While Competing Against Her Sister, Gretchen Walsh Destroys Olympic Champion to Win 100M Butterfly Gold at Knoxville

When it comes to having sheer dominance in the swimming pool, Gretchen Walsh cultivates a deep aesthetic to topple her elder sister, Alex Walsh. The ‘Phelpsian’ go-getter may not minutely notice her younger sister’s underwater movements. But Gretchen has never given up on perfecting her nitty gritty in the biomechanical part to come over spearheads. In the University of Virginia swimming club, she was thoroughly supported by Dr. Ken Ono, a specialist working on the same factors. However, the same camp also has an NCAA swimming legend, named Kate Douglass. So the preparation level never went off to the mark. 

Those elements were paying Gretchen Walsh off nicely in the TYR Pro Swim Series 2024. Now, before the Olympics, this was a significant chance for both Walsh sisters. 

Gretchen Walsh doesn’t mince her moves

On day 3, Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center culminated in the further rise of the American swimming showstopper, Gretchen Walsh. After giving a nail-biting fight to Kate Douglass, Walsh humbled Olympic greats Maggie MacNeil and Claire Curzan in the 100 LC m butterfly event in the women’s category. The numero uno duo simply couldn’t match with the top speed of the UVA senior. As swimming raconteur, Kyle Sockwell added on the X-post, “Wellllllllll that’s a prettyyyyyyyy quick heat of 100 flyers for January 12th”. The timing gave further insight. 

Gretchen Walsh took a mollified 56.78 to save her contention for the upcoming Olympics. However, Canadian prodigy Maggie MacNeil came closer with a 0.40-second gap. And for Claire Curzan, she found herself pushed to the third position with a disappointing, 57.26.

Meanwhile, Alex Walsh clocker her timing, 57.59, that led her to 4th position. On that estimate, for Gretchen Walsh, the swimming champion yet to test an individual Olympic medal, there were three Olympic insignia winners behind her in the trot. That signified a long-cherished dream of the younger Walsh. 

The untouched dream

Near the Tokyo Olympics 2020 trials in Indianapolis, Gretchen Walsh Walsh had to adjust herself away from the swimming arena. As a reason she once expressed to ESPN. com, “I felt pretty defeated in that moment, because it’s just hard, especially coming out of COVID, I had such a difficult year just training by myself the majority of the time. I really hated that.”

That was the moment when Alex Walsh claimed the silver medal in 200m IM in the women’s category in Tokyo. In all those moments, the US Open Swimming Championship medalist tried to gain motivation. 

Read more: Gretchen Walsh Records Most Successful Swimming Meet of the Career. Will She Be the U.S. Underdog at Paris Olympics 2024?

That away time made her move to the UVA camp. Since then, Gretchen Walsh had a thorough look at her movements and fitness level. That eventually paid her at the TYR Pro Swim Series. 

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