On Saturday night, Gretchen Walsh broke the world record in the women’s 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis. With a time of 55.18 seconds, she surpassed the previous record of 55.48 set by Sarah Sjöström of Sweden at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
The 21-year-old swimmer from Nashville, Tennessee, was over half a second faster than the world-record pace at the turn and maintained it throughout her race. After her incredible performance, Walsh couldn’t believe what she saw on the scoreboard as she covered her mouth with her hand and saw an “WR” next to her name. She admitted to feeling like she was struggling during the race and had not expected to achieve such a fast time.
Despite breaking a world record, Walsh still needs to secure her spot on the Olympic team. In Sunday night’s final, she will compete against other strong contenders such as Torri Huske, Regan Smith, and Claire Curzan, all of whom won medals at the Tokyo Games. However, Walsh is optimistic about her performance and believes that she can further improve her time and continue growing in that race.
