CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – One day into the FINA World Aquatics Championships in Singapore and the University of Virginia’s accomplished swimming program has already made its presence known.   

Ten swimmers with ties to the Cavaliers are currently in Singapore racing in the international competition.  The American contingent consists of Thomas Heilmann, Jack Aikins, Claire Curzan, Kate Douglass, Katie Grimes, Anna Moesch, and star sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh.  Sara Curtis is racing for Team Italy, and Aimee Canny for South Africa.

Gretchen Walsh won the 100m butterfly on Monday, the first individual long-course world title of her storied career.

“I knew that tonight was going to be a fight for me, and that swim took a lot of guts, but I’m really so happy with the result,” Walsh said in a release from the university. “I was aiming for a 55 so to go 54 was really a surprise, and something I’m really proud of. In my mind is thinking, ‘do not let these people catch you.’ I’m a swimmer that flies and dies, and I’ve just been working so hard at staying strong on the end. I wanted to do that here. So I was just thinking, keep my technique, keep my form, and that’ll get me to the finish.”

Walsh took silver in the 200m individual medley, and Douglas and Moesch won silver as part of the 4×100 freestyle relay.

Getting the Wahoos’ schedule or races started on Sunday were UVA alumna Kate Douglass and current UVA sophomore Anna Moesch.  Douglass and Moesch were instrumental parts of the silver-medal winning 4×100 freestyle relay racing for Team USA.   

Moesch swam in the preliminaries of the race and helped net a stellar 3:33.57 for the USA.  

Douglass and fellow Olympic alumna Gretchen Walsh were set to take on the powerhouse Australian team in the final.

A late scratch from Walsh, however, made Douglass the only Wahoo on the squad alongside Stanford standout and fellow 2024 Olympian Torri Huske.  Douglass’s second leg was strong and opened it up for Huske to carry the final leg. However, a late surge from the Australian squad pipped Team USA at the last minute to knock them down to the second step on the podium.