Alex Walsh of Virginia won the 200 IM at the NCAA Championships on Thursday, successfully defending her title while becoming the fastest yards swimmer in the event.
With a time of 1:50.08, the sophomore nearly became the first woman ever under 1:50 in the event. In the process, she rewrote the history books, breaking the NCAA, American and US Open records that were set by Ella Eastin in 2018 at a time of 1:50.67.
The swim was also a personal best for Walsh by over a second, who’s previous best time was a 1:51.53. She swam a 1:51.87 a year ago to win the national title.
Stanford freshman Torri Huske took second in a time of 1:51.81. Senior Isabel Ivey out of Cal took third.
An Olympic silver medalist in the 200 IM, Walsh told SwimSwam in a post race interview that she was “feeling really ready.”
“That’s really rare for me,” she said. “I feel like I get nerves a lot. And before this race I just knew what I had to do and I felt really awesome in warmup.
“I was really shocked to see that time on the board but I couldn’t be happier.”
The win continues to pad the points for Virginia. The Cavaliers are looking to defend last year’s NCAA…
