Regan Smith, Kate Douglass and other swimmers react as Gretchen Walsh shatters the World Record in Budapest

Gretchen Walsh stunned the swimming world with her record-breaking performance in the women's 50-meter butterfly final at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest. On the second day of the competition, she secured gold with an incredible time of 24.01 seconds, setting a new world record.

Following her achievement, she took to Instagram to share the news. The 21-year-old captioned the post, reflecting on her joy:

"All smiles in Budapest."

Elite swimmers, including Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Lani Pallister, and Elizabeth Beisel, celebrated her historic achievement in the comments.

Regan Smith wrote:

"That Smile is worth at least 50."

While Kate Douglass commented with a single emoji of a crown.

Find the reactions of the other swimmers below:

Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, and other swimmers react to Gretchen Walsh's performance in 2024 World Aquatics Championships/ Source/ Instagram/ @gretchwalsh2 Gretchen Walsh

Following Walsh's victory, the World Aquatics official page shared a post highlighting the protocol for validating world records. It explained,

"When a world record is broken, the pool is measured that same night to ensure the measurements are within the aquatics rules, and the world record can be validated."

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the American swimmer won four medals, claiming two golds and two silver. She shone in the women's 4x100 medley relay, the mixed 4x100m medley, the 4x100m freestyle relay, and the 100m butterfly. During the US Olympic trials, she set a world record in the 100m butterfly event with a time of 55.18 seconds.

Following these milestones, she continued her strong performance at the World Aquatics Championships.

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Gretchen Walsh reflects on her world record in the 2024 World Aquatics Championships

Gretchen Walsh at Swimming - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 9 - Source: Getty

After her win in the 50m butterfly event at the World Aquatics Championships, Gretchen Walsh expressed her excitement about the achievement. She also reflected on the hard work that led to this milestone.

"I feel great, that was, I guess the new goal after this morning 240. I love setting goals for myself that are based on barriers that I can break so coming under that 24 mark was pretty insane and I'm honestly just hoping I can go faster tomorrow, keep the street going which would be crazy but looking forward to it." (00:01 onwards)

In the interview she also candidly shared her goals, expressing her aspiration to win her first world championship gold medal, a feat she once thought was distant. While targeting an ambitious 22-second time, she emphasized the importance of maintaining realistic expectations.