INDIANAPOLIS — The Paris Olympics are just under five weeks away and Team USA is starting to take form. In the case of swimming, UVA will be well represented with both current and former Virginia swimmers having clinched a spot. Todd DeSorbo, who has led the Cavaliers to four straight national championships, is also the USA Head Coach. In 2021, DeSorbo sent four swimmers to Tokyo who claimed four Olympic medals.
Headed to Paris with him in just a few weeks are sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh and former Cavaliers Kate Douglass and Paige Madden.
Douglass joined the roster by winning the 100 Free Wednesday and won the 200 IM Saturday night earning her a third gold medal at the 9-day trials. Alex Walsh, who is now in grad school at UVA, joined the USA roster with a runner-up finish in the same race.
Walsh won a silver medal in Tokyo in 2020 but different from her Tokyo experience, her younger sister Gretchen will be joining her.
Gretchen, entering her senior year at UVA, earned a spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming team after winning the 100 Fly on Sunday night. Walsh, who set the world record during Saturday’s semifinals with a time of 55.18, touched the wall first in the finals with a clocking of 55.31. That stands as the second fastest time ever in the event.
Former Cavalier standout Paige Madden is also returning to the Olympic Games after finishing third in the 200 Free. Madden matched her personal best time in the event (1:56.36) during Monday night’s finals. The top four finishers in the event automatically qualify for the Paris Games as the U.S. relay team. Madden won silver in the 4×200 Free Relay in Tokyo and was seventh in the 400 Free.
