Virginia swimmers were in the spotlight this week, with stunning highs and devastating upsets at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Current and former Hoos Kate Douglass, Paige Madden, Gretchen Walsh, and Emma Weber earned a stunning 11 medals. Returning Olympian Douglass won gold in the 200 breaststroke, the first Cavalier to ever win gold in an individual event.
In the relay pool, Douglass, Walsh, and Weber also won the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay, setting a new world record in the event. Walsh added yet another gold medal and world record to her resume in the mixed 4×100 medley relay, tying the all-time record for fastest 100-meter butterfly split.
UVA alumna Paige Madden also had a stellar showing in both individual and relay events, taking home silver in the women’s 4×200-meter free relay and bronze in the 800-meter freestyle.
The women’s 200-meter individual medley final was a mixed bag for the Hoos. While Douglass added a silver medal to her repertoire, Alex Walsh finished with the third best time but was disqualified due to an illegal turn when switching from backstroke to breaststroke.
Local high schooler Thomas Heilman won his first Olympic medal, achieving silver as part of the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay. The UVA 2029 commit swam well but did not progress to the final in either of his individual events.
Bigger and better
File photo.
Charlottesville’s Sabroso Festival is set to be bigger than ever this year, with the event moving from Washington Park to Ting Pavilion on the Downtown Mall.
The Latin American culture festival—set for September 21 from 1 to 10pm—will feature activities and entertainment for people of all ages, including live music, dancing, and face-painting. Last year’s celebration saw roughly 4,500 attendees, prompting the move to a larger venue. Salvadoran band La Maquina will headline the event.
This year marks the 12th annual Sabroso Festival hosted by Sin Barreras, a local nonprofit that advocates for immigrants and the Latinx community.
“Cville Sabroso is our Latino community’s way of sharing our vibrant cultures (beautiful music and dances, food, crafts, and traditions) and our love of Mexico, Central America, and South America with the broad[er] Charlottesville community,” shared Sabroso Fest and Sin Barreras co-founder Fanny Smedile in a August 1 release.
According to festival chair Andrea Jacobs, support for the expansion has been ample and exceeded the organizers’ expectations. “We’ve already blown past our initial goal of 20 committed sponsors and exhibitors by August 1, and we’re expecting all the available booths to be taken by mid- to late August,” she shared.
For more information on Cville Sabroso Festival, visit the event’s Facebook page or the Sin Barreras website.
Help wanted
Charlottesville Police responded to two instances of shots fired this week and are seeking public assistance locating a suspect in connection with an earlier incident. No injuries have been reported in connection with the shootings at the 900 block of Grady Avenue and the area of Prospect Avenue and Bailey Road, which occurred on July 31 and August 2 respectively. Casings were found on or near both scenes. CPD is also searching for Gustavo Junior Laurent in connection with a July 28 shooting on East Market Street.
Tonsler tipoff
The Tonsler League kicked off its annual playoffs on August 4, with teams Elite Company, Takeover, Ballywood, and Hitlist progressing to semi-finals on August 8. Undefeated champs Elite Company play Ballywood at 6:30pm, with Takeover set to face Hitlist at 7:30pm. The top two teams will meet in the playoff final at 7:30pm on August 10. Before tipoff for the men’s final, the Tonsler League will host a women’s tournament from 5 to 7pm that evening. All events are free and open to the public.
Wheel-y good
Cyclists with Journey of Hope will stop in Charlottesville on August 7 before continuing their 4,000-mile cross-country trip. This year marks the 37th annual trek to raise awareness for people with disabilities. The cyclists will pedal into town at 3:15pm on August 7, visiting local partner CrossFit SPRC at 943 Second St. SE.
An anonymous buyer has offered $7 million for the Carlton Mobile Home Park site, putting into motion a 60-day window in which the owners must consider counter offers.
Photo by Eze Amos.
Moving forward
After meeting with current residents of Carlton Mobile Home Park, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville announced it is working to secure financing to place an offer for the property in a July 26 press release. Habitat has until August 6 to make an offer on the park, or the sale of the land on which it is sited to an unknown, third-party buyer for $7 million can proceed.
