UVA’s Paige Madden, Alex Walsh punch tickets to Tokyo Olympics

UVA swimmers Paige Madden and Alex Walsh became U.S. Olympians on Wednesday night at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Madden secured her spot going to the Tokyo Olympics with the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay after finishing third in the 200m freestyle with a time of 1:56.80. She also has a second-place finish in the 400m freestyle from Monday night’s session.

Walsh earned her spot on the Olympic team in the closest race of the night. She finished first with a time of 2:09.30 in the 200-meter medley. She out-touched teammate Kate Douglass, who finished second, with a time of 2:09.32. Just .02 seconds separated the top-two finishers. Douglass will likely make the Olympic team, with the official announcement of the full team coming at the end of Trials.

In the prelims, Matt Brownstead finished 27th in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 49.79. Abby Harter placed 33rd in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 2:16.42.

In the men’s 200-meter breaststroke, Noah Nichols finished 23rd with a time of 2:14.23 and Matt Otto clocked in at 2:15.05 to place 32nd overall.