FLASH! Gretchen Walsh Does It Again, Sets Ninth World Record & Wins Sixth Gold in 50 Free
No one had stopped Gretchen Walsh in her first four individual finals at the Short Course World Championships, and a victory in the 50 freestyle final was seen as a near certainty. But would she again lower the world record after beating Ranomi Kromowidjojo’s seven-year-old world record in the semifinal round?
Of course she would. Walsh typically has one the slowest starts of high-level swimmers, but her reaction time in the final was a respectable 0.73, three hundredths faster than she got off the block in the semifinal. Her underwater dolphin kicks, unrivaled among any other female swimmers, put her ahead of the field right away, and she flipped in 11.12, a hundredth quicker than in the semis. Home in 11.71, Walsh finished in 22.83, four hundredths quicker than her semifinal world record.
That global standard was the ninth individual mark Walsh has set this week, with two marks apiece in the 50 butterfly and 100 IM and three such records in the 100 fly, where she improved the overall time by a whopping 1.31 seconds over the course of the rounds. Walsh also became the second-fastest swimmer ever in the 100 free on her way to gold.
“It really works for me in short course,” Walsh said. “I’m just happy to prove to myself that I’m capable of doing stuff like this. I’ve just had a really great week.”
Also reaching the individual podium for the fifth time this week was Kate Douglass, whose own remarkable swimming has been largely overshadowed by her University of Virginia training partner. Douglass came in at 23.05 to secure the silver medal, making her the fifth-fastest woman in history behind Walsh, Kromowidjojo, Sarah Sjostrom and Emma McKeon.
The medal collection for Douglass this week also includes gold medals and world records in the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke plus silver in the 100 IM and bronze in the 100 free. Walsh and Douglass both took part in the U.S. women’s gold-medal-setting, world-record-breaking 400 free relay on the first night of the week, and the duo will handle the back half of the American women’s 400 medley relay at the end of Sunday’s session.
Poland’s Kasia Wasick clocked 23.37 to secure the bronze medal, marking the third consecutive Short Course Worlds in which she has reached the podium in this event. Wasick has also twice been a medalist in this event at the long course World Championships, and earlier this week, she won the first global-level relay medal of her career as the Polish team grabbed bronze in the mixed 200 free relay.
“I return home with a medal, so I’m very happy because I’ve met my expectations,” Wasick said. “It was a very special race for me as my family are in the stands. I tried to enjoy every moment and offer the best version of myself.”
Great Britain’s Eva Okaro finished fourth in 23.66, setting a world junior record by surpassing the 2020 mark of Anastasiya Shkurdai. Australia’s Meg Harris, who won Olympic silver in this event in Paris, took fifth in 23.73.
