FLASH! Gretchen Walsh Takes Down Seventh World Record of Week For 100 Fly Gold
In less than 36 hours, Gretchen Walsh of the United States has redefined the imaginable in the short course meters edition of the 100 butterfly. No woman had ever been under 54 seconds before Walsh arrived at Duna Arena for her first Short Course World Championships.
Now, Walsh has completed a monstrous run through the event, setting world records in all three rounds and bringing the time down to 52.71 in a wire-to-wire effort in Saturday’s final.
No one was ever a match for the incredible underwater power of Walsh, and she led by more than a bodylength off the first turn. She touched at the halfway point in 24.18, a quarter-second quicker than the 24.43 that France’s Beryl Gastadello swam to earn silver behind Walsh in the 50 fly two days earlier. Already up by 1.31 seconds, Walsh continued to extend that margin down the stretch.
Walsh touched 16-hudredths ahead of the world record she set in the semifinals, which in turn surpassed her 53.24 from prelims, which in turn surpassed the 54.05 that Maggie Mac Neil swam at the last Short Course Worlds in Melbourne in 2022. Walsh now sits almost two seconds ahead of the swimmer who ranks third all-time and who held the American record at the start of the week, Kelsi Dahlia (54.59).
“Every single time I got a bit better,” Walsh said. “I’m happy that I was able to execute and drop that time. It’s really just all the tiny little details, timing, structure, what counts for me. I just like to push myself, especially over that last 25 meters.”
The Netherlands’ Tessa Giele scored a surprise silver medal from an outside lane, surging home to take second in 54.66. That made her only the eighth woman in history to break 55 seconds. The bronze went to Australia’s Alex Perkins in 55.10, breaking Oceanic record set by Alicia Coutts in 2013 (55.30). That effort denied Sweden’s Louise Hansson, the bronze medalist two years ago, from a return to the podium, by 13-hundredths.
This swim completes a remarkable year of 100 butterfly racing in which Walsh has taken down the all-time records in the event in three separate courses. In March, she clocked 47.42 in the 100-yard fly at the NCAA Championships, a full second quicker than the second-fastest woman ever, and then she announced her global intentions by breaking a 15-year-old world record in the long course 100 fly, her time of 55.18 surpassing Sarah Sjostrom’s long-standing mark by three seconds.
In addition to her 100 fly dominance, Walsh has earned individual gold medals in the 50 fly, 100 free and 100 IM, setting two world records apiece in the 50 fly and 100 IM while coming up just six hundredths off the all-time mark in the 100 free while becoming the second-fastest woman ever. She also led the U.S. women to gold and a world record in the 400 free relay.
Walsh has a real chance at winning two more gold medals in the final day of competition: she will be the favorite in the 50 free before handling the butterfly leg of the American women’s 400 medley relay that will be a strong gold-medal favorite with teammates Regan Smith (back), Lilly King (breast) and Kate Douglass (free). However, Walsh will not be part of the American mixed 400 medley relay, so she will max out at seven events in Budapest.
