Gretchen Walsh sets World Record in the women’s 100 metre butterfly

The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is just over a month away, and what we saw this past weekend in the state of Indiana was pure greatness in the swimming pool. At the 2024 United States Olympic Swimming Trials at Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium (host stadium for the National Football League’s Indianapolis Colts), we saw a World Record in the women’s 100 metre butterfly in the semifinal on Saturday.

What was the World Record and who had the old world record?

The world record was set by American Gretchen Walsh of Nashville, Tennessee. Walsh had a time of 55.18 seconds. The old world record belonged to Sarah Sjostrom of Salem, Sweden, who had a time of 55.48 seconds when she won the gold medal in the women’s 100 metre butterfly at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Second fastest ever time in the final

Walsh’s time in the final of the 2024 United States Olympic Swimming Trials was the second fastest time ever and would have also beaten Sjostrom’s world record from eight years ago. Walsh swam to a time of 55.31 seconds.

Three medals at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships

Walsh did not win an individual medal in an event with Olympic status at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, but did come away with three medals overall. She won the gold medal in the women’s 4×100 metre medley relay, the silver medal in the women’s 4×100 metre freestyle, and a bronze medal in the women’s 50 metre butterfly (individual competition not on the Olympic program). In the relay events, the United States will get its biggest test from Australia next month in Paris.

Fourth world record in swimming in 2024

Walsh is the fourth swimmer to set a World Record in the 2024 calendar year. She followed Zhanle Pan of China (men’s 100 metre freestyle with a time of 46.8 seconds at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar on February 11), Summer McIntosh of Canada (women’s 400 metre individual medley with a time of 4:24.38 at the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials in Toronto on May 16), and Ariarne Titmus of Australia (women’s 200 metre freestyle with a time of 1:52.23 at the Australian Olympic Swimming Trials in Brisbane on June 12).