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Swim great Michael Phelps and Olympians Kate Douglass and Lilly King extended their heartfelt wishes to Gretchen Walsh for breaking the 100m butterfly world record at the US Olympic Swim Team Trials. Walsh posted a time of 55.18s to etch her name in the world record book.
Gretchen Walsh holds the American records in the 100-yard butterfly, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 50-yard freestyle, 4x50-yard medley relay, 4x50-yard freestyle relay, 4 x 100-yard medley relay, and 4x100-yard freestyle relay. Walsh is also the junior world record holder in two junior mixed relay events.
Her standout performances at the NCAA level earned her five golds at the 2022 NCAA Division 1 Championships and six golds at the 2023 NCAA Championships. She won six golds at the 2019 World Junior Championships as well.
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Her recent achievement of breaking the 100m butterfly world record garnered love and praise from Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian of all time. He took to his Instagram story to post the news shared by Team USA's Instagram handle. In anticipation of her upcoming races, Michael Phelps cheered:
"Let's gooo @gretchwalsh2 !!"
Alongside Michael Phelps, Kate Douglass, regarded as one of the greatest in NCAA history with seven golds each at the 2022 and 2023 NCAA Championships, shared a head explosion emoji, signifying 'mind-blowing'.
Chiming in with 23-time Olympic individual gold medalist and Douglass, Lilly King, the 100m backstroke gold medalist at the Rio Olympics, felt the contention of the upcoming Olympic Trials would offer, congratulating Walsh on her achievement.
"Night one already crying," her Instagram story read.
"It’s actually insane" - Gretchen Walsh on breaking the World record at the Olympic Swim Trials after Michael Phelps
Gretchen Walsh's feat at the 2024 US Olympic Swim Trials saw her break the eight-year-old 100m butterfly record of Sarah Sjöström, the Swede swimmer who set it in 2016.
Elated beyond words, Walsh's achievement seemed unreal to her. She was sure of winning the event but didn't think that her effort would break the world record.
"I didn’t think I was going to do it tonight,” Walsh said. “I just knew that I wanted to go a best time, and now, here I am, world record holder. It’s actually insane. I think I was probably the most shocked of all the people I know. I think that they all had confidence in me. … I was absolutely in awe. Totally surprised," she said. (via USA Today)
Walsh advanced to the 100m butterfly finals, ahead of Regan Smith (55.92s) and Torri Huske (55.79). The Swim Trials will continue till June 23, 2024, in Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis.
