U.S. Nationals, Day 5 Finals: Alex Walsh Uses Dominant Breaststroke to Claim 200 IM Title; Phoebe Bacon Surprises for Second
Going back four years, the most consistent presence on international podiums in the women’s 200 individual medley has been Alex Walsh, a 23-year-old American whose first appearance at a top-level international meet put her within 13-hundredths of Olympic gold in the 200 IM in Tokyo. Less than a year later, Walsh dominated the event at her first World Championships, and she has since won three global silvers in the event, one long course and two short course.
The one blemish came in the Paris Olympic final, when Walsh’s situation went from great to fine to devastating. After leading the majority of the race, Walsh was passed by Canada’s Summer McIntosh and then American training partner Kate Douglass in the closing meters. She appeared to have secured a bronze medal, but she was disqualified for over-rotating onto her stomach during the backstroke-to-breaststroke exchange.
Now, Walsh heads back to the World Championships in prime position in her main event. She had already earned her ticket to Singapore with a runnerup finish to Douglass in the 200 breaststroke, her first berth at a major long course competition in a single-stroke individual event. Walsh was thrust into the status of heavy favorite with the withdrawals of Douglass, the two-time reigning world champion in the event, and Torri Huske, who beat Walsh for the NCAA title in the 200-yard IM in March.
In the final, excellent butterfly-backstroke swimmers Phoebe Bacon and Audrey Derivaux took the lead at the halfway point, but Walsh put up a brilliant 36.75 to move ahead of the field. She was never seriously challenged on the way home as she powered to the wall in 2:08.45, good for the No. 2 spot in the world rankings behind McIntosh.
Walsh admitted to some disappointment with her final time, which was more than a second behind her lifetime best, and she believes a shift in focus during the final run-up to Worlds could help finish off the race better against international foes.
“For me tonight, I definitely wanted to put up a better time than I did. I definitely faded on the way home and wasn’t happy about that,” Walsh said. “I think I definitely need to do more endurance training like I did a couple years ago and really hone in on my intensity in that event because I have been focusing on the breaststrokes a lot, just to switch things up, keep things interesting, keep myself engaged. I’m hoping all that breaststroke work will pay off in two short months. I wish I was faster, but I’m ready to be faster.”
As Walsh powered to the wall, Bacon remained in second place, trying desperately to hang on to a Worlds spot as strong freestylers Caroline Bricker and Leah Hayes tried to reel her in. Bacon had enough to get to the wall in 2:09.22 to claim her spot on the Worlds team. An emotional Bacon celebrated the result in her lane and with Walsh, with whom she has been friends since their days racing together on U.S. junior teams.
“I was very happy for Phoebe,” Walsh said. “I can only imagine how tough it is to not make the team, especially when the backstrokes, the competition is so stiff. Just to see her fight for it, I saw her at the 100 mark, and I was like, ‘Damn, she’s going for it.’ I’m excited to be in the ready room with her. She’s one of my closest friends in the swimming world, so I’m just happy that we have another national team to go to together.”
Bacon completed a remarkable day in which she dropped almost three seconds from her lifetime best in the event. The Wisconsin alum has represented the U.S. in the 200 backstroke at the past two Olympic Games, narrowly missing a medal in both Tokyo and Paris, but this will mark her first time swimming a medley event in international competition.
Looking at the event globally, McIntosh sits well clear of the world with her season-best of 2:07.42 while Kaylee McKeown, the swimmer who benefitted from Walsh’s DQ to win Olympic bronze, has a 2025 top mark of 2:08.58. Both could surpass those times at their respective national championships this week. That duo looks like Walsh’s primary competition on the global level, but scheduling conflicts could arise. McIntosh will have to swim the 200 IM semifinal immediately after the 400 freestyle final while McKeown would have the medley final minutes after the 100 backstroke semifinals.
That could open the door for Walsh in Singapore, and she will certainly head to the meet favored to return to the podium following her Paris disappointment. Competition could also come from the likes of Great Britain’s Abbie Wood and China’s Yu Yiting, both with sub-2:09 performances to their credit this year.
Walsh noted that having the 200 IM at the start of the meet, unlikely its recent trend of falling at the end of the competition, could put her in a better mental framework to get closer to her best form. “It’s the first day at Worlds,” she said. “I’m personally very excited about that because I definitely had a mindset change between the 200 free and 200 IM. I want to see what time I can throw down when I’m ready to swim the 200 IM, when my mind is ready to swim the 200 IM.”