Opened in the 1970s, Carlton Mobile Home Park houses approximately 60 families. If the sale of the property goes through and tenants are served eviction notices, displaced residents will be faced with the extremely difficult task of finding comparably priced affordable housing.
According to Habitat, lot rates at CMHP currently range between $375 and $450 per month. There are currently no units available at or near that rate in the Charlottesville area in any online listings.
Habitat, Piedmont Housing Alliance, and the Legal Aid Justice Center began pursuing a potential partnership with residents immediately after tenants received notice of the anonymous offer on June 7. More than 40 percent of residents signed a petition indicating their support for Habitat placing an offer on CMHP, exceeding the 25 percent margin legally required.
Residents confirmed their interest in Habitat purchasing the park in a meeting with all three nonprofits. Based on the community conversation, Habitat and partners agreed to keep CMHP a mobile home park for at least three years while considering future plans and to cap annual rent increases at either five percent or $15 monthly, whichever is less.
Under Virginia law, manufactured home park owners must provide tenants with notice of a purchase offer at least 60 days before the potential closing date. The owner must consider any additional offers to purchase made by “an entity that provides documentation that it represents at least 25 percent of the tenants with a valid lease.”
Park owners do not have to consider offers made after the 60-day window.
It is currently unclear if the owners of CMHP were intending to sell the park when they received the anonymous offer. However, Virginia law requires park owners to provide tenants with a 90-day notice of any potential listings or sale. The 60-day window provided to residents indicates the anonymous offer was made without a listing or prior intent to sell.
As the August 6 deadline for Habitat to make an offer quickly approaches, the group and its partners are focused on financing.
“This is, admittedly, one of the most challenging efforts we’ve ever been involved in given the timeline imposed upon the process,” said Habitat President and CEO Dan Rosensweig in the release. “We and our partners feel deeply that, given the enormous stakes for the families, we have a moral and ethical imperative to do everything we can to prevent displacement.”
In a comment via email, Habitat Communications Manager Angela Guzman shared that PHA has taken the lead on procuring funds for the offer. “They have narrowed conversations down to a couple of lenders,” she says. “Funding seems to be lining up.”
COVID outbreak
Four residents and one employee of the Charlottesville Salvation Army, the city’s only year-round homeless shelter, have tested positive for COVID in the past week. Arrangements have been made for COVID-positive residents to quarantine in hotel rooms. If the spread continues, the shelter’s soup kitchen may have to switch to only providing take-out meals. Luckily, no further cases of the virus have been identified following consistent testing of residents and staff. Last year alone, the Salvation Army served more than 60,000 meals and provided accommodations for 15,000 guests.
Swimming in silver
University of Virginia swimmers Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass helped lead Team USA to an Olympic silver medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay on July 27, setting a new American record of 3:30.20. After achieving an Olympic record in the 100-meter butterfly during semifinals, Walsh took home silver in the event on July 28, with teammate Torri Huske winning gold. As of press time, Walsh will compete in the 100-meter freestyle on July 30, with the event final set for July 31. Two-time Olympian Douglass will dive back into the pool for the 200-meter breaststroke on July 31.
Swimmer Gretchen Walsh helped Team USA earn the silver on July 27. Photo via UVA Athletics Communications.
Shooting at Holly’s
CPD seeks assistance locating suspects and a vehicle (believed to be a mid-2000s Honda Accord) involved in a shooting that occurred at Holly’s Diner on July 23 around 11:22pm. Holly’s Diner hosts karaoke every Tuesday night, an event that draws consistent crowds. One person was shot but is expected to recover with minimal injuries.
The highly anticipated 2024 Paris Olympics kicks off July 26, with opening ceremonies officially starting at 1:30pm eastern daylight time. While the actual competition is an ocean away, Charlottesvillians will see several familiar faces representing Team USA and other countries on their small screens.
Equestrian
Local equestrian Will Coleman is returning to the games for the first time since his original appearance in 2012.
Coleman started riding—on a Shetland pony named TJ—after moving to Charlottesville at 6 years old.
After graduating from UVA in 2007, Coleman returned to competition and founded Will Coleman Equestrian, which he runs with his wife Katie Coleman. The business is based in Gordonsville, Virginia, and Ocala, Florida.
