Swimming

11 More Event Titles Moves Virginia Women Into 8th Place All-Time, Passing SMU & Auburn

March 27, 2023

For the second-straight season, the Virginia Cavaliers won 11 NCAA event titles, using a dominant meet to jump to 8th place in NCAA Division I history in total event titles.

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia had 6 all-time NCAA titles. In 2021, they matched that total with 6, and now have climbed all the way to 28 in just three seasons.

That jumps Virginia past SMU, a legendary team of the late 1990s and early 2000s, and Auburn, the dominant team of the 2000s, in the all-time rankings.

Only five teams in NCAA history have won more than 11 titles in a single NCAA Championship meet. Only the 2017 and 2018 Stanford Cardinal have won double-digit events in back-to-back years.

13 – Florida (1982 & 1988); Stanford (1993 & 2018)
12 – Stanford (1992)
11 – Virginia (2022 & 2023)
10 – Texas (1985); Stanford (2017)

They aren’t the only team to climb up the all-time rankings. North Carolina got two diving titles from Aranza Vazquez, which jumps them into a tie for the 12th-most titles all-time.

LSU jumped from 24th to 21st place thanks to the 50 free title from 5th year senior transfer Maggie MacNeil (won in an NCAA Record time). She is the first of the Tigers’ 5 all-time titles won in swimming, versus diving.

Alabama’s Kensey McMahon won both the 500 free and 1650 free, which almost-matches the team’s previous three all-time titles and ties them with LSU for 21st-most. Alabama has previous titles from Lane Bassham on 3-meter in 2004, in the 400 free relay in 2021, and in the discontinued 50 breaststroke at the 1983 championships, where Angelika Knipping became the program’s first NCAA Champion.

Arizona’s title from Delaney Schnell marks the program’s 50th of all-time; Texas got two titles, moving them to 74 all-time, and within one of Cal for the top 5 all-time. Neither program’s ranking changed as the result of their 2023 effort.

Stanford took two event titles at the meet, one from Taylor Ruck in the 200 free and one from Claire Curzan in the 200 back. The Cardinal extended their lead for the most titles in NCAA D1 Women’s Swimming & Diving history with those wins. They now have 182, more than double the next-best school Florida (89).

On the back of those 11 victories, the Virginia women won their third-consecutive title. That pulls them out of a tie with Florida, and they now have the 6th-most NCAA titles in history.

All-Time NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships Team Titles:

Team	Number	Years won
Stanford	11	1983, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2017, 2018, 2019
Georgia	7	1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2013, 2014, 2016
Texas	7	1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991
Auburn	5	2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007
California	4	2009, 2011, 2012, 2015
Virginia	3	2021, 2022, 2023
Florida	2	1982, 2010
Arizona	1	2008
USC	1	1997

Days 1 Event Winners

200 medley relay – Virginia – 1:31.51 (NCAA Record)
800 freestyle relay – Virginia – 6:49.82

Day 2 Event Winners

500 freestyle – Kensey McMahon, Alabama – 4:36.62
200 IM –Kate Douglass, Virginia – 1:48.37 (NCAA Record)
50 freestyle – Maggie MacNeil, LSU – 20.79 (NCAA Record)
1-meter diving – Aranza Vazquez, UNC – 358.75
200 freestyle relay – Virginia – 1:24.51 (NCAA Meet Record)

Day 3 Event Winners

400 IM – Alex Walsh, Virginia – 3:57.24
100 fly – Kate Douglass, Virginia – 48.46 (NCAA Record)
200 free – Taylor Ruck, Stanford – 1:42.36
100 breast – Lydia Jacoby, Texas – 57.03
100 back – Gretchen Walsh, Virginia – 48.26
3-meter diving – Aranza Vazquez, UNC – 385.80
400 medley relay – Virginia – 3:22.39

Day 4 Event Winners

1650 free: Kensey McMahon, Alabama – 15:43.84
200 back: Claire Curzan, Stanford – 1:47.64
100 free: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia – 45.61
200 breast: Kate Douglass, Virginia – 2:01.29 (NCAA Record)
200 fly: Emma Sticklen, Texas – 1:49.95 (NCAA Championship Record)
Platform: Delaney Schnell, Arizona – 352.65
400 free relay: Virginia – 3:05.84 (NCAA Record)

Women’s All-Time Rankings by NCAA Event Titles

CURRENT RANK	TEAM	Prior Titles	2023 Titles	New Total	PREVIOUS RANK	RANK CHANGE
1	Stanford	180	2	182	1	0
2	Florida	89		89	2	0
3	Georgia	78		78	3	0
4	Cal	75		75	4	0
5	Texas	72	2	74	5	0
6	Arizona	49	1	50	6	0
7	USC	46		46	7	0
8	Virginia	23	11	34	10	2
9	Auburn	32		32	8	-1
10	SMU	29		29	9	-1
11	Indiana	16		16	11	0
12	Michigan	13		13	12	0
12	Minnesota	13		13	12	0
12	North Carolina	11	2	13	14	2
15	Texas A&M	10		10	15	0
16	Tennessee	8		8	16	0
17	Houston	7		7	17	0
17	Louisville	7		7	17	0
17	North Carolina State	7		7	17	0
20	Wisconsin	6		6	20	0
21	Nevada	5		5	21	0
21	Ohio State	5		5	21	0
21	Miami (FL)	5		5	21	0
21	LSU	4	1	5	24	3
21	Alabama	3	2	5	28	7
26	Clemson	4		4	24	-2
26	Columbia	4		4	24	-2
26	Hawaii	4		4	24	-2
29	Arizona State	3		3	28	-1
29	BYU	3		3	28	-1
29	Kansas	3		3	28	-1
32	Arkansas	2		2	32	0
32	IUPUI	2		2	32	0
32	Kentucky	2		2	32	0
32	Michigan State	2		2	32	0
32	Northwestern	2		2	32	0
32	UCLA	2		2	32	0
32	Villanova	2		2	32	0
39	Cincinnati	1		1	39	0
39	Colorado State	1		1	39	0
39	Duke	1		1	39	0
39	Furman	1		1	39	0
39	Nebraska	1		1	39	0
39	Notre Dame	1		1	39	0
39	Oregon State	1		1	39	0
39	Penn	1		1	39	0
39	Penn State	1		1	39	0
39	Purdue	1		1	39	0
39	South Carolina	1		1	39	0
39	Southern Illinois	1		1	39	0