Swimmer Gretchen Walsh is putting the finishing touches on what has been a record-breaking 2024 in three different sizes of pools.
Walsh, 21, earned her second individual gold medal in as many days at the world short course championships in Budapest, taking the 100m freestyle in the second-fastest time in history.
Later Thursday, American Jack Alexy won the men’s 100m free for the first individual global title of his career. The U.S. swept the men’s and women’s 100m free titles at short course worlds for the first time.
Walsh clocked 50.31 seconds, just off the world record of 50.25 set by Australian Cate Campbell in 2017.
SHORT COURSE WORLDS: Full Results | Broadcast Schedule
“I pushed it in the first 50, went for it,” said Walsh, who was 31 hundredths under world record pace at the halfway point. “That’s kind of what I do. Make it hurt, but I’m really happy with that time.”
The 100m free feat came a day after she won the 50m butterfly. In that event, Walsh recorded the three fastest times in history among her preliminary heat, semifinal and final swims on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Short course worlds are held in a 25-meter pool rather than the 50-meter pool used for the Olympics and other major international meets.
No matter, Walsh has excelled in all types of pools this year.
It started in 25-yard pools used for NCAA competition. In February and March, she broke NCAA and American records across the 50- and 100-yard frees, 100 backstroke and 100 fly while swimming for the University of Virginia.
Then at June’s Olympic Trials, she broke the world record in the 100m fly in a 50-meter pool. She took silver in the event in Paris in her Olympic debut behind teammate Torri Huske, plus three more relay medals.
Walsh, the youngest 2016 Olympic Trials swimmer at age 13, was once labeled by some “a bathtub swimmer,” or somebody who has significantly better results in 25-yard NCAA pools than in 50-meter pools.
She has transcended that limiting label. Walsh’s 2024 will go down in history. On Friday morning, she broke the short course world record in the 100m fly by 79 hundredths of a second.
“It does get hard, the pressure, but just managing it is definitely a skill to learn,” she said.
Walsh became the first swimmer to break the world records in a 50-meter pool and a 25-meter pool and the American record in a 25-yard pool in the same individual event in one year since Ian Crocker in 2004 (also 100 fly), according to USA Swimming records.
Walsh, Crocker, Rebecca Soni (2009), Kate Ziegler (2007) and Natalie Coughlin (2007) all broke individual records across the three pools in the same year if not confined to the same event. It’s possible more swimmers did as historical data is incomplete.
Ziegler deserves specific mention for breaking the world records in the 1500m freestyle in both pools and the American record in the equivalent 1650-yard freestyle in 2007. The 1500-yard freestyle is not a recognized distance for record purposes.
Also Thursday, Canadian Summer McIntosh earned her second world title and second world record of the week, taking the 200m butterfly in 1:59.32.
Short course worlds continue with more finals Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET, live on Peacock.
