Paris Olympics, Day 8 Finals: Alex Walsh Disqualified For Back-to-Breast Turn After Touching Third in 200 IM

Alex Walsh -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Paris Olympics, Day 8 Finals: Alex Walsh Disqualified For Back-to-Breast Turn After Touching Third in 200 IM

After appearing to earn Olympic bronze in the women’s 200 individual medley, American Alex Walsh was disqualified for an illegal backstroke-to-breaststroke turn at the midway point of her race. According to officials, Walsh had turned her body onto her stomach prior to touching the wall, resulting in her DQ.

Walsh led through much of the race, including at the final turn, before Canada’s Summer McIntosh and American teammate Kate Douglass swam past her on the last length. Still, Walsh finished more than a second ahead of the rest of the field, seemingly securing her second consecutive Olympic medal in the event, until the DQ was announced.

Walsh was attempting to perform what is known as a crossover turn, in which a swimmer starts to rotate to their stomach while touching the wall and then flips. The swimmer must not rotate past 90 degrees until their hand touches. Video evidence showed that Walsh was indeed flipping toward her stomach before touching the wall. She did not speak to reporters after the swim.

Alex’s younger sister Gretchen Walsh shared in that devastation. She learned of the DQ in between her semifinal swim in the 50 free and swimming the butterfly leg of the U.S. mixed 400 medley relay team, which won gold in world-record time.

“I’m just devastated. I think that Alex deserves so much. She’s worked so hard. And I don’t really know how to put that into words. It’s really sad, but I know that she’ll be back and better than ever,” Gretchen said.

“I did watch the race. I was really happy for her. When I saw she touched third, I was thrilled that she was on the podium. And then I did one more 50 of warm down, and then it was a DQ. I was just stopped in the middle of the pool so upset. I don’t really know how to describe it. I knew that I was going to have to move on from that quickly in the moment, give her a big hug, tell her that I’m here for her and then go out and do this in her honor.”

Douglass, who has been teammates with Walsh at the University of Virginia for four years, had to balance the emotions of winning a medal with seeing her friend lose out. “I was just really heartbroken for her. I feel like she deserved to win that medal, and she deserved to be on that podium with me,” Douglass said. “Obviously, when we swim that race together, it’s fun to be on the podium together, so I was really upset for her.”

This is not the first time that controversial backstroke-to-breaststroke turns have marred a major international competition in the 200 IM. At last year’s World Championships, three swimmers in one heat were all called for such improper turns: Australia’s Kaylee McKeown, Italy’s Sara Franceschi and Great Britain’s Katie Shanahan. Ironically, one year later, McKeown would be the beneficiary of the rule as Walsh’s DQ lifted her into bronze-medal position.

Douglass pointed out that the crossover turn is a bang-bang maneuver, with many swimmers coming close to committing violations but not receiving DQs because evidence was not definitive. “I’m upset because I don’t know if it was the right call or not,” Douglass said. “I can’t really speak on that. I’m not an official. When it comes to back-to-breast turns like that, we all have our fair share of mistakes, and I don’t know if it was worth the DQ.”

When Douglass spoke Saturday evening, she had yet to speak with Walsh after being quickly directed from the race to the medal ceremony. “There’s really nothing you can say in that moment to make it better,” Douglass said. “I tried my best, but it’s not my place to comfort her there.”

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