By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
Two-time Olympian and recently-crowned world champion Katie Grimes made her long-awaited collegiate debut last weekend, and she kicked off her University of Virginia career with a bang.
Grimes, racing with the Cavaliers for the first time against in-state rival Virginia Tech, won all three events she raced on Saturday, making an immediate impact on a team that was already favored to win its fifth straight national title in March.
The 19-year-old freshman kicked things off by winning the women’s 200 back by more than two seconds in 1:51.56, and then topped the 200 fly in 1:53.23 after a close battle with teammate Alex Walsh (1:53.86).
In her final race of the meet, Grimes went head-to-head with teammate Aimee Canny in the 200 IM, and it turned into a barnburner of a race.
Grimes opened up a big lead on the backstroke leg, but Canny out-split her by more than two seconds on breaststroke, leaving them just 21 one-hundredths apart going into the final 50.
Both swimmers closed strong, and despite Canny out-splitting her, Grimes held on for the win, doing so by just one one-hundredth of a second.
She touched in 1:55.62, with Canny a tick behind in 1:55.63.
WHAT A FINISH!!
Katie Grimes takes the 200 IM by .01 against fellow Hoo Aimee Canny
