2024-25 NCAA Digest: Walsh and Kos Log Fast 100 IMs To Highlight The Week

10/04/2024 08:00 AM

By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam

In this week’s edition of the 2024-25 NCAA digest we’ve got a lot of fun swimming (see: pentathlons, off-distance events, and zany relays) and a lot of fast swimming. Fun and fast combined in the 100 IM for Gretchen Walsh and Hubert Kos this week, as each put themselves in the event’s all-time rankings (Walsh not for the first time) at their respective meets this week.

Also on the docket this week, we’ve got first-years making noise in their NCAA debuts, another college commitment to talk about, and Josh Liendo teasing he may swim a 200 IM or 200 fly this season.

100 IM Frenzy

Teams often kick off their seasons with a meet featuring fun events and untraditional relays. In addition to racing events like a 500 freestyle relay, the 100 IM makes it onto the schedule at some of these early NCAA meets, which is always exciting.

Gretchen Walsh and Hubert Kos made their way onto the top time lists last week in the event. At Virginia's off-distance combined intrasquad meet with Navy, Walsh won the 100 IM with a 52.63, which stands up as the fourth-fastest performance all-time. Kate Douglass has been faster (and owns the fastest time, 51.97). Walsh herself has been 52.09 in 2022.

After an impressive Olympic debut in Paris, Walsh is picking up right where she left in yards. On the mixed 200 medley relay, she threw down a 21.65 50 fly split, the second-fastest performance behind her 21.50 from a January 2024 dual meet. (The recently retired Maggie MacNeil owns the third-fastest swim with a 21.85 from the 2022 Art Adamson Invite). Then, she won the 150-yard fly (1:20.31) hitting the 100-mark at 51.08, which would've made the 2024 NCAA 'A' final.

In Austin, the Texas men's team all raced a pentathlon, swimming a 50 of each stroke and then the 100 IM. Hubert Kos, one of the newest Longhorns, ran away with the competition, clinching the overall victory with a 47.33 100 IM, the fifth-fastest in history per our records. (Thanks to commenter Glarb for alerting us to Will Licon's 47.37 from a 2017 Texas vs. Arizona exhibition!).

Debuting In Style

Claire Curzanmade her Virginia debut at the Cavaliers meet with the Midshipmen. She matched Walsh with three event wins, swimming 1:15.34 in the 150 freestyle, 24.01 in the 50 backstroke, and 1:21.47 in the 150 back. Virginia got strong performances from Leah Hayes, Anna Moesch, and Spencer Nicholasin their collegiate debuts as well, as each won at least one event.

Army first-year Johnny Crushalso excelled at his first collegiate meet. Army hosted Fordham and Marist for a meet that featured relays like the 400 medley where every athlete races the 100 IM. Crush broke the program record in the 100 backstroke, swimming a 47.07 as he swept the men's backstroke events at the meet. It's not surprising the Crush took down the record—his personal bests are faster than Army's records in the 100 free, 200 free, 100 back, and 200 back—but perhaps it is surprising it happened so quickly. It highlighted a strong performance by the Black Knights at a meet where first-year Angie McKaneand sophomore Riley Grovesmoved up the school's 100 fly all-time rankings.

Even More Arrivals

This has the makings of a recurring segment here in the 2024-25 NCAA digest, at least for the first part of the season. This is also the second time in a row that we are breaking the "no commitment" policy here in the digest, as Olympic medalist Katie Grimes, the #1 recruit in the high school class of 2024, has announced she is heading to UVA for the second semester.

This is a frankly huge get for the Cavaliers, who weren't exactly starved for talent beforehand. Grimes is an incredibly versatile yards swimmer capable of scoring at least 50 individual points at the 2025 NCAA Championships. It puts Virginia in a position where they can challenge for 13 event wins this year as they aim for a five-peat.

This week's other arrivals are all coaching appointments. 2024 Harvard graduate Will Grantrejoins the Crimson on deck as an assistant coach while Vermont alum Hazel Wilkins was added to the Fordham coaching staff as a volunteer assistant coach. Kile Aukerman moves from Miami-Ohio to Drexel, where he'll serve as an assistant coach and Pitt rounded out their coaching staff by hiring Sandpipers' Michael Kinross.

Gettysburg

Last week, multiple parties made statements about the incident at Gettysburg where a swimmer on the team reportedly scratched a racial slur onto a teammate's body. Vice President of College Life Anne Erlich emailed the school community stating that the student responsible for cutting the slur into another student is no longer enrolled at the college. That was affirmed in a joint statement by the college and the family of the student who had the slur carved on them, which also said the college had committed to working with the family about how to best move forward once the investigation was complete.

President Bob Iuliano also emailed the school, writing that the investigation "affirmed that the incident was not a byproduct of an unhealthy athletic team culture or a reflection of the team itself; rather we see in the captains the measure of what it means to be a Gettysburgian by their notification to their coaches," which implies there will be no further investigations of the team.

The team itself released a statement on the school's athletics website, which emphasized the incident "was not tied to the team" and wrote that "racism has no home here."

Quick Hits

• Despite their lone NCAA qualifier, Victoria Rayomnd, transferring to Alabama this season, Tulane earned their first victory over Vanderbilt since 2015 last Friday.
• Jada Scott and Emily Jones returned to competition for Alabama as the Crimson Tide swept DII's Delta State last week. While Jones did not compete at all last season, Scott was part of a sprint crew that was a bright spot for the Alabama women last season before getting sidelined with a shoulder injury.
• On a recent SwimSwam podcast, Josh Liendo teased that we may see him race the 200 IM or 200 fly at a dual meet or mid-season competition this season.

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