Gretchen Walsh and her sister Alex returned to racing this weekend at the Nashville Aquatic Club time trial as the two swam two short course races before they embark on a new school year and new Olympic year.
Alex Walsh will be headed to the University of Virginia this fall as she swam a 1:56.75 in the 200 IM and 53.67 in the 100 backstroke, as she was slightly off her best times of 1:53 and 50.8 in her first official swims since March. Alex was one of the top ranked IM’ers in the world this year and was a potential spoiler pick for the 200 IM at the Olympic Trials which got pushed back to June 2021 to slow down the coronavirus pandemic.
Gretchen Walsh is about to start her senior year at the Harpeth Hall School in Nashville as she swam a 22.03 in the 50 free and 48.08 in the 100, not far off her best times of 21.5 and 46.9. She will be joining her sister at the University of Virginia in the fall of 2021.
Both sisters are favorites to make the 2021 Olympic team.
Excerpt from Swimming World Magazine’s June issue.
On making an Olympic team together, Gretchen said, “It would mean a lot. That’s obviously both of our goals, and it would be very weird and also hard if only one of us made it.”
There’s the elephant in the room: the very real chance that only one Walsh sister earns a trip to Tokyo in 2021. Alex will have numerous chances to make the team, particularly in the 200 IM and potentially in the 200 back, but only two spots are available in deep and tightly bunched events. Currently, Alex owns the third-best time among active Americans in the 200 IM behind Baker and Margalis, but Madisyn Cox and Ella Eastin rank just behind her. Alex ranks fifth in the 200 back, behind Regan Smith, Baker, Lisa Bratton and Stadden.
Gretchen, meanwhile, will be going for one of six relay spots available in the 100 free—and she admitted, “I feel very grateful that I am a sprint freestyler, just because relays give you a higher chance of making any sort of senior-level team.”