, go faster." And she did. A month later at the NCAA Champion- ships, Walsh won three individual events (50 free, 100 free, 100 fly) and set the fastest times ever in those races. She also swam legs on all four of UVA's championship relay teams — 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay. The seven swims were the maximum number an individual competitor can compete in at the national meet. "She has put in a lot of work to get that fast," UVA head coach Todd DeSorbo said. "She continues to shock me. She contin- ues to do it, which is really hard. We might not appreciate it as much as we should because we are around her all the time and used to it, but she is do- ing things nobody has ever done and things nobody will do for a long time." Walsh was named the Col- legiate Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America's national swimmer of the year. In addition to winning the ACC's swimmer of the year accolade, Walsh was named the league's scholar- athlete of the year for the sport. A commerce major, she was also named a first-team Academic All- American. While Walsh's UVA sea- son ended at the NCAA Championships, where UVA won its fourth straight team title, her story on the national landscape was just getting started. In June, the U.S. Olympic Team Trials were held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. It marked the first time the event was held in a football stadium. Record crowds in excess of 20,000 showed up and Walsh helped to put on a show for them and the viewers on NBC. Competing in the 100 butterfly, Walsh set the long course meters (NCAA swims are in 25-yard laps) world record. Even more amazing, she did it during the event's semifi- nal round. It marked the first time a swimmer had set a world record at the U.S. Trials since 2008, when it was accomplished by Michael Phelps. Welsh went on to win the event, finish second in the 50 free and earn a spot on the 4x100 relay team. The knock on Walsh entering the Tri- als was that she was a "bathtub swim- mer," meaning she was good at the shorter NCAA events (25 yards per lap) versus the international long course standard (50 meters per lap) because of her ability to stay underwater on her starts and turns. Walsh, who first swam at the U.S. Trials as a 13-year-old, erased those doubts with her stunning performances. One of five swimmers with UVA ties heading to the Paris Games, Walsh will be accompanied by her older sister, Alex, who is making her second Olympic Games appearance. Don't be surprised to see Gretchen Walsh on the medal podium in Paris. She's been focused on that all season. In November she stated, "I'm not afraid to admit that's my goal and that's the dream. Not only is it to make it, but it's to succeed there, win gold." Without a doubt, that would make Walsh's incred- ible season among the very best ever by a Cavalier in any sport. FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR 2023-24 IN REVIEW THE GOLD THE GOLD STANDARD STANDARD Swimmer Gretchen Walsh Had A Season For The Ages Walsh won seven gold medals at both the ACC Championships and the NCAA Championships, posting what some collegiate swimming pundits say ranks as possibly the best individual season ever. (Photo courtesy UVA)