Gretchen Walsh has made it a habit of producing some of the fastest swims in history every time she touches the water, and that trend continued over the weekend as she opened the NCAA season in a split-squad dual meet against Navy.
Walsh, a senior at the University of Virginia, rocketed to a time of 52.63 in the 100-yard IM, winning the event by more than two seconds and rivaling some of the times put up by her male counterparts.
Although the 100 IM isn’t an event raced in traditional NCAA Division I competition, it does have some well-known names on its historical leaderboard, including Walsh’s former UVA teammate Kate Douglass.
Douglass owns the fastest swim in history at 51.97, set last year, while Walsh has been as fast as 52.09, done in 2022. Her performance in Saturday’s dual meet ranks 4th all-time.
All-Time Performances, Women’s 100-Yard IM,
- Kate Douglass — 51.97 (2023)
- Gretchen Walsh — 52.09 (2022)
- Kate Douglass — 52.48 (2020)
- Gretchen Walsh — 52.63 (2024)
- Kate Douglass — 52.73 (2022)
Walsh has established herself as one of the world’s best sprinters, and stood out as a premier underwater kicker at the Paris Olympics when she won silver in the women’s 100 fly and placed 4th in the 50 free.
The 21-year-old leaned on her underwater abilities in delivering her standout 100 IM performance. Watch the race below:
Walsh enters the 2024-25 season as the defending NCAA champion in the women’s 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly, having set new NCAA, U.S. Open and American Records at the conclusion of last season. The UVA women are in pursuit of winning a fifth straight national title.
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