(Photo courtesy UVA Athletics). A third straight national championship is within sight for the Virginia women's swimming and diving team after another dominant night at the NCAA . Prior to UVA, DeSorbo served as the associate head coach at NC State for six seasons. She helped coach three swimmers to individual NCAA titles and saw the Cavaliers sweep all five relay events in 2023 at the NCAA Championships. GRETCHEN WALSH KNOWS she needs to come up for air. UVAs men have recorded their best finishes at the ACC Championship in eight years and three-straight top-10 finishes at NCAAs, a first in program history. Madden punctuated her college career with three individual victories and one relay title at the NCAA meet. "I mean they were good when they got here," DeSorbo says. The records, the titles, the championships mean more for this team because they are a team. 32 for the UVA athletics department. Everything has gone right for her so far in this race. In her third year with the Cavaliers, Bachman helped the womens team secure the ACC Championship title with the highest point score in history and the mens team finishing as the runner-up in February 2020. DeSorbo quit his accounting job to take a sprint coaching job at his alma mater, UNC Wilmington, even though he'd spent his own career as a middle-distance swimmer. Meanwhile, Virginia head coach Todd DeSorbo was selected to be one of eight assistant coaches on the American team, USA Swimming announced Monday. Partially because swimming isn't exactly a fun sport. She started at 36 inches this morning and has decided to go up for her final two sets. Prior to joining the UNCW staff full-time, DeSorbo served as the head swim coach for the Cape Fear Aquatic Club from2005-07,and was a graduate assistant at UNCW from 1999-2000. Even with the loss of Madden to graduation, Virginia successfully defended their national title in 2022. New science, plus pixie dust, plus world-class swimmers who are open to unconventional methods of improvement? "I'm so proud of this group," head coach Todd DeSorbo said. Douglass. The UVA womens swimming and diving team won the programs first national championship on Saturday night after finishing with 491 points. Virginia had 12 swimmers earn All-America honors with 48 total honors that season. In total, UVA has 33 individual and 19 relay ACC titles along with 12 NCAA individual titles and five NCAA relay championships. Prior to swimming at UVA, Alex didn't swim a ton of butterfly. Douglass, Madden, Walsh and Weyant peaked at the trials in Omaha and again in Tokyo, each earning Olympic medals. And then coming back to the pool in the afternoons. During his tenure at NC State, DeSorbo coached American Olympic gold medalist Ryan Held (2016 Rio 4100 free relay), USA Swimming national champion Justin Ress and NCAA Champions in the 4100 free relay (2016) and 4200 free relay (2017).The NC State men won the last three ACC titles and the Wolfpack women captured the 2017 ACC title. Alex's first experience in this room was as a recruit, and every time she jumps up and down with the Hoos, she's reminded why she came to UVA. There's also video thanks to some underwater cameras. 1 & No. Walsh and Douglass ended up competing against each other in the 200m individual medley, with both teammates placing on the podium. Madden also returned to the squad for her senior season, helping Virginia defend their ACC title from the year before. Each time she touched the wall to win a race for UVA, Douglass developed more belief in herself that she was exactly who DeSorbo said she could be. The returning team was hungry and did whatever it could ensure everyone was healthy heading into championship season. One by one, they each dove in. From Mobile, Alabama, she was a senior in 2021. I think everybody else was [too] and thought the Aussies have it in the bag. After spending five seasons at UNCW, DeSorbo left for NC State, where he continued coaching sprint swimmers, including multiple athletes who would become Olympians. Caldwell joined UVA's staff for the 2021-22 season, which saw Virginia's women win seven NCAA individual titles and four . The Pelham, New York, native was the second-ranked recruit in her class by SwimSwam. Lots of things contribute to speed: number and timing of dolphin kicks, hip positioning in the water, the underwater stroke in the breaststroke, to name a few. Indeed, with their families back in the States due to Japans COVID restrictions, that UVA family support was paramount. It's the 50 freestyle, the fastest race of the meet, and she is kicking hard. Tyler Fenwick Joins UVA as Assoc. Head Coach; Two Other Coaches Hired Because UVA just seemed like the best balance between having fun, and getting a good education, and also being able to have a great experience on a swim team.". All of ours have gotten a lot better.". But just a few years prior to the three-peat, no one could have predicted the heights that the Cavaliers have reached. ", "He's a little wild and loud," Douglass says. In Bachmans first year with the program, she coached six student-athletes to the NCAA Championships, in addition to coaching the 2018 womens ACC 200-yard backstroke championand a 2018 World University Games qualifier in the 200-yard freestyle. He oversaw the programs recruiting, training and day-to-day operations. "We were like, 'Great! DeSorbo also coached three of his student-athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympics.