U.S. Nationals: Gretchen Walsh Improves 50 Fly American Record With 24.66, Closing in on World Record
In her first appearance at the World Championships two years ago, Gretchen Walsh won her lone individual medal in the 50 butterfly. Now, she returns to the championship meet with far greater expectations, including the status as clear favorite in the 50 fly. Sarah Sjostrom has captured six consecutive world titles in the 50 fly, a record for any event, but she is not competing this year. That has opened the door for Walsh, who has joined Sjostrom as the only swimmers to ever break 25.
Walsh was already the American-record holder in the event before she first reached 24-second territory at last month’s Fort Lauderdale Pro Series with a time of 24.93. She nearly beat that time in Thursday’s prelims, going 24.98, and she came into the final threatening to bust through the record and move closer to Sjostrom’s 11-year-old world record of 24.43.
Indeed, Walsh ran away with the 50 fly heat and set another record. Her time of 24.66 is the fourth-fastest performer in history, behind only three efforts from Sjostrom. Her gap ahead of history’s third-fastest performer, China’s Zhang Yufei, is almost four tenths.
Securing second place here was Kate Douglass, Walsh’s training partner at the University of Virginia. Douglass tied her best time at 25.39, and she remains the second-fastest swimmer in the world this year. This race came at the end of a double for Douglass, who won the 200 breaststroke earlier in the session. Well back in third place was Brady Kendall in 26.02.
Notably, the final was without Torri Huske, the swimmer who edged Walsh for Olympic gold in the 100 fly last year and for the national title in the 100 free Tuesday evening. Huske would have a tough task to catch Walsh in a one-lap race, but she opted to scratch the 50 fly entirely to focus on the 200 free.
Since her Worlds debut, Walsh has developed into a bona fide star. Her short course capabilities launched that movement as she crushed national records in sprint freestyle, butterfly and backstroke during her college career at the University of Virginia, and she took those talents to the wider world last December as she won seven gold medals, five of them individual, at the Short Course World Championships. She left Budapest having clobbered world records in four of her gold-medal events while becoming the second-fastest swimmer ever in the 100 free.
Walsh’s incredible underwater dolphin kickouts are a key weapon in her short course success, and while they are somewhat neutralized in the long course pool, she has greatly improved her ability to carry speed over the 50-meter length. She is the world-record holder in the long course 100 fly, having broken an eight-year-old Sjostrom record last year, and in Fort Lauderdale, Walsh became the first woman to ever break 55 in the event. Her improvements in the 100 free have put her in Worlds medal contention, and in the 50 free, she missed a medal by just one hundredth in Paris.
Between her performances in all courses, Walsh has now set an incredible 25 individual American records in the last 12 months, going back to her inaugural 100 fly world record at last year’s Olympic Trials. More are surely to come this summer as she continues working to bring her long course swimming close to the level of her historic short course dominance.
