Gretchen Walsh, a 21-year-old swimmer from Nashville, Tennessee, set a new world record in the women’s 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis. Her time of 55.18 seconds in the semifinal heat surpassed the previous record set in 2016 by Sarah Sjöström of Sweden.
Despite feeling exhausted during the race, Walsh was thrilled to see her record-breaking time on the scoreboard. She managed to maintain her speed and break the previous record by over half a second at the turn.
Walsh still needs to secure a place on her first Olympic team by competing in the finals on Sunday against tough competitors including Torri Huske, Regan Smith, and Claire Curzan – all Tokyo Games medalists. Despite facing such stiff competition, Walsh believes she can improve her time even further and is looking forward to the challenge ahead.
