Walsh Whistles Past The 55 'Fly Barrier At The Speed Of Spitz: 54.6 (After 55.09 In Heats)
"I have found that taking one less stroke has given me that extra energy ...I was long in my turn and my finish as well ... I can go faster. I look forward to perfecting that race. If it was perfect, I wouldn’t feel the confidence that I could go faster; I’m excited for more" - Gretchen Walsh
One day in early May, three World records, two of them to Gretchen Walsh, who warmed up with a 55.09 in the 100m butterfly heats at Pro Swim in Fort Lauderdale and then whistled past the 55 barrier at the speed of Spitz, her 54.60 a Mary-T sort of moment, though only time will tell.
How fast? Faster than 5 of Mark Spitz's 7 World 100 'fly records and only 0.33sec shy of the American's winning effort when lifting one of his historic seven golds at the Munich 1972 Olympic Games.
Katie Ledecky produced the other World record on the last day of action at what for the eight-times solo freestyle-event Olympic champion is practically a home meet, a breeze down the road from the Gators in Gainesville, Florida meet: 8:04.12:
Craig Lord
American women, under tide-turning pressure from Dolphin strength that has tested and even toppled the USA as the world No 1 force at times, particularly on a measure of female force.
With a home Olympics on the horizon - should Los Angeles 2028 survive the morphing of the United States into a place governed by some who see Putin's Russia as the bear to hug and Europe the enemy - Team USA in the pool will be wanting more than one man - Bobby Finke - and three women - Ledecky, Torri Huske and Kate Douglass - picking up gold in solo events.
Start collecting the runes. Here's how the women's 100 'fly turned out today:
- Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club), 54.60*
- Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Arlington Aquatic Club), 56.59
- Alex Shackell (Carmel, Ind./Carmel Swim Club), 57.31
- RESULTS IN FULL
Huske beat Walsh for the Olympic 100m 'fly crown after Walsh had broken Sara Sjöstrom's 2016 100 'fly record at U.S. trials for Paris. The catch-up sealed with Olympic gold and silver for the USA, regardless of finishing order, Walsh, on a calm and sunny day in Florida far from the pressures of the ultimate Flame and Cauldron, has now broken free on the clock with a gauntlet not so much thrown as chucked into the pond with a gold bar nestled inside.
54.60 - 25.32; 29.28 - Gretchen Walsh - Fort Lauderdale - May 3, 2025
55.09 - 25.54; 29.55 - Gretchen Walsh - Fort Lauderdale - May 3, 2025
55.18 - 25.45; 29.73 - Gretchen Walsh - Indianapolis - June 15, 2024
55.48 - 26.01; 29.47 - Sarah Sjöstrom - Rio de Janeiro - August 7, 2016 O'Gold
Here's a touch of the spirit and passion of the moment, in the water and on the deck as Walsh's coach Todd DeSorbo at the University of Virginia swims it with his charge:
Coach @ToddDeSorbo's reaction to Gretchen Walsh's world record is everything 🤍#TYRProSeries | @UVASwimDive pic.twitter.com/UrL2ZcMAaP
— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) May 3, 2025
Speaking through USA Swimming after her final, Walsh provided fine insight into how she's approaching the here and back and learning with every passing swim:
“To be honest with you, I didn’t change any part of my race strategy going into tonight. It was still going to be the goal to take 17 strokes on the way out, hopefully one less stroke coming back home. I have found that taking one less stroke has given me that extra energy, so I just did the same exact thing tonight. I was long in my turn and my finish as well, which I’m kind of happy about because I can go faster. I look forward to perfecting that race. If it was perfect, I wouldn’t feel the confidence that I could go faster, so I’m excited for more, but definitely did not expect to drop that much in the race tonight. It has been a trend for me at this meet to go faster at night – every race I was able to do that. There's something that happens with finals, maybe it's the day of rest, maybe it's the nap, but there’s just extra energy I find, and I just continue off the momentum of the morning. I was slightly nervous, but I think I’ve learned how to handle that pressure and look at the race as another opportunity to execute and do the plan that I talk about every day with Todd (Desorbo). What a crazy time, I honestly shocked myself.”
The art of racing is embedded, of course:
Craig Lord
On breaking the 55 barrier, she added:
“I need to set some new goals. It was shocking, I did not expect to be here doing this. I knew I was going to be having fun out here. I love swimming outside and getting to see my friends again. It’s been a long NCAA season where you don't see everyone that is a pro, so I’ve had a great time, and it has helped that I’m going really fast. I think this bodes really well for everything to come this summer. I definitely need to keep working and finding new motivation because I have surpassed so many barriers I talked about prior to the season. I might have to get creative with goals, not make them time-based, I think that helps me see it more as an opportunity to execute, versus having to go by a time. I’m really happy with where I’m at. I’m looking forward to getting back to Charlottesville, graduating, and beginning this pro journey. It started on such a high note; this is going to be awesome.”
Walsh did not leave it at 54.60 in the last session of the meet: she jumped back in for the 50m free final and emerged winner again, on 24.33. On the mindset of a two-event focus , she said:
“I’ve been going to the beach every day. I love the ocean. I’ve grown up by the ocean my whole life. I find a lot of comfort and peace when I’m by the beach, so I have been out there enjoying it every day. I love being here in Florida. I do that, then I get back to my room, take a two-hour nap, and then back to the pool. I have gotten the best sleep of my life; I have been so happy here.”
Walsh summed up the day and meet like this:
“The overarching theme that a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer. I’ve always believed that, but at times it has been hard for me to do that. When I’m having fun, everything seems to be going my way, so I want to carry that throughout the rest of the summer and look at every race as an opportunity."
Her coach Todd DeSorbo's take:
“I would say that I am not surprised that (G. Walsh) swam that fast, but it wasn’t expected, that’s for sure. She hasn’t raced long course since the Olympics, so it’s been 10 months. We didn’t train long course at all this season because I wanted everybody to have a mental break...as much as we put into it the Olympic year. We've only been training in the long course for four weeks. Being that we haven’t trained a ton of it and haven’t raced it in a long time, we didn’t have expectations. This definitely wasn’t expected.”
DeSorbo on helping. Walsh steady her nerves and manage her energy after the World record in heats:
“Gretchen will be the first to say that a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer. I think she was excited for the swim overall, and it was a shock to her a little bit this morning. Now that she has done it last year at Trials, and has broken so many records over the last year, she knows how to contain herself. She’s broken so many records over the last year and been in this situation so often that she is now becoming pretty good at internalizing it and moving on to the next race. She’s obviously pretty special.”
