University News

UVA Swimmers Will Leave Paris With Multiple Medals

August 5, 2024 • By Mike Mather, mike.mather@virginia.edu Mike Mather, mike.mather@virginia.edu

UVA student-athlete Gretchen Walsh, second from right, poses with her gold medal Sunday along with U.S. swimming teammates Reagan Smith, Lilly King and Torri Huske. It was Walsh’s second gold of the Games. (Getty Images photo)

University of Virginia swimmers wrapped up their Olympic swim meet Sunday with 11 total medals, and helped the U.S. edge rival Australia in the total gold-medal count at Paris La Défense Arena.

Student-athlete Gretchen Walsh earned a gold in the final event, the 4x100-meter medley relay Sunday, and helped set a world record in the process. Student-athlete Emma Weber and alumna Kate Douglass were also part of that team and competed in the preliminaries, but did not swim in the final race; still, as team members, they also received gold medals.

The gold was Walsh’s second in a relay. On Saturday, she was part of the winning team in the mixed 4x100 relay, in which the two women and two men also set a world record.

‘Inside UVA’ A Podcast Hosted by Jim Ryan

The U.S. women’s swimming team, a program coached by UVA’s Todd DeSorbo, outperformed their male teammates, leading The Washington Post to write that the American women “carried the whole program.”

“It’s great to come out on top of the gold medals and the overall medal standings,” DeSorbo told The Post. “A lot of ups and downs but a great meet overall.”

Walsh will leave Paris with two gold and two silver medals and a part of two world records. Douglass likewise has two gold and two silvers, and set an American record in the 200 breaststroke. Alumna Paige Madden scored a silver and bronze.

Outside of the pool, alumna Heidi Long, competing for Great Britain, won a bronze medal in rowing on Saturday. She competed in the women’s eight race.

UVA soccer alumna Emily Sonnett and her U.S. teammates advanced to the semifinals over the weekend and will play Germany on Tuesday at noon EDT for a berth in the gold-medal match.