Gretchen Walsh broke her own and the world record in the women’s 100-meter butterfly in the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
She clocked 55.18 seconds for the two-lap event, beating the previous record of 55.48 seconds set by Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjostrom in 2016.
“I didn’t expect to set a record tonight,” Walsh said. “I just wanted to set my best time, but now I’m the world record holder, which is pretty awesome.”
“I think out of all the people I know, I was probably the most shocked. I think they all trusted me. … I was just in awe. I was really surprised.”
The 21-year-old University of Virginia star started off the race well with an impressive 55.94 in the heats to ease into the semi-finals and then went on to produce a blistering performance to win in dominance.
While Walsh dominated the day’s second semifinal, Regan Smith placed second in 55.92 seconds to advance to Sunday’s final. Tori Huske won the first semifinal in 55.79 seconds, nearly breaking her own American record, to advance to the final.
“It was definitely an emotional night,” Walsh said, “and fortunately I’ve been through this before. Obviously I didn’t break any world records, but I was just trying to control my emotions.”
“Tonight I’m going to put my phone down and just get some good sleep. But I’m going to warm myself up, put some ice on myself, [stuck] “Back to my recovery routine, so hopefully I’ll have a place in the team tomorrow night because that’s really what I came here for.”
19-year-old Aaron Shackel wins the Men’s 400m Freestyle
Aaron Shackel, 19, won the 400-meter freestyle in 3:45.46, becoming the first U.S. swimmer to qualify for the Olympics at the trials. Aaron’s father, Nick, swam for Great Britain at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. His twin brothers, Alex and Andrew, also qualified for the Olympic trials this week.
Katie Ledecky makes fourth Olympic team
Katie Ledecky, who has won 10 Olympic medals since her debut at the 2012 London Olympics, easily won the women’s 400-meter freestyle to earn a spot on her fourth Olympic team. She finished in 3:58.35.
