Gretchen Walsh just completed one of the best swimming seasons in NCAA history, which could help catapult her to her first Olympic team this summer.
Walsh, a junior at the University of Virginia, broke NCAA records in the four fastest collegiate swimming events.
At last week's NCAA Championships alone, she accomplished a preseason goal she dubbed the “triple threat.” It involved winning three individual events (the most a swimmer can compete in in the NCAA) in three record times.
Since the start of the ACC Championship in February, she has accomplished the following:
- 50 Freestyle: NCAA record reduced from 20.79 seconds to 20.37 seconds
- 100 Freestyle: NCAA record lowered from 45.56 to 44.83
- 100 backstroke: NCAA record lowered from 48.26 to 48.10
- 100 butterfly: NCAA record dropped from 48.46 to 47.42
The 6-foot-1-inch Walsh is a precocious talent, along with her older sister Alex, who was a silver medalist in the 200-meter individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics and won her third NCAA individual title last week.
Gretchen, 13, qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials nine days before the competition and was the youngest of the more than 1,500 swimmers who participated.
In 2021, Walsh finished fifth in the 50-meter free at the Tokyo Olympic Trials after finishing his senior year of high school at Harpeth Hall in Nashville. Harpeth's alumni also include Tracy Caulkins, who won the 1984 Olympics three times and is perhaps the best all-around female swimmer in U.S. history.
She missed out on the 2022 World Championship squad in the 50m free event by a hundredth of a second. She competed in the 2023 World Championships, where she placed 3rd in the 50m fly (not an Olympic event), 8th in the 100m fly, 11th in the 50m free, and also won two medals in the relay. .
Walsh said he was able to prove something to himself by joining the world team for the first time last year.
“It finally put me on this course, like Paris 2024. I'm not afraid to admit that that's my goal and my dream,” she said in November. “It’s not just about achieving that, it’s about being successful there and winning the gold medal.”
Walsh, an NCAA champion all three years at the University of Virginia, last year earned what some called her a “bathtub swimmer,” meaning she was far better in the 25-yard NCAA pool than the 50-meter pool used in major international competitions. He was aware that he was called a player who produced excellent results. such as the Olympics and World Championships.
Swimmers can spend 65 percent of their time in the water in an NCAA race, compared to 30 percent in an Olympic race. Both rules mean that you must break through the surface 15 meters from each wall.
The ability to generate speed underwater with a dolphin kick is so important, but so different from swimming on water that this skill is sometimes referred to as the fifth stroke in addition to freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and breaststroke.
Some college swimmers who excel in the water may struggle relatively in larger pools, which may require twice as many strokes.
“People always say I'm just a bathtub swimmer and can't do long channel (50 meter) pools, but I think I've finally proven to myself that I can do both,” Walsh said in November. Ta. “I know I still have a lot of room to grow in terms of long courses, but it was my first race (of being selected to the World Team at the 2023 U.S. Championships) and I’ve grown from there, so I’ve already grown a lot. I learned from that game into my training because I've been taking lessons from that game.”
Natalie Coughlin (2002), Ryan Lochte (2006), Caleb Dressel (2018), Kate Douglas (2023), Leon Marchand (2023), According to swimming news site Swimswam.com.
Walsh's next competition will be at the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis in June, where the top two finishers in most events will be chosen to represent Paris.
In the 50m free, Walsh could face Simone Manuel (Tokyo Olympic Trials winner), Tori Haske (2022 World Trials winner) and Abby Weitzeil (2023 World Trials winner).
The top six runners in the 100-meter free will likely be selected to participate in the relay team, but women such as Weizeil, Haske and Douglas, who have won the trials over the past three years, may also participate. Also, 2016 Olympic gold medalist Manuel.
Hasuke has won the 100m fly in his last three attempts. Claire Curzan won silver in the same event at the world championships in February.
Walsh said in November that Virginia coach Todd DeSorbo thought he could break the world record in the 100-meter fly. To do that, he needs to beat his personal best by 87/100 seconds in a 55-second race.
On Friday, she broke her own NCAA record in the 100-yard fly by 83 times off her personal best.
“I think it's hard to be really surprised by Gretchen.” Mr. DeSorbo said:“And she definitely did it.”
