Torri Huske’s Olympic debut in Tokyo was nothing short of a roller coaster. She left the Japanese capital with 1 silver in the women’s 4x100m medley relay. However, her chase for the podium in the 100m fly crashed and burned. With a time of 55.73, she lost the bronze to Emma McKeon. The Aussie’s 55.72 edged her out. Team USA also couldn’t keep up in the 4x100m mixed medley relay and placed fifth. This shocked the swimming community. But the swimmer looked forward to redeeming herself in the French capital.

In conversation with SwimSwam’s Coleman Hodges, she opens up about one of the things that plagued her mind. “As you know, I like completely flopped in the mixed 4X100 medley because I messed up my relay start.” The Olympian added that as she fell into the pool, and this led to her freaking out. The 21-year-old tried rectifying it but to no avail and “completely abandoned my race plan, which is never something you should do.” While Team USA redeemed themselves in the mixed medley event this year, they did miss out on a gold in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay. 

Torri Huske continued, “My relay start specifically has been such a weak point for me for so long, I was like really nervous.” The swimmer has always had historically slow starts in the event. In the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, Torri Huske’s split time of 52.06 was the second-fastest split in the entire field. However, Team USA had to settle for a second-place finish. However, she redeemed herself in the women’s 4x100m mixed medley relay and the mixed 4x100m medley relay.

The quartet of Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh, Regan Smith, and the 21-year-old dominated the Olympic pool in the women’s 4x100m medley relay. Their final time of 3:9:63 broke the World Record and the Olympic Record. In fact, Huske’s split of 52.42 was the fastest split recorded. In the 4x100m mixed medley, the quartet of Gretchen Walsh, Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, and herself claimed another gold with their world record time of 3:37:43.

The swimmer added, “So it was kind of validation for me that I can do a relay start and that I can do a good one. I think my reaction time was like pretty quick on it if I remember, and then like later, I was like, okay.” This helped her realize that keeping a cool mind helped pull off those times. But after leaving the French capital with 5 Olympic medals—3 golds and 2 silvers—will Torri Huske return in 2028 for her third berth? 

Torri Huske’s honest take on LA2028

On September 2, she appeared for a sit-down interview on Inside with Brett Hawke. While discussing her stint in Paris, the conversation gradually shifted to LA28. Will she come back to defend her Olympic title? The swimmer stated, “I think that with the way things work, and obviously, four years is a super long time and like a lot of stuff can change.” She added that there could be aspiring swimmers who prove to be faster than her, which could dwindle her changes by then.

However, Torri Huske did leave that question open-ended. The 21-year-old took a gap year, so with 2 more years left, she still has to decide how to move further. “If I decide to apply for a co-term or a master’s or whatever, that would take me either right up until LA, or it would take me a year out.” This could possibly help her decide. After a rough start to her Olympic journey, the swimmer redeemed herself in the French capital. But will she keep that momentum going on her home turf? We will just have to wait and watch.