Fifteen members of the Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, along with their pro training group, competed at the 2026 Speedo Fort Lauderdale Open from April 29 to May 2 at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center in Florida.
The competition featured a strong field including Olympic medalists and world champions. The event was previously part of USA Swimming’s Pro Swim Series.
Gretchen Walsh set a new world record in the 100-meter butterfly on Saturday night, finishing with a time of 54.33 seconds. In addition to her record-setting swim, Walsh also won the 50-meter butterfly (25.08) earlier in the meet and placed second in both the 100-meter freestyle (53.44) and the final race, the 50-meter freestyle (24.40).
Kate Douglass had multiple victories throughout the meet, winning both the 100-meter freestyle (53.01) and breaststroke (1:06.68) within twelve minutes on Thursday, as well as taking gold in Saturday’s final race—the 50-meter freestyle—with a time of 24.21 seconds, which is currently ranked as this year’s fastest time globally.
Other notable performances included Isabelle Stadden winning both the women’s 50 backstroke (27.29) and setting a personal best to win Friday’s women’s 200 backstroke (2:04.37), which now stands as this season’s top global mark for that event.
The results highlight strong showings across multiple events by Virginia athletes against some of swimming’s top international competitors.
