Nice to see the interest, and I’m no insider, but to keep it very oversimplified, Todd recruited Douglass and Ella Nelson. Douglass was the #1 recruit in 2019; Nelson was top 10.
He then got Alex Walsh as the #1 recruit. Nelson and Walsh swam for the same high school.
Swimmers generally want to train with other top swimmers to increase their ability to improve and do fun things like make Olympic teams, so that nucleus formed.
Along with Paige Madden, and others, of course, they perhaps could have won their first national title in 2020 had it not been for COVID. The way NCAA’s are scored, a cluster of top swimmers with complementary relay swimmers can score a lot of points.
They did win in 2021, with Todd proving he could develop top talent and Gretchen arriving as the #1 or #2 recruit. Alex and Douglass then won Silver and Bronze medals in Tokyo.
It snowballed from there with a consistent bunch of top 5-15 recruits and other excellent NCAA-level swimmers.
They now get an awful lot of respect (and some haters) and have to compete in a newly competitive NIL recruiting environment, but they seem positioned pretty well to keep winning.
5 Likes
Nationals update:
Priority 1 (in):
Kate Douglass (400 free relay, 200 breast, 50 fly, 100 breast)
Gretchen Walsh (100 free, 400 free relay, 50 fly, 100 fly)
Jack Aikins (200 back, 100 back)
Claire Curzan (200 back)
Priority 2 (need lots of Priority 1 doubles to get in):
Alex Walsh (200 breast)
Katie Grimes (400 IM)
Thomas Heilman (100 fly)
*Emma Weber is in a swimoff tomorrow for a shot at a spot in the 50 breast
Priority 4 (sixth in the 100 free or 200 free):
Anna Moesch (400 free relay)
Tomorrow’s events:
Women’s 1500 free: Grimes is seeded #2 (but not expecting her to get there)
Women’s 200 IM: Douglass seeded first, A. Walsh seeded second, Leah Hayes seeded sixth (some debate as to whether Douglass drops it)
Men’s 200 IM: Maximus Williamson is seeded ninth (but he’s scratched every event since the first night of competition)
Men’s 800 free: N/A
Women’s 50 free: G. Walsh seeded first, Douglass (American Record holder) seeded sixth, Maxine Parker seeded seventh
Men’s 50 free: N/A (former Hoos Matt King and Kamal Muhammad are fourth and 14th, respectively)
3 Likes
So awesome for Aikins to make the 100 Back, too.
And how about Douglass beating Lilly King in the 100 Breast? Wow! So close for Alex there.
Was hoping Curzan would pull an upset in the 100 Back, but Smith and Berkoff are too good at that distance. And Curzan is guaranteed for the 200, so great for her.
Great swims for Weber and Gormsen, too.
3 Likes
Grimes, Douglass, and Williamson dropped the 1500, 200 IM, and 200 IM, respectively.
200 IM — A Walsh and Hayes qualified 1-2, with Katie Christopherson in the B-Final at No. 10.
50 free — G Walsh and Douglass qualified 1-2. Parker makes the A-Final at sixth. And Moesch makes the B-Final at 13.
4 Likes
200 IM — Alex Walsh won, Hayes had a rough swim, finishing outside the top 4
50 free — Gretchen Walsh won, tying Kate Douglass’ American record. Douglass finished third, Maxine Parker finished fifth with a personal best (and the fifth best time in the world this year! Fifth in the US, fifth in the world)
Weber lost her swimoff.
So UVa swimmers representing the USA will be Douglass, both Walshes, Curzan, Grimes, Moesch, Aikins, and Heilman.
11 Likes
Fantastic. Amazing for her and the program.
Gretchen and Dawn Staley, the two UVA winners.
2 Likes
Kate Douglass just set the world record in the short course 100 meter freestyle. She also owns the WR in the short course 200 breaststroke.
to put that in context, that would be like a gold medalist shotputter winning the Olympic 400 meter dash.
It’s never been done.
7 Likes
Carl Lewis winning the gold medal in both the 100 meters and the long jump. Something we’ll probably never see again.
3 Likes