The equestrian has been named to the U.S. Olympic Eventing Team and will compete with his horse Off the Record. Eventing, also called Three Day Eventing, is split into three parts consisting of dressage, cross country, and show jumping.
Rowing
After competing in the Paralympics, Sky Dahl will return to Grounds, where she competes on the ACC Team. Photo via virginiasports.com.
Across the pond, alumna and former UVA Rowing captain Heidi Long will compete for Great Britain in the women’s eight. The 2024 games are her first Olympic appearance.
“Every day I’m trying to keep focused on rowing and what we are trying to achieve, but I also want to enjoy and feel the excitement of all these special moments,” Long told online magazine British Rowing. “Knowing that my friends and family will be in Paris to support the whole team will hopefully inspire and encourage us to have the best time of our lives.”
In the Paralympics, Sky Dahl will compete in Para Rowing 3 mixed four with coxswain. The PR3 category includes athletes with residual function in the legs and those with vision impairment.
Soccer
Stepping onto the pitch, Cavalier alum Emily Sonnett will play on the U.S. women’s soccer—or, as it’s listed on the Olympic website, football—team.
Since graduating from Virginia, Sonnett has had an action-packed professional soccer career. She is a member of the U.S. national team and was part of the squad that won the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Sonnett is already an Olympic medalist, winning bronze with Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Swimming
The Charlottesville area will be well-represented in the pool this Olympics. University of Virginia Head Coach Todd DeSorbo is leading the American women’s team, which boasts an impressive five Cavalier competitors. Local highschooler Thomas Heilman will also be swimming for Team USA and is the youngest swimmer to make the men’s Olympic team since Michael Phelps in 2000.
Breaststroke
In her first ever Olympic appearance, UVA’s Emma Weber will represent Team USA in the 100-meter breaststroke event. Weber’s personal-best time of 1:06.02 is unlikely to get her to the podium, but anything is possible in this event, which online publication SwimSwam said is “proven to be unpredictable.”
Kate Douglass—whose image was displayed across the outside of the U.S. Olympic Trials arena—is among the favorites to take gold in the 200-meter breaststroke. Her biggest competition is expected to be defending winner Tatjana Smith of South Africa.
Butterfly
Walsh will make another appearance for Team USA in the women’s 100-meter butterfly and is likely to take gold after setting a new world record in the event at Olympic Trials this June. “Making the team was the biggest goal, but getting a world record was absolute insanity,” she told NBC Sports poolside at the Trials. “I couldn’t ask for a better first event of the meet.”
On the men’s side of the pool, Western Albemarle High School student Thomas Heilman will represent the U.S. in both the 100- and 200-meter butterfly. The 17-year-old is the youngest person on the American Olympic swim squad and made major waves when he qualified for two events at his first Olympic trials in June.
The up-and-comer faces steep competition in both of his events, with Kristóf Milák of Hungary expected to win the 100- and 200-meter races. Heilman’s personal best times in both events put him in the running for a spot on the podium, with a higher likelihood that he places top three in the 200-meter butterfly final.
Freestyle
Sprinting the 50-meter free is up-and-comer Gretchen Walsh, who made a major splash at the NCAA Championships and Olympic Trials earlier this year. The UVA fourth year is on the shortlist to make the podium in the event, though Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström is expected to comfortably take gold.
Walsh will also be swimming in the 100-meter race and is among a handful of serious contenders for the podium in that event.
UVA alum Paige Madden is the one to watch for the longer distance freestyle events, competing in the 400- and 800-meters. Madden has posted impressive times in both races and will represent the U.S. alongside living legend Katie Ledecky, who holds the world record in the 800.
Madden will be swimming an uphill battle to medal in both events amid a crowded competitive field.
In the relay pool, the U.S. has a truly stacked lineup: Walsh and swimming superstar Kate Douglass, another UVA alum, will race on the 4 x 100-meter women’s freestyle relay, while Madden and Ledecky will lead the 4 x 200-meter women’s freestyle relay.
The U.S.-Australian rivalry in the pool will be on full display in the relay events, with Australia favored to take gold in the events. The Aussie roster for the women’s 4 x 200-meter free relay includes the two fastest women in the world in the event, Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan. China and Canada are also expected to have a good showing in the race.
