ACC Championships Psych Sheets: Clashes Between Torri Huske, Gretchen Walsh on Deck
Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske helped supply the backbone of the U.S. Olympic women’s sprint contingent at the Paris Olympics. They’ll get a chance to race again at the ACC Championships.
Walsh and Huske are listed as 1-2 in three events on the pre-cut psych sheets for the meet Feb. 18-22 at Greensboro Aquatic Center. Huske is seeded second behind Alex Walsh in a fourth event. Gretchen Walsh leads the way in the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 100 free, with Huske second in each. Huske is the second seed to Alex Walsh in the 200 individual medley.
Third in the 50 free is fellow Olympic medalist Claire Curzan of Virginia. She’s third in the 100 fly, fourth in the 100 free and second to Gretchen Walsh in the 100 back. Curzan is the top seed in the 200 back ahead of Gretchen Walsh.
In addition to the 200 IM, Walsh is the top seed in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breast. She’s second to Stanford’s Lillian Nordmann in the 200 butterfly and second to teammate Aimee Canny in the 200 free for the four-time reigning NCAA champions. UVA has won each of the last five ACC titles and is seeking its 16th conference title in 18 years.
At her first conference meet, Katie Grimes is seeded second in the 500 free (behind Stanford’s Aurora Roghair), first in the 400 IM, sixth in the 200 fly, sixth in the mile and seventh in the 200 back.
Among the surprises on the men’s side is the presence of Brooks Curry, the Olympic relay gold medalist swimming for the University of California in his fifth year of eligibility after his career at LSU. Curry is entered in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free. Curry didn’t swim at NCAAs last year. In 2023, he finished fourth in the 200 free, tied for fifth in the 100 free and fourth in the 50. He won NCAA titles in the 50 and 100 free at NCAAs in 2022.
This is the first ACC Championships for Stanford, Cal and SMU since joining the conference. Newcomers own the top time in 12 events. Cal leads the way with six, all on the men’s side, led by Jack Alexy in the 50 and 100 free and Gabriel Jett in both backstroke events. In addition to Roghair and Nordmann, Alexei Minakov leads in the 200 fly, Henry McFadden in the 200 free and Bailey O’Regan in the women’s 1,650. Jack Hoagland of SMU, an ACC champion in the 400 IM in 2021 and 2023 at Notre Dame, owns the top seed again.
