NCAA Women’s Championships: Gretchen Walsh Swims 48.26 to Clobber 100 Backstroke Record
One year ago, the idea of a 48-low 100-yard backstroke was unimaginable. Only five years after a 50-flat plateau and a 15-year-old Natalie Coughlin record was finally beaten, the best backstrokers in the country were steadily approaching the 49-second mark. But it was still jarring when Katharine Berkoff became the first ever to swim a 48-second 100 back, with Gretchen Walsh just missing that mark with a 49.00 in that same race.
But in 2023, there has been another massive jump, and the swimmer responsible was Walsh, never a backstroker before arriving at the University of Virginia in August 2021 but now a huge margin quicker than Berkoff, Regan Smith, Beata Nelson and every other all-time 100 backstroker. That Coughlin record that eluded challengers for so long is now 1.71 seconds in the rear.
Walsh never trailed in her title-winning performance. Her underwater kickout to 15 meters built a big lead on Berkoff, and by the halfway point, the split was 23.02, seven tenths ahead of Berkoff’s American-record pace and a half-second clear of the two-time defending champion. Walsh continued using her biggest weapon, underwaters, to great advantage off the last two walls, and unlike in the 2022 final, she had the grit to conquer the final above-water stretch of the race. She did not surrender any ground to Berkoff over the final 50 yards; in fact, Walsh out-split everyone in the field by more than three tenths.
The final time was 48.26, almost a half-second ahead of the next-best performance in history. Berkoff finished second in 49.13, by any measure an incredible time and one that only Walsh and Berkoff had ever beaten, but she was almost nine tenths behind. Indeed, the best comparison for this performance was the 200 IM performance by Walsh’s University of Virginia teammate Kate Douglass in Thursday’s 200 IM, where she broke the existing record of 1:50.08 and swam a time of 1:48.34, skipping past 1:49 completely.
Gretchen Walsh — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
“It was super fun. I definitely felt it on the last 25, but when do you not feel the last 25. I’ve just been working on my underwaters. I’ve been doing 12 kicks off every wall. It’s not that I’m not good on the surface, but I think that’s what gives me my edge. My goal was to break 49 at least, and I did, and that was awesome,” Walsh said. “I’m just overall so happy because I didn’t know I was going to go that time. I just wanted to go a best time. To get first this year, not that I wasn’t happy with second last year, but it’s just that much sweeter.”
Interestingly, this race was the first individual 100-yard back race between Berkoff and Walsh since last year’s NCAA Championships. They did race on a relay leadoff at the ACC Championships last month, but Walsh skipped the individual 100 back at both ACCs and the Virginia-NC State dual meet in January. There was a lot to live up to after their 2022 race brought about the two quickest performances in history, but Walsh’s leap did just that.
Coming down the stretch, Walsh got a view of Berkoff trailing, and she knew that meant a special result. “I took a sigh of relief,” Walsh said. “I was like, ‘I must be doing pretty well right now.’ I knew she was swimming fast, so I was like, ‘I wonder how fast I’m going?’ She’s always pushed me to be better, but in that kind of race, I was really focused on how I wanted to execute it and stick to my race plan.”
Stanford’s Claire Curzan, racing in her second A-final of the night after a fourth-place finish in the 100 fly, took third in 50.08, well off her season-best mark of 49.46, but even that time would not have made a difference against the generational speed of Berkoff and Walsh. Wisconsin’s Phoebe Bacon was fourth in 50.54, just ahead of Texas’ Olivia Bray (50.61).
The title was the second individual NCAA win of Walsh’s career after a 100 freestyle victory last season. She has also been second on three occasions, in the 50 free in both 2022 and 2023 and in the 100 back last season, and she has been part of six first-place relays for Virginia over the past two seasons, with a seventh likely to follow later in the night. In addition to the four relays, Walsh now holds individual American records in the 50 free and 100 back.
In an interview with the Virginia stars at the end of the evening, Douglass and Gretchen’s older sister Alex Walsh were both in awe of the immense improvement.
“Last year when she went 49-flat, that was awesome, and I remember feeling almost brought to tears,” Alex said. “Today, it’s just so incredible. To see Gretchen be able to step into the role she has on the team now, that’s been awesome to see as her big sister. I know it just feels really good to get first. That’s an awesome title, and I just couldn’t be prouder of her.
“I didn’t really think 48.2 was possible, so it’s pretty sweet.”
Event 12 Women 100 Yard Backstroke
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NCAA: N 48.74 3/18/2022 Katharine Berkoff, NCSU
Meet: M 48.74 3/18/2022 Katharine Berkoff, NCSU
American: A 48.74 3/18/2022 Katharine Berkoff, NCSU
US Open: O 48.74 3/18/2022 Katharine Berkoff, NCSU
Pool: P 49.12 3/17/2023 Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Walsh, Gretchen SO Virginia 49.12 48.26N 20
r:+0.69 23.02 48.26 (25.24)
2 Berkoff, Katharine SR NC State 50.14 49.13 17
r:+0.55 23.53 49.13 (25.60)
3 Curzan, Claire FR Stanford 50.19 50.08 16
r:+0.65 24.29 50.08 (25.79)
4 Bacon, Phoebe JR Wisconsin 50.47 50.54 15
r:+0.68 24.62 50.54 (25.92)
5 Bray, Olivia JR Texas 50.85 50.61 14
r:+0.69 24.48 50.61 (26.13)
6 Stadden, Isabelle JR California 50.73 51.03 13
r:+0.69 24.55 51.03 (26.48)
7 Fuller, Josephine SO Tennessee 51.00 51.18 12
r:+0.68 24.90 51.18 (26.28)
8 White, Rhyan 5Y Alabama 51.15 51.26 11
r:+0.65 24.35 51.26 (26.91)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Countie, Grace SR UNC 51.16 50.81 9
r:+0.91 24.35 50.81 (26.46)
10 Muzzy, Emma 5Y NC State 51.26 51.27 7
r:+0.79 25.30 51.27 (25.97)
11 Noble, Kennedy FR NC State 51.48 51.32 6
r:+0.61 25.02 51.32 (26.30)
12 Tiltmann, Reilly SO Virginia 51.29 51.46 5
r:+0.68 24.82 51.46 (26.64)
13 Runnels, Aris SO Florida 51.57 51.76 4
r:+0.78 24.94 51.76 (26.82)
14 McCarty, Eboni SO Georgia 51.36 51.89 3
r:+0.74 25.09 51.89 (26.80)
15 Nordmann, Lucie SR Stanford 51.60 51.95 2
r:+0.74 24.86 51.95 (27.09)
16 Gatrall, Maddy JR Akron 51.59 52.16 1
r:+0.69 25.11 52.16 (27.05)
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 12
1. Virginia 334.5 2. Texas 231.5
3. Stanford 209 4. Louisville 158.5
5. NC State 156 6. Ohio St 138
7. Florida 122 8. Tennessee 107
9. Indiana 101 10. California 93
11. UNC 87 12. Lsu 79
13. Georgia 69.5 14. Wisconsin 67
14. Alabama 67 16. Southern California 55
17. Kentucky 37 18. Virginia Tech 25
19. Minnesota 24 20. Miami (Fl) 22
21. Duke 20 22. Texas A&M 19
22. Michigan 19 24. Arizona 17
25. Arkansas 12 26. Northwestern 9
26. Miami (Ohio) 9 26. South Carolina 9
29. Auburn 7 29. Florida St 7
31. UCLA 6 32. Arizona St 4
33. Utah 2 34. Florida Int'l 1
34. Akron 1