In the international field, Aimee Canny will be competing on behalf of South Africa in the women’s 200-meter freestyle event. A current UVA student, Canny was part of the record-breaking 2023-24 women’s NCAA team. Canny will need to fight to pull off an upset, with Australia expected to sweep gold and silver in the race and Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey favored to win bronze.
Individual Medley
Following an incredibly competitive race at Olympic trials, UVA swimmers Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh (pictured) will represent Team USA in the 200-meter individual medley event. Photo via UVA Athletics Communications.
After an incredibly competitive race at Olympic trials, Douglass and Alex Walsh will represent Team USA in the 200-meter individual medley event in Paris.
Touching in just behind Douglass in the final, Alex Walsh not only earned a spot on her second Olympic team, but achieved a lifelong dream of making Team USA alongside her sister Gretchen at the Olympic trials.
“To have a sibling duo that is this elite … both going for the same Olympic dream is so rare,” Alex said ahead of Olympic trials. “We’re proud of each other no matter what.”
The 200-meter IM is a major toss-up, with both Douglass and Alex among the shortlist to take home the gold. Alex and Douglass won silver and bronze, respectively, in the event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Team USA has not officially announced the roster for the women’s medley relay, but Douglass and Gretchen Walsh are both highly anticipated to swim the breaststroke and butterfly legs of the event, respectively. Whatever combination of swimmers the U.S. puts forward, the Americans are expected to sprint away with the gold in the relay.
UVA Swimmers could also appear in the mixed medley relay, but there has been no official information released about the makeup of that team. The U.S. has dominated the event in international competitions recently, with Douglass swimming on the gold-medal team that won top prize at this year’s World Aquatics Championships.
Tennis
Twenty-three-year-old Emma Navarro is riding a career-high rank of 15th in the world going into the Olympics. Photo via UVA Athletics Communications.
On the courts, Charlottesville will recognize Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro on Team USA. Both Hoos will play in the singles field, with Collins pulling double duty on the doubles roster.
Navarro—who left UVA to go pro after her second year—has reached new heights after upsetting tennis star Coco Gauff in the fourth round at Wimbledon. While she was knocked out in the quarterfinal by Jasmine Paolini of Italy, the 23-year-old is riding a career-high rank of 15th in the world going into the Olympics.
Also competing in singles, Collins had a strong showing at Wimbledon and is one to watch in Paris. The 2016 alum is currently ranked ninth in the world in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association and was previously ranked seventh in 2022, with the Olympics set to be her last major competition before retiring later this year.
In the doubles arena, Collins is ranked lower, currently positioned at 154th internally by WTA. She will compete alongside Desirae Krawczyk, who is 12th in the world.
As of press time, preliminary brackets for Olympic tennis events have not been released.
Track and Field
Former Cavalier Bridget Williams will represent Team USA in the women’s pole vault. Photo via UVA Athletics Communications.
In the track and field arena (or, as it’s labeled on the Olympics’ website, Athletics) several Virginia alumni will be competing—but only one for Team USA.
On the American team, former Cavalier Bridget Williams, née Guy, will represent Team USA in the women’s pole vault following her win at U.S. Olympic trials.
“Being a first time Olympian is a huge honor that I will never take for granted,” Williams told Virginia Sports. “The United States consistently [boasts] the top athletes in the world, and I am grateful I get to be a part of this year’s team.”
On the Jamaican team, Hoos Andrenette Knight and Jordan Scott are both making their first Olympic appearances at 27 years old.
A world-class athlete in the 400-meter hurdle and flat events, Knight has been named as an alternate and is among the relay pool. Jamaica’s track and field team are among, if not outright, the best in the world, so qualifying for the team is extremely competitive even for top-ranked athletes.
Knight is currently ranked seventh in the world in the 400-meter hurdle event and finished fourth in the race at the Jamaican Olympic trials earlier this summer. She holds the school record in the event at UVA, which she set during her final year of NCAA eligibility in 2021.
Leaping into action, Scott will compete in the men’s long jump and triple jump for Jamaica. During his time at Virginia, Scott set school records which still stand today in both events.
“Coming from Jamaica, with such a rich history in the sport, I’ve grown to see how much these athletes were admired and cherished by my country and it is still surreal that I’ve finally achieved this goal and am receiving the same level of admiration as the individuals I once looked up to,” Scott told Virginia Sports.
