The Virginia swimming teams traveled south this past week for the ACC Championships, where both teams showed a commanding presence in the pool. The women took 1st place for the 7th year in a row, beating 2nd place Stanford by over 370 points with a total score of 1,410.5. The men finished in 7th with 577.5 points, showing improvement from last year’s performance where UVA finished 8th.
This was the women’s first championship meet this decade without either of the legendary Walsh sisters, and a chance to cement the continued dominance they’ve been showing all season long. With outstanding performances from Claire Curzan, Sara Curtis, Anna Moesch, Aimee Canny, and many of the other women, the Hoos left no question of their ability to step up and continue the program’s legacy. UVA’s women’s team won 11 titles overall (four relay and seven individual).
Curzan was named the Most Valuable Swimmer of the Meet.
“This year has really been about a lot of people stepping up into new roles and really blossoming,” Virginia coach Todd DeSorbo said in a news release. “It started really early on in the year. We have seen it just continue to build and build. It's been really impressive and really exciting to have a whole new group of people, and, you know, a fantastic team.”
The Championship Meet was held at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and ran from Feb.15-21. Here are some takeaways from the meet:
Hoos Taking Home Gold
Even before the finals, Claire Curzan dominated the preliminary swim for the women’s 100 back, becoming the third-fastest performer in event history. Later that day, she outdid herself, dropping .45 off of her prelim time by going a 48.38. Not only did this set a new pool record, but it also bumped her up to the second-fastest performer in event history, sitting just 0.28 behind Gretchen Walsh.
Sara Curtis won her first individual ACC title in the 50 free with a 21.09. Anna Moesch finished .01 seconds behind Curtis, taking second.
Moesch (1:39.72) captured her own title in the women’s 200 free on day 5 with Madi Mintenko (1:41.52) in second for the Hoos. Moesch’s time broke the pool record and earned her third in the list of all-time top performances in the event, closely behind the legendary Missy Franklin and Gretchen Walsh. Moesch opened with a whopping 23.54 in her first 50, and kept a steady pace the rest of the race, maintaining roughly 25 seconds on the rest of her 50s. This consistency is a promising look at what is in store for Moesch in the coming seasons, as even Franklin and Walsh were less consistent with their splits.
Curzan closed out her individual racing with an outstanding performance in the women’s 200 back. Going her fastest splits throughout the whole race, Curzan finished in first at 1:46.09, setting new NCAA, ACC, American, and pool records. David King followed suit in the men’s 200 back, setting a new personal record, and securing gold at 1:38.14.
The Virginia women secured a decisive victory in the 400 medley relay as well, taking the top spot by nearly 4 seconds over runner-up NC State. The relay started off with Curtis (50.07) in the backstroke leg, whose split would have earned her fourth in the individual event earlier that day. Curzan (48.44) followed on the butterfly leg, going the all-time fifth fastest butterfly split. Aimee Canny (56.38) extended the Cavaliers’ lead in the breastroke leg and Moesch (45.53) finished it off with the freestyle leg to cement the victory.
The men’s 400 medley relay made a strong effort as well, taking fourth. Leading off with seniors Jack Aikins (45.43) and Matthew Heilman (51.63), the relay ended with freshmen Thomas Heilman (43.81) and Maximus Williamson (40.88).
Close Calls
Stanford proved to be a tough opponent to the Cavaliers in the women’s 200 free relay. With Olympian Tori Huske second in the relay’s lineup, she helped secure Stanford an early lead in the first half of the relay, going a 20.63. However the Cavaliers quickly caught up, with Moesch (20.94) swimming the third leg of the relay and demolishing Stanford’s edge. Curtis dealt the final blow, going a 20.46 to finalize UVA’s win, setting a pool record in the process. The Cavaliers’ final time was 1:23.75, the second-fastest performance ever.
Freshman Thomas Heilman won his first ACC medal, finishing second in the 100 fly at 44.16. Heilman pulled ahead from third to second in the last 50, but was just 0.09 seconds off NC State’s Aiden Hayes, who maintained his lead and took gold. Heilman’s time set a new UVA team record in the event.
In the 500 freestyle, the Cavalier women left no room to question, sweeping first through fourth place. However, it was undetermined for much of the race which Hoo would be taking home gold. Through the first half, Canny held a lead over Katie Grimes, and at the 250 mark, it was clear that the battle for first was between the two of them. In the last 100, Grimes caught up to Canny, and, using all she had left, pulled ahead of her teammate. Grimes (4:33.78) ended up securing a repeat as the event’s ACC Champion, but Canny (4:34.46) made it known that she was a close contender for the top spot. The two were followed by Cavan Gormsen (4:34.99) in third and Mintenko in fourth (4:36.51).
Maximus Williamson showed a strong swim in the 200 IM for the men’s team, and although NC State’s Arsenio Bustos held a firm lead the entire race, Williamson still fought hard for second. Although Williamson was holding well behind Arsenio, UNC’s Louis Dramm managed to pull himself into second with a breaststroke split of 29.45. This made the final 50 of the race a narrow race between Dramm and Williamson, but it was the Cavalier who was able to pull ahead and take silver with a personal best of 1:40.78.
Cavaliers Dominate The Race
This was the 19th consecutive year the UVA women won the 800 free relay. Featuring Aimee Canny, Madi Mintenko, Cavan Gormsen, and Anna Moesch, the group went a 6:45.34, setting a new pool record and beating second place by nearly 5 seconds. Even with their dominant lead, the Cavaliers gave it their all. Canny led off and earned a new personal best. The men’s 800 free relay also showed a strong performance, securing fourth place and setting a new UVA team record of 6:10.17. The relay was composed, in order, of Maximus Williamson, David King, Thomas Heilman, and Hayden Bellotti.
In the 400 IM, the women took 2nd through 5th place. Sophomore Katie Grimes won silver (3:59.80) and senior Aimee Canny bronze (4:02.35). Anna Moesch won gold in the 200 free, followed by freshman Madi Mintenko (1:41.52), as well as two other Cavaliers who placed fourth and sixth. Grimes also won the 1,650 free in 15:45.20.
The Cavaliers closed out the final races of the meet in a dominating fashion, sweeping the 400 free relays. On the women’s side, the team of Curzan, Moesch, Canny, and Curtis won by over 3 seconds, setting new NCAA, ACC, and pool records at 3:05.30. The UVA men gave Stanford a run for its money, and ended up tying with for third at 2:47.51. The relay featured Thomas Heilman, Williamson, King, and Aikins, respectively.
March Madness
The Cavaliers will conclude the 2025-2026 season with the NCAA Championships. The women’s meet will take place March 18-21, and the men’s will be March 25-28. The meets will also be held at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The Cavalier women are the 5-time defending NCAA Champions, and will look to secure a historic 6-peat. If they do so, the UVA women would be the first team in swimming history to win 6 years in a row.
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