We’re again with our ordinary section of overreactions, this time from the 2024 NCAA Division I Ladies’s Swimming and Diving Championships. You recognize the drill: we’ll leap to huge conclusions based mostly on one night time of racing!
Gretchen Walsh Can Begin For The Virginia Males’s Basketball Staff
I solely watched ten minutes of Virginia’s 67-42 loss to Colorado State within the First 4 of the NCAA Division I Males’s Basketball Event on Tuesday night time, however ten minutes was sufficient for me to know that UVA was struggling. However earlier than Virginia followers go into despair over their basketball workforce’s misfortunes, I suggest a grand resolution: get Gretchen Walsh in a uniform.
Walsh is much and away essentially the most dominant athlete on Virginia’s campus proper now. On Wednesday, she broke one more NCAA document (it’s a part of her weekly routine!) — main off Virginia’s 200 medley relay with a time of twenty-two.10, smashing Maggie MacNeil’s earlier document by 0.42 seconds. I don’t need to hear something about how Walsh is a feminine swimmer with no basketball expertise. She’s superhuman, is over six foot, can break data like loopy, and would most likely have the ability to dunk if she tried (isn’t going 19 within the 50 free the swimming equal of dunking?). And I’m certain she would have the ability to shoot higher than 25% from the sector, which is what UVA males’s basketball shot from on Tuesday night time.
In spite of everything, SwimSwam editor-in-chief Braden Keith did say that Walsh was “going Caitlin Clark” through the ACC Championships (no matter which means…).
I’m certain Todd DeSorbo doesn’t need to hand over his star swimmer, however I’m certain he can determine one thing out with Tony Bennett and make it work. However no matter they find yourself doing, all I’m saying is that I anticipate to see Walsh on the ground within the John Paul Jones Area subsequent winter.
(By the way in which, SwimSwam’s March Insanity bracket challenges are nonetheless open, so please be a part of!)
NC State Wants To Go To Relay Camp
For the second 12 months in a row, the NC State ladies have DQed in a relay attributable to an early takeoff, and it might price them a number of locations within the ultimate rankings. Final 12 months, they had been DQed for a similar cause within the 200 free relay, and it was the distinction between profitable a trophy and going residence in fifth place with out one.
- For a extra severe breakdown of NC State’s DQ, click on right here.
Clearly, after two consecutive years of being DQed, this can be a power NC State drawback (and let’s ignore each single different relay the place NC State did the whole lot legally). The one resolution right here can be to tug what USA Swimming did and host a personal relay camp in Raleigh — no media allowed, in fact. It labored for Staff USA final 12 months (did it?), so why not attempt it out for a university workforce?
The Wolfpack ladies might spend three days doing completely nothing however relay exchanges. Heck, to make it extra attention-grabbing, they may additionally invite Nice Britain’s males’s 400 free relay as a result of they probably want assist in that division as properly. It should all be price it ultimately, as a result of something for these relay factors!
NC State has an opportunity to show itself on Thursday within the 200 free relay, the place it has a shot at redemption for its misfortunes each on Wednesday and final 12 months. Perhaps in that 200 free relay, we’ll see a legit 20.3 break up from Katharine Berkoff…
Amy Tang Does Not Want a Relay Camp
Amy Tang has not been a greatest time within the 50 yard free (flat begin) since December 2019, when she was nonetheless in highschool and went 22.06 at Winter Juniors – West.
However she’s had some really-fast relay splits, and did so once more on Wednesday to anchor Stanford’s Eighth-place 200 medley relay with a 21.23.
May her four-year drought be over? Stanford actually wants it to be.
The junior is catching a wave of success for the Cardinal, whilst their varsity workforce has been neutered of its superstars both through going professional (Regan Smith), redshirting (Torri Huske), or transferring (Claire Curzan), however whereas the names aren’t as large, this system goes again to roots and proving that it might probably develop swimmers. This might be the beginning of a brand new upswing for Greg Meehan and the Stanford ladies.
Is Virginia’s Reign Over???
For the primary time since 2022, the Virginia ladies have *not* gained a relay at an NCAA Championship meet. In reality, they completed fourth, marking their first time lacking a relay podium since 2019 — properly earlier than their reign over the NCAA began.
Clearly, the sky is falling for Todd Desorbo and his crew. What went from for the Cavaliers, although? Did they gamble an excessive amount of once they left Gretchen Walsh off the relay (in spite of everything, UVA’s time from ACCs was two seconds sooner than Florida’s time)? Was it Alex Walsh and Reilly Tiltmann swimming slower splits than final 12 months? Did the aforementioned postseason struggles of Virginia basketball hit the swim workforce as properly? Or did Florida, Tennessee, and Stanford merely simply do good?
For the primary time on this article, I’ll be rational right here. Sure, there shall be debate in regards to the utilization of Gretchen Walsh, and whether or not it will have been higher to go away her off one other relay as an alternative. However in the long term, this end result most likely gained’t have an effect on how UVA will fare on the finish of the meet. It’s in a cushty place to four-peat for a title, and one fourth-place end gained’t change that. However since everybody loves leaping to conclusions, I’m ready to listen to “washed” jokes all night time.
That being stated, this relay was monumental for the Florida ladies — their first relay win since 2010. Bella Sims and Isabel Ivey had been nice as anticipated, nevertheless it was Emma Weyant and Micayla Cronk who stepped up large time on the again half, splitting career-best occasions of 1:42.90 and 1:43.02 respectively. The Gators gained’t be going away anytime quickly, as they’re projected to complete third on this meet and began issues off with this assertion win. Stanford and Tennessee did very properly too, with each groups dropping considerably from their seed occasions.
Tennessee Taper Jokes Are Getting Previous, However The USC Curse Stays
For years, Tennessee was the butt of taper jokes, because the Volunteers traditionally have added vital time from SECs over to NCAAs. Final season, the ladies’s workforce combated the notion that they couldn’t carry out at NCAAs, ending with 2.5 extra factors than projected. Nevertheless, that wasn’t sufficient for naysayers to query whether or not they’d win a trophy and place fourth as projected this 12 months.
On the primary day of this 12 months’s NCAAs, Tennessee completed within the prime 5 for each the 200 medley and 800 free relay, bettering from their seed in each occasions and ending day one in third place. Freshman Camille Spink has been phenomenal so far (as she’s been all season), main the workforce with a 1:42.08 break up within the 800 free relay. It’s solely been one night time, however clearly Matt Kredich is aware of what he’s doing. Subsequently, I suggest that we put the “Tennessee Taper” jokes to relaxation. Really, that’s too delicate. We should always burn that saying, or blow it up into smithereens.
In the meantime, USC, one other workforce recognized to underperform at NCAAs, continues that development. The Trojans had been one of many hottest rising groups this season and had been lights-out at midseasons, however appeared to have stalled a bit at NCAAs. They added 0.74 seconds within the 200 medley relay and almost three seconds within the 800 free relay, going from the fifth total seed to ending in eleventh for the latter relay. It appeared like this season, USC was lastly able to show the doubters fallacious, however as of now, these doubters are proper. Nevertheless, this workforce nonetheless has three extra days to inform us in any other case.