2024 Paris Olympics

UVA's Gretchen Walsh sets Olympic record in 100m butterfly semifinals

This past season she also set America, U.S. Open and NCAA records in the 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly and the 100m freestyle

NBCUniversal Media, LLC

Team USA’s Alex and Gretchen Walsh appear destined for the water. Alex says their love for swimming started with their competitive swim coach Terry Lowe, who taught them that above all else, the sport should be fun.

Team USA's Gretchen Walsh broke the Olympic record in the women's 100m butterfly semifinals with a time of 55.38 seconds. Walsh challenged her own world record time of 55.18.

Fellow American Torri Huske posted the second-best semifinal time of 56.0.

The 100m butterfly final will take place on Sunday at 2:40 p.m. ET.

Gretchen Walsh cutting through the water in the 100m butterfly semifinal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Walsh attends the University of Virginia, where she dominates at the NCAA level. This year alone, she won seven NCAA titles to help lead UVA to a fourth consecutive women’s swimming national championship. This past season she also set America, U.S. Open and NCAA records in the 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly and the 100m freestyle. 

Walsh has been swimming since she was young, but she first garnered nationwide attention when she qualified for a national junior’s competition in 2015 at age 12. One year later in 2016, she became the youngest swimmer to ever compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials. 

It's also a family affair in Paris as Gretchen her sister, Alex, are both competing for Team USA.

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics

Watch all the action from the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games live on Peacock

Ilona Maher goes from ‘Dancing With the Stars' to playing rugby in the UK

What to know about Linda McMahon, Trump's pick for education secretary

Learn more about Gretchen here.

Making it to the Olympics on the Team USA swim team is one of the most challenging achievements in the world, so Gretchen and Alex Walsh are glad they have each other every step of the way.
Exit mobile version