Harpeth Hall senior Gretchen Walsh narrowly missed her own national high school record in the 50 freestyle with a 21.61 on Saturday at the Tennessee Interscholastic State Championships in Knoxville. Walsh holds the national independent record at 21.59 that she set in February 2020 as this meet marks her final high school meet.
Gretchen Walsh will be headed to the University of Virginia next year as the Cavaliers won the national title this season and Walsh will be a welcomed addition to a team with incredible momentum.
Walsh will tackle the second half of her program tomorrow as she will swim the individual 100 freestyle, where she has the national high school record with a 46.98 from last year, becoming the first high school woman to break 47 seconds in the 100 free.
Gretchen Walsh has been one of the top rising stars in the United States, having a career year in 2019. At U.S. Nationals that summer, she finished second in both the 50 and 100 free, and that qualified her for the FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest. There, she won six gold medals, in the 50 and 100 free and on four relays. She swam lifetime-best efforts of 24.71 in the 50 free and 53.74 in the 100 free, both elevating her into the global top 25 for 2019.
“It was amazing. We were at the Duna Arena, and the podium is above the pool, so you get to look out over the entire natatorium,” Gretchen Walsh said. “I was so pumped after all of my races. I felt so much love for my team, too, because you can hear them in the stands. Before you get on the block, they scream your name. It just meant a lot to be up there for them, but also for myself because it just showed that everything had paid off that I had done that season.”
Now, Walsh is aiming for a spot on the Olympic team this year in the postponed Tokyo Games.