Swimming

2024 Women’s Division I NCAA Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

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By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam

2024 WOMEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Day 1 Finals Heat Sheets

Folks, we’ve made it: the 2024 Women’s NCAA Championships start tonight. The 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay kick things off in Athens, Georgia and even though it’s only two events on day one of four , there’s plenty of exciting swimming in store for this session.

Last year, Virginia won both the day 1 relays and went on to sweep all five relays, a feat which hadn’t been accomplished since 2018. The Cavaliers have not lost an NCAA Championship relay since the opening night of the 2022 NCAAs when they placed 2nd to Stanford in the 800 free relay.

The big choice the Cavaliers have ahead of them is how to use Gretchen Walsh this session. At ACCs, she skipped her usual 200 medley relay in favor of leading off the 800 freestyle relay, where she fired off a 1:40.23 for the third-fastest swim all-time. The relay was only .37 second off Stanford’s NCAA record and breaking that would give them all five NCAA relay records. Will Walsh make the same choice here at NCAAs, or maybe even race both relays and forgo one of the later ones?

That decision dictates how the session goes. If she swims both, then Virginia will dominate day 1. Leaving her off either relay opens the door–maybe only slightly–for another program to play upset. Ohio State had a great 200 medley relay at conferences and are the top seed. If they recapture that could make a run at the title. Similarly, Florida could spoil the Cavaliers’ dreams of another relay sweep in the 800 freestyle relay. The Gators set an SEC record of 6:49.65 at their conference championships as Bella Sims led off in a 200 free SEC record of 1:40.90.

Women’s 200 Medley Relay

  • NCAA Record: 1:31.51 – Virginia (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass), 2023
  • Meet Record: 1:31.51 — Virginia (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass), 2023
  • American Record: 1:31.51 – Virginia (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass), 2023
  • U.S. Open Record: 1:31.51 – Virginia (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass), 2023
  • 2023 NCAA Champion: 1:31.51 – Virginia (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, L. Cuomo, K. Douglass), 2023

Top 8:

Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay

  • NCAA Record: 6:45.91 — Stanford (S. Manuel, L. Neal, E. Eastin, K. Ledecky), 2017
  • Meet Record: 6:45.91 — Stanford (S. Manuel, L. Neal, E. Eastin, K. Ledecky), 2017
  • American Record: 1:31.51 – Stanford (S. Manuel, L. Neal, E. Eastin, K. Ledecky), 2017
  • U.S. Open Record: 6:45.91 – Stanford (S. Manuel, L. Neal, E. Eastin, K. Ledecky), 2017
  • 2023 NCAA Champion: 6:49.82 – Virginia (A. Canny, A. Walsh, R. Tiltmann, E. Nelson)

Top 8: 

SwimSwam: 2024 Women’s Division I NCAA Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

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