Virginia Women Smash 400 Freestyle Relay NCAA Record at ACCs
There was, in theory, an end date. At some point, Kate Douglass’ college career and her all-over-the-map dominance would cease. And then the Walsh sisters, Alex Walsh as the early burgeoning star and then Gretchen Walsh as the all-beating sprinter, would graduate.
And then what for Virginia swimming? It wouldn’t be the carriage turning into a pumpkin at midnight, but surely there would be a drop-off in the Cavaliers’ ability to win major swim meets – or at least a lull in the historicity of their achievements.
🥇 𝐀𝐂𝐂 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 🥇
The Cavaliers close out #ACCSwimDive by setting the NCAA Record in the 400 Free Relay (3:05.30) #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/dGZYZJXURj— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) February 22, 2026
And yet Saturday, one of the Walsh-Douglass relay records that have redefined college swimming bit the dust.
Claire Curzan, Anna Moesch, Aimee Canny and Sara Curtis went 3:05.30 to chop a half-second off the 2023 record of the Walshes, Douglass and Maxine Parker.
A look at the comparative splits over the last few years on that 400 free relay that has endured perhaps beyond expectations:
Virginia, 2026
1 UVA 'A' 3:07.62 3:05.30#NC 64
1) Curzan, Claire 2) r:0.97 Moesch, Anna SO
3) r:0.35 Canny, Aimee SR 4) r:0.30 Curtis, Sara FR
r:+0.66 21.77 46.00 (46.00)
1:08.02 (22.02) 1:31.81 (45.81)
1:54.27 (22.46) 2:18.82 (47.01)
2:40.80 (21.98) 3:05.30 (46.48)
Virginia, 2025 (NCAAs – they were 3:05.93 at ACCs)
1 Virginia 3:05.93 3:06.01 40
1) Curzan, Claire JR 2) r:0.22 Moesch, Anna FR
3) r:0.33 Walsh, Alex 5Y 4) r:0.26 Walsh, Gretchen SR
r:+0.68 22.26 47.07 (47.07)
1:09.47 (22.40) 1:33.93 (46.86)
1:56.46 (22.53) 2:20.97 (47.04)
2:42.24 (21.27) 3:06.01 (45.04)
Virginia, 2024
1 Virginia 3:07.34 3:05.89P 40
1) Nocentini, Jasmine SR 2) r:0.34 Walsh, Alex SR
3) r:0.23 Walsh, Gretchen JR 4) r:0.16 Parker, Maxine SR
r:+0.52 22.59 47.06 (47.06)
1:09.15 (22.09) 1:33.60 (46.54)
1:54.75 (21.15) 2:18.77 (45.17)
2:41.30 (22.53) 3:05.89 (47.12)
And then the record in 2023:
1 Virginia 3:06.83 3:05.84N 40
1) Douglass, Kate SR 2) r:0.37 Walsh, Alex JR
3) r:0.24 Parker, Maxine JR 4) r:0.24 Walsh, Gretchen SO
r:+0.60 22.34 46.37 (46.37)
1:08.51 (22.14) 1:32.95 (46.58)
1:55.29 (22.34) 2:19.99 (47.04)
2:41.74 (21.75) 3:05.84 (45.85)
Curzan has been outstanding on the way to winning the Most Valuable Swimmer Award of the ACC Championships. She lowered her NCAA record in the 200 back and became the No. 2 all-time performer in the 100 back. Moesch became the fourth member of the sub-1:40 club in the 200 free with the No. 3 time ever.
Curzan was an Olympian before she came to Virginia. So was Curtis. Canny was part of the record-setting 800 free relay, but she wasn’t exactly a sprinter. She went 47.98 as a freshman at Virginia but stayed away from the 100; now she’s splitting 47.01.
Moesch’s growth is perhaps the most impressive. She left high school as a 1:43.35 200 freestyler and has taken to the environment in Charlottesville to steadily improve. In the 100, she was 47.11 in the spring of 2024; two years later, she’s 45.71.
The thinking was that this year’s Virginia team would look different – less star-dependent, since the stars of the present aren’t of the level of the Walshes and Douglass. Which, yes, Virginia has done that: 15 different women made A finals this week at ACCs, plus two more to make B finals. The relays finished first in four relays and second in the 200 medley.
But the stars are also there – in Moesch, in Curzan, in Katie Grimes winning two races and finishing second in a third, in Canny being an NCAA contender in multiple events. It’s another step in the storied recent history of the program.
