Defending champ Virginia wins the first event at the NCAA women's swimming and diving championships

Updated Mar. 20, 2024 10:41 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Defending champion Virginia won the first event of the NCAA women's swimming and diving championships, and Florida took the first-day lead on Wednesday.

The Cavaliers opened the meet by capturing the 200-yard medley relay, an event they won last year, with a time of 1-minute, 31.58-seconds, almost a second-and-a-half ahead of Ohio State. Florida was third for its first top-three finish since 2014.

The Gators won the only other final of the day, the 800-yard freestyle relay for the sixth time in program history and the first title since 1989. Florida finished with a time of 6:48.59, with Tennessee second in 6:53.43 and Virginia fourth.

That gave Florida a 72-70 lead over Virginia, with Tennessee third at 62 points and Stanford fourth with 54.

There are four swimming finals and a diving final on Thursday at the Jack Bauerle Pool at Gabrielsen Natatorium.

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