Swimming

2024 Women’s Division 1 NCAA Championships: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

March 21, 2024

2024 WOMEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 20-23, 2024
Gabrielsen Natatorium, Athens, Georgia
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Day 2 Prelims Heat Sheet

Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning and welcome to the first preliminary session of the 2024 Women’s NCAA Championships. If you woke up and expected Virginia to be in the lead after day 1, I would suggest you check the results again, as Florida is holding onto the slimmest of leads. However, the sky has not fallen for the defending Champs, as the Cavaliers enter today with two of our three top seeds.

Unsurprisingly, the Walsh sisters are expected to lead the charge this morning, with Alex Walsh, the top seed in the 200 IM, and her younger sister Gretchen Walsh carrying the torch in the 50. The pair are not alone, however, as teammates, Aimee Canny (#6 in the 500), Cavan Gormsen (#15 in the 500), Ella Nelson (#7 in the 200 IM), Jasmine Nocentini (#2 in the 50) and Maxine Parker (#10 in the 50) are all seeded within scoring range.

Looking to break up that stranglehold at the top of the 50 free is an experienced set of rival ACC swimmers. Katharine Berkoff will lead the first of the circle-seeded heats and will look to repeat her swim from last night of 20.35, albeit without the attached DQ. Behind her and trying to hold off the surge of swimmers are Louisville’s 1-2 punch of Christiana Regenauer and Gabi Albiero.

UVA and Louisville are not the only schools projected to put two swimmers into the A-Finals as Florida, fresh off their 800 Freestyle Relay title, will look to take the two middle lanes tonight in the 500 as Bella Sims (#1 seed) and Emma Weyant (#3) seed lead the charge for the Gators. Standing in their way is Georgia’s Rachel Stege, who sits just .34 behind in the seeding and will look to home-pool advantage to revenge her loss from the Georgia Invite. Stege and the Georgia Bulldogs will look to jump up the team rankings tonight from this event; they are seeded to place two other swimmers within the A-final as fellow juniors Dune Coetzee and Abigail McCulloh are seeded 6th and 8th, respectively.

If the 50 is led by the ACC and the 500 by the SEC, then the 200 IM is no [wo]manlands. Alex Walsh holds down the top spot and will follow Isabel Ivey (Florida) and Josephine Fuller (Tennesse) in lane 4 of the circle-seeded heats. Big-12 rep and Texas fifth-year Kelly Pash will look to give Texas some momentum after a muted Day 1, and the PAC-12 schools of Stanford and Cal will look to rep their conference one last time with freshman Stanford Cardinal Caroline Bricker and junior Cal Bear Lea Polonsky holding down the 5th and 6th seeds.