"Gretchen Walsh is our Caitlin Clark" - Fans react to the American breaking the 100 fly World Record at the U.S. Olympic Trials

Gretchen Walsh broke the world record in the women's 100 fly at the U.S. swimming Olympic trials held at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Saturday (June 15). The American swimmer clocked 55.18s to win the semi-final in the 100 fly and set a new world record.

She had a strong start to her Olympic trials campaign, clocking a sub-56 second 100m fly in the preliminary round. As a result, she became the sixth-fastest swimmer in the discipline. Gretchen Walsh has numerous titles and records to her name.

The American swimmer holds two junior world records along with six NCAA gold medals. Her incredible world-record performance at the semi-finals of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials sent swimming fans into a frenzy. They could not believe that a world record was set on the first day of the Olympics trials and that too in the semi-finals.

Fans took to X to congratulate Gretchen Walsh and express their excitement about the upcoming events at the Olympic trials.

"The entire NCAA swimming system was just validated. Gretchen Walsh is our Caitlin Clark," wrote Braden Keith.

"Screaming in my living room omg I’m proud like she’s my child," tweeted another fan.

"I could watch this race on repeat for a very long time. What a swim. Absolutely crushed a world record held by one of the greatest female swimmers ever. And, 😢, the look of surprise and emotion on her face after it all 🙌", another fan chimed in.

Here are some more fan reactions:

" Making history and it's only the first night!," wrote a fan.

" FOMO activated by not being there in person," another fan tweeted.

" World Record in the semifinals is INSANE! 🔥🔥🔥," another fan chimed in.

Gretchen Walsh opens up on continuing her winning streak in the Olympic season

Gretchen Walsh at the TYR Pro Swim Series San Antonio - Day 4

Walsh had an incredible 2024 season ahead of the Olympic trials. She broke her own 50-free record by clocking 20.41s at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships 2024 held in March. In an interview with Olympics.com, she opened up to continue dominating the swimming circuit with her sister, Alex Walsh.

"I think it's so cool to be making history like this and, like Alex said, I do think we'll try to just keep the streak going," she said.

As we proceed to the later stages of the trials, fans await incredible performances at the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials.