Gretchen Walsh put forth the most dominant foot she could in this Olympic year, crushing the women’s world record in the 100-meter butterfly Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
And she did it in the event’s semifinal round.
With a time of 55.18 seconds, she broke Swedish sprinter Sarah Sjöström’s record of 55.48, which was set in a gold-medal effort at the 2016 Olympics.
WHAT A SWIM FROM GRETCHEN WALSH! 😤
📺 @peacock | #SwimTrials24 pic.twitter.com/JPwfYS3OqH
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 15, 2024
Competing in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium, Walsh beat the times of Torri Huske and Regan Smith in her record-breaking performance.
Walsh, 21, will need a similarly dominant performance in Sunday’s final round to ward off Huske — the former American record holder — and Smith to secure her spot on the 2024 Olympic team. If Walsh does so, she will likely enter Paris this summer as one of the sport’s most captivating breakout stars.
She is coming off one of the strongest NCAA swimming seasons in history, breaking the NCAA record in the four fastest events (50- and 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly). She stars at University of Virginia alongside her sister Alex, who is competing at the Trials in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke as well as the 200 IM. Alex made the Olympic team in 2020 and won a silver medal in the 200 IM.
The sisters are teammates with Kate Douglass, who also won a medal at the last Summer Games.
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(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
