After claiming the world record in the 100m LC butterfly event in the women’s category on Saturday, Gretchen Walsh had to keep her momentum intact today to get an Olympic berth. The UVA swimmer carried out that smartly meanwhile. Nonetheless, in the final, she took her revenge on Torri Huske after facing a defeat from her in the US Nationals 2023. Yet, while playing with the records again, both Gretchen and Torri left another fierce opponent Regan Smith far behind as too many episodes unfolded today from the 100m LC butterfly final. 

Gretchen Walsh touched the yellow line in 55.31 seconds today to secure her first Olympic berth, just 0.13 seconds shorter than her world record feat. However, the Olympian Torri Huske chased her to the finish, lagging 0.21 seconds. However, Regan Smith, a vibrant prospect for the Paris Olympics, couldn’t match the duo despite attaining the fifth fastest timing in the 100m butterfly history (55.62 seconds).

Eventually, Claire Curzan, the Olympic silver medalist, also failed to grab a place in the top two today. Now, after this result, Gretchen Walsh will head to the American flight for the Paris Olympics. But to get a final picture, Torri Huske will have to wait for the end of the trials as several factors are still on the cards. However, today’s defeat might be a learning opportunity for her. 

Last year in the US Nationals, Gretchen Walsh had almost been on the way to edging out Torri Huske in the 100m butterfly final. In the first 50m, Torri had no answer to counter junior Walsh’s speed as she remained 0.21 seconds ahead of the former. But Stanford University standout gathered her mojo in the final 25 meters where she pulled off a blinder against Gretchen. 

A raw pace and invincible endurance placed her above Gretchen Walsh as she ended the event in 56.18 seconds. Her opponent remained at 56.34 seconds. But today, Gretchen did not leave a moment for Torri to get the upper hand. She maintained a high speed in the first 50m (she completed in 25.20 seconds) which remained the difference between her and Torri Huske. However, to produce such a speed seems to be unnatural as Gretchen gave almost everything yesterday to cross the prelims juggernaut. So what worked for the UVA swimmer to play with the records again, just 24 hours later? After hearing the question, Gretchen Walsh showed up in disbelief. But she had an answer. 

Gretchen Walsh receives a boost from her predecessor 

Last evening, Gretchen Walsh decimated Sarah Sjostrom’s 100m butterfly record (55.48 seconds) made in the Rio Olympics. The achievement felt to be nothing less than an ethereal glory for Gretchen, comparing her with the swimming legend. Furthermore, she received further joy after seeing Sarah congratulating her on IG last night. In her post, Sarah Sjostrom termed the swimming sport as a medium to reach the “pursuit of greatness and the joy of surpassing limits”. As per Gretchen, she had found a boost from those lines before coming up today. 

However, she mentioned, “I mean, making the team was the biggest goal, but getting a world record was absolute insanity. So I couldn’t ask for a better first event than me”. She also told about her coaches and family who helped her to attain all these moments. Now, as Gretchen Walsh is moving forward to the Paris Olympics, her fans can expect more such memorable performances from her in elite swimming.