The Olympic Swimming Trials were momentous for Virginia women’s swimming, as senior Gretchen Walsh, graduate student Alex Walsh and junior Emma Weber all qualified to represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympic games in Paris. Class of 2023 alumna Kate Douglass and Class of 2021 alumna Paige Madden, two former Cavalier swimmers, also qualified in multiple events.
The most impressive performance of the meet came from Gretchen Walsh, who set the world record in the semifinals of the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 55.18 seconds. No American swimmer had set a world record at the Olympic Team Trials since 2008. She then swam to victory in the finals with a time of 55.31, qualifying for her spot in the Olympics on the second day of the meet. Walsh finished the meet by placing second in the 50m freestyle, giving her a second event in Paris. Her third and final event will be the butterfly leg of the 4x100m relay.
Gretchen’s sister, Alex, will also be going to Paris after finishing second in the finals of the 200m Individual Medley. This will be her second trip to the Olympics after winning silver in the same event in Tokyo three summers ago.
Emma Weber rounds out the slate of current Virginia swimmers who qualified for Paris, having finished second in the 100m breaststroke to secure her Olympic debut.
Douglass was among the most successful athletes at the U.S. Swim Trials, winning three events. She took first in the 200m breaststroke final on day six , the 100m freestyle on day five and the 200m IM on day eight. In the IM, she finished just ahead of Alex Walsh. At the Tokyo olympics, Douglass won bronze in the 200m IM, just behind Alex Walsh.
Madden rounds out the cohort of star-studded Charlottesville swimmers competing in this summer’s olympics, qualifying for the 200m and 800m freestyle events in Paris with second place finishes in each event’s final. She will also participate in the freestyle leg of the 4x200m relay, the event in which she won a silver medal in Tokyo.
In addition to Gretchen Walsh’s world record, Douglass set the U.S. record for the 200m IM and was among several other swimmers that set Virginia records. In total, 24 past, present and future Virginia women swam in the trials, as recruits were also allowed to compete.
No Virginia men swam well enough to qualify for Paris. However, senior Jack Aikins set Virginia records in the 100m and 200m backstroke events. Overall, 13 current or future Cavalier men participated in the meet in Indianapolis, with several reaching their event finals before falling short.
The five Cavaliers swimming in Paris will have a familiar face to help them to success, as Virginia women’s swimming Head Coach Todd DeSorbo is set to coach the women’s swim team in Paris. It will be his first time as the head coach for the national team after working his way through the college ranks.
The Olympic Swimming events will take place from July 27 to August 4 at the Aquatics Center in Paris. The five Cavalier women will try to win the gold medal that evaded them in Tokyo, and DeSorbo will hope to coach a team that can inflate Team USA’s medal count.
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