Competing for Grenada, Halle Hazzard will sprint the women’s 100-meter dash at her first Olympic Games. She is one of only four athletes on the Grenada Olympic track and field team, with the Carribbean nation sending six competitors total to Paris this summer.
Hazzard currently holds the UVA record in the 100-meter dash at 11.20 seconds, set in 2019.
Virginia law student Ashley Anumba is also making her Olympic debut in Paris, representing Nigeria in the women’s discus throw.
Ranked 35th in the world in her event, Anumba competed for University of Pennsylvania as an undergrad, then the Hoos during her first two years as a law student. After the Olympics, she is set to return to Charlottesville for her final year of law school.
Also throwing his hat in the ring this Olympics, alum Filip Mihaljević will make his third Olympic appearance for Team Croatia in the men’s shot put.
Post-grad, Mihaljević has risen through the ranks to become one of the top shot put athletes in the world, currently ranked seventh internationally. He previously competed in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics and has placed progressively higher in his event at each Olympic Games.
Goalball
Competing on the American Goalball team, Matt Simpson is making his third Olympic appearance, vying for another medal after taking home silver in 2016 and coming just short of the podium in 2020. The sport is specifically made for visually impaired athletes, with competitors throwing balls with bells inside them into goals. Simpson graduated from UVA Law in 2020 and is a practicing attorney.
With her blazing-fast 100-meter butterfly, Gretchen Walsh became the first swimmer to set a new world record at the US Olympic trials since 2008.
Photo via UVA Athletics Communications.
The University of Virginia will be well represented in the pool at the 2024 Olympics this summer. Several current and former Hoos will swim for Team USA, along with Cavalier commit and Western Albemarle High School student Thomas Heilman.
Even before the competition, the pressure was on for former UVA swimmer and Olympian Kate Douglass, who, as one of the top-ranked swimmers in the country, has been widely considered someone to watch coming into the event. Douglass smashed all expectations, including her own, by winning three events: the women’s 100-meter freestyle, 200-meter breaststroke, and 200-meter individual medley.
Finishing right behind Douglass in the 200-meter IM was Alex Walsh, who solidified her spot on Team USA with the second place finish. The pair has dominated this event in international competitions for several years, with Walsh and Douglass winning silver and bronze respectively in the race at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Alex’s younger sister, Gretchen Walsh, also made a major splash at Olympic trials. On the opening day of the swim meet, she set a new world record in the women’s 100-meter butterfly semi-final with a time of 55.18 seconds.
“I’m still in shock,” Gretchen told NBC Sports in an interview after winning the event final. “Making the team was the biggest goal, but getting a world record was absolute insanity. I couldn’t ask for a better first event of the meet.”
In addition to the 100-meter butterfly, Gretchen will represent the U.S. in the 50-meter freestyle and on the 100-meter freestyle relay team.
While Alex is already an Olympic medalist, this year’s games will be the first time both Walsh sisters swim for Team USA. “To have a sibling duo that is this elite … both going for the same Olympic dream is so rare,” Alex said at a press conference in the weeks leading up to Olympic trials. “We’re proud of each other no matter what.”
Current Cavalier Emma Weber also made the roster in the 100-meter breaststroke, qualifying for her first Olympics. Weber swam a blazing-fast 1:06.10 in the event finals, setting a new personal best and finishing 0.67 seconds behind defending two-time Olympic gold medalist Lilly King.
Alumna Paige Madden also had a stellar showing at trials, qualifying for the Olympic team individually in the 400- and 800-meter freestyle races. Madden will also be competing as part of the 200-meter freestyle relay team, an event for which she won a silver medal in 2020.
Virginia Head Coach Todd DeSorbo, who was tapped to head the US women’s Olympic team last year, will coach Douglass, Weber, Madden, and the Walshes in Paris.
On the men’s side of trials, Charlottesville 17-year-old Thomas Heilman made waves as the youngest swimmer to make the US men’s Olympic swim team since Michael Phelps. Heilman will represent the US in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly races.
Several other current and former Virginia swimmers posted impressive times at Olympic trials, with Claire Curzan and Jack Aikins coming just short of making the cut for Paris. Aikins took the 2023-24 season off from NCAA competitions to focus on the trials, and placed third in both the 100- and 200-meter backstroke finals.
