Westmont Pro Series, Day 4 Finals: Gretchen Walsh Blasts No. 6 Mark in History in 100 Butterfly
For some athletes in attendance at the USA Swimming Pro Series stop in Westmont (Ill.), the meet served as a checkpoint in training. Others, such as Gretchen Walsh and Regan Smith, used the meet as a tuneup for their upcoming trips to Asia, where they will race in the China Open. There were also a handful of swimmers competing ahead of the NCAA Championships, slated for later this month in Atlanta.
The four-day competition came to a close on Saturday night at the FMC Natatorium, with plenty of action on tap. Women’s and men’s finals were held in the 100-meter butterfly, 200 individual medley, 50 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 400 freestyle and 50 freestyle. Here is an event-by-event breakdown of the Day Four finals.
Women’s 100 Butterfly
A race against the clock was Gretchen Walsh’s biggest challenge in the opening event of the Pro Series’ final session. Clocking a victory of nearly three seconds, Walsh produced a time of 55.20, the sixth-fastest in history. The University of Virginia product was out in 25.51 and came home in 29.69. With her latest performance, Walsh now owns the 10-fastest times in history, all recorded since the middle of the 2024 campaign.
Walsh is scheduled to attend the China Open later this month, where she’ll be joined by several other world-class athletes who have committed to the meet. The majority of China’s top swimmers are also expected to compete. Given her form at this Pro Series, it would not be surprising to see Walsh threaten the 55-second barrier and potentially challenge her world record of 54.60.
Finishing second to Walsh on Saturday night was Australian Lily Price, who touched the wall in 58.02.
Men’s 100 Butterfly
After comfortably maneuvering through the opening two rounds of the 100 butterfly, Shaine Casas significantly upped the effort in the final to walk away with a victory in 51.02. Casas built a half-second lead over the front half of the race, on the strength of a 23.52 split, and he was strong enough down the stretch to fend off fellow American Dare Rose (51.36). Rose was the winner of the 200 butterfly earlier in the meet.
Australian Matt Temple posted a swim of 51.83 to place third.
Women’s 200 Individual Medley
World-record holder and reigning Olympic champion Summer McIntosh commanded the final of the 200 individual medley on the way to a triumph in 2:08.21, which was more than four seconds clear of the 2:12.24 from Phoebe Bacon. McIntosh went out in 27.20, which handed her a lead of .65 after the opening length, and her advantage ballooned to 2.58 seconds by the midway point of the race, with McIntosh touching in 59.01 after the backstroke leg.
McIntosh slightly outsplit Bacon on the breaststroke leg and further pulled away on the closing freestyle to finish just over 2:08. Bacon picked up second place in comfortable fashion, as Argentina’s Agostina Hein was the third-place finisher in 2:13.08.
Men’s 200 Individual Medley
Women’s 50 Breaststroke
Men’s 50 Breaststroke
