Alex Walsh bags 3rd title in 200m individual medley after clocking second-fastest time in the event at NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships

Alex Walsh has clinched her third individual title in the 200 IM at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships 2024. The 22-year-old became the second-fastest swimmer ever to finish the race within the 1:50 mark on Thursday, March 21.

The ongoing NCAA Championships is a three-day event, scheduled from March 20-23 in Greensboro, NC. The championship is currently the hotspot for many collegiate-level swimmers, as it may forge their path for the 2024 Olympic Trials in June.

Day 2 of the NCAA Championship saw Alex Walsh soaring to newer career heights with her excellent swim in the 200m IM race. She swam a stunning 1:49.20, becoming the second-fastest swimmer after Kate Douglass, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist. Douglass set the NCAA record under the 1:50 mark in 2023 by clocking 1:48.37.

At the recent championship, Alex Walsh was comparatively faster than Kate Douglass in the 50m breaststroke split. She outperformed her Virginian counterpart’s 31.38 by swimming in 31.2. Walsh also improved her timing of 1:50.08, recorded in 2022 in the 200m IM.

She left behind Florida Gators’ Isabel Ivey at 1:51.96 and Tennessee's Josephine Fuller, who swam at 1:52.04, taking the third-place finish.

Alex Walsh first won the NCAA title in the 200m IM in 2021, clocking 1:51.87.

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Alex Walsh was just 13 when she qualified for the 2016 US Olympic Trials

Walsh at the Budapest 2022 FINA World Championships (Image via Getty)

At 13, Alex Welsh made it to the 100m and 200m backstroke events at the 2016 U.S Olympics Trials. She reached the semi-finals of both events, taking the 14th and 11th spots, respectively.

In 2021, Walsh competed once again in the Olympic Trials. This time, the swimmer won the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:09.30. The race saw an extremely close competition between Alex Walsh and her Virginian teammate Kate Douglass. A difference of just 0.04 seconds made Douglass settle for second place.

Walsh qualified her for the main championship in Tokyo. Without disappointing her fans, the young athlete bagged the silver medal in the 200m IM race, clocking 2:08.65s. She finished behind gold medalist Yui Ohashi by just 0.13s.

Walsh also boasts three World Championship gold medals in the long course events - 200m medley, 4x200m freestyle, and 4x100m medley at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest. She also bagged three gold medals in the 4x50m freestyle, 4x100m medley, and 4x50m mixed medley in the Short Course World Championship in Melbourne.

At last years' World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, the swimmer won the silver medal in the 200m medley, clocking 2:07.97.