World Championships: Torri Huske Scratches 100 Fly Due to Illness
Stomach illness has persisted throughout the U.S. team at the World Championships, and the first direct impact has been felt during the first session. Torri Huske, the American who won Olympic gold in the 100 butterfly last year, did not compete in the event in Sunday morning’s prelims.
Huske plans to concentrate on the 400 freestyle relay on the opening day of competition. After being sick for several days, Huske hopes to provide the American women with a relay boost before taking the next two days to recover more fully continuing with her racing schedule. She is entered in two more events and expected to compete in four additional relays within the last five days of the meet.
Nearly all American swimmers have dealt with symptoms of stomach illness in the past week, beginning when the team was at their pre-meet training camp in Phuket, Thailand. Several were delayed in their arrival to Singapore, but all 47 American swimmers made the trip by Friday. They will attempt to quickly work back to full strength, but it is expected that the bout of sickness will impact at least some swimmers’ performance in the first few days of the competition.
The U.S. women entered the World Championships as the slight favorite in the 400 free relay, at least before illness entered the equation. No one has beaten Australia in the event since the Americans won gold in tight fashion at the 2017 World Championships. The U.S. entered the meet with all four expected participants on the finals squad — Huske, Gretchen Walsh, Simone Manuel and Kate Douglass — having broken 53 in the flat-start 100 free within the past 14 months.