The 2024 Paris Olympics kick off on Friday, July 26, with swimming events starting the next day.
Olympic hopeful Kate Douglass, who took home a bronze medal for the women’s 200-meter individual medley in 2021, heads to Indianapolis with her swim team in a few weeks.
“Having training partners that are also national team athletes [and] are also going to make the Olympics has been huge,” she says.
Photo by Matt Riley/UVA Athletics Communications.
Members of the University of Virginia Swimming and Diving team are set to make a splash at the United States Olympic Trials in Indianapolis June 15 to 23. Any Cavaliers who make the Olympic roster will join UVA Head Coach Todd DeSorbo in Paris, where he will lead the U.S. women’s team.
Since taking over as head coach in 2017, DeSorbo has led the Hoos to national prominence. The UVA Women’s roster swam their way to four consecutive NCAA championship victories under DeSorbo, taking home 11 of 16 individual national titles this year.
“Honestly, our biggest priority is to perform at the highest level internationally,” says DeSorbo. “It’s three months between NCAA [Championships] and Olympic Trials. It’s not a lot of time, but we’ve been preparing since August, September. The NCAA season keeps your mind off of the Olympic Trials. It’s a positive distraction and a great motivator.”
The Paris Olympics aren’t DeSorbo’s first foray into international swim coaching; he led the U.S women’s team at the 2022 FINA World Championships and served as an assistant coach for the Olympic women’s team in Tokyo in 2021.
Before diving into the pool in Indianapolis, Olympic hopefuls must post a qualifying time at a USA Swimming-sanctioned meet between November 30, 2022, and June 4, 2024. Qualifying swimmers then compete in heats for each event, culminating in the semi-final and final trials.
Only the top two finishers in each event’s final trial will make the Team USA roster, with some wiggle room for third through sixth place finishers in the 100 and 200-meter freestyle events to join the relay team. There are 26 spots each on the men’s and women’s teams, but the U.S. is not obligated to fill the entire roster.
More than 750 swimmers have qualified for the Olympic Trials at press time.
Several Hoos are vying for the opportunity to compete for Team USA in Paris this summer. Among the hopefuls are Tokyo Olympic medalists Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh, who took home the bronze and silver respectively in the women’s 200-meter individual medley in 2021.
“I always joke with people [that] I kind of train with my biggest competition in a lot of races, and I feel like that’s a great thing,” says Douglass about competing against her teammates. “Since we train against each other every day, when we go up and race we’re not scared. … We’re comfortable racing each other. … Obviously, having training partners that are also national team athletes [and] are also going to make the Olympics has been huge.”
“The intensity has been really high the past couple of weeks, and I think that’s normal heading into any championship meet, especially Olympic Trials. It’s like the biggest meet, second biggest meet in the world,” says Walsh.
More than one Walsh is expected to test the waters in Indianapolis though, with Alex’s younger sister and teammate Gretchen an early favorite to make the U.S. team after a wildly successful NCAA season.
“To have a sibling duo that is this elite and both going for the same Olympic dream is so rare, and I think that’s just a really cool story for us,” says Alex. “We have this extra characteristic of our bond where we can really come to each other and relate to each other on that level that I guess other siblings really can’t.”
“Alex has always been there for me to confide in when I’m struggling with practice, or something’s hurting, or mentally I just need someone to lean on,” says Gretchen. “She’s always going to be there for me, and I’m always going to be there for her.”
Jack Aikins is also anticipating the upcoming meet, especially after taking a year off of NCAA competition to focus on the Olympic Trials. “Last time I was just a high schooler; I didn’t have any expectations of myself or anything like that,” he says. “I swam really well just being myself and not thinking about many pressures … so I’m trying to replicate that and go into it with the same mindset again.”
Other standout Cavaliers heading to Indianapolis include Claire Curzan, Noah Nichols, Izzy Bradley, and August Lamb, but even more Hoos are still racing the deadline to qualify for the trials.
While tensions are high heading into the pressure-cooker meet, so is excitement.
“I’m looking forward to experiencing trials for the first time with a huge team,” says Gretchen. “I think we’re all ready. I’m ready.”
