Gretchen Walsh earns breakthrough swimming world title with No. 2 time in historical past

Gretchen Walsh gained her first particular person lengthy course world title by almost breaking her personal 100m butterfly world document.

Walsh clocked 54.73 seconds on the World Swimming Championships, simply off her personal document of 54.60 from May 3. She owns the highest eight instances in historical past.

She prevailed Monday over Belgian Roos Vanotterdijk (1.11 seconds behind, the second-largest margin in occasion historical past) and Australian Alexandria Perkins for the U.S.’ first gold medal on the second day of the eight-day meet in Singapore.

“That swim took a lot of guts, but really so happy with the result,” Walsh stated on Peacock. “I was aiming for a 55, so to go 54 was really a surprise and something I’m really proud of.”

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Walsh added her first particular person lengthy course title to an already stacked resume: 4 Olympic medals in Paris (together with two relay golds), 11 world data and 7 gold medals on the world quick course championships final December and 9 particular person NCAA titles in 4 years at Virginia.

Walsh made the U.S. crew for worlds in 4 particular person occasions and is a medal contender in all of them. She nonetheless has the 50m fly and 50m and 100m frees left, plus doable relay responsibility.

Walsh was one of many majority of U.S. swim crew members affected to various levels by acute gastroenteritis, or a abdomen bug, main into worlds.

“My body has just been fragile, and I think that I’ve needed to give myself grace,” she stated, based on World Aquatics.

On the primary day of worlds Sunday, she stated she was feeling drained however making an attempt to make the very best of an annoying state of affairs.

After these feedback, she later Sunday swam a 100m fly semifinal, then scratched out of the 4x100m free relay last that befell about an hour later.

“I wanted to be on it so bad, but my body would not let me,” Walsh stated.

Olympic 100m fly gold medalist Torri Huske, who was also affected by the stomach bug, scratched out of the event before Sunday’s prelims to focus on the 4x100m free.

Also Monday, Canadian Summer McIntosh won the 200m individual medley, 1.89 seconds ahead of American Alex Walsh (Gretchen’s older sister).

Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey edged 12-year-old Yu Zidi of China for bronze by six hundredths.

Yu is the youngest swimmer in history to compete in a World Championships final, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon of the OlyMADMen.

McIntosh, who won the 400m free on Sunday, is bidding to become the second swimmer after Michael Phelps to win five individual golds at a single worlds. She still has the 200m fly, 400m IM and 800m free (against world record holder Katie Ledecky).

China’s Qin Haiyang overtook Olympic gold medalist Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy by 35 hundredths to take the men’s 100m breaststroke.

Qin, who swept the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststrokes at the 2023 Worlds, returned to the podium after placing seventh and tied for 10th individually in Paris.

Frenchman Maxime Grousset took the men’s 50m fly, edging Swiss Noe Ponti 22.48 to 22.51. The 50m fly, 50m backstroke and 50m breast debut at the Olympics in 2028.

Worlds continue all week with preliminary heats at 10 p.m. ET and finals at 7 a.m., live on Peacock.

Tuesday’s finals are slated to characteristic Ledecky within the 1500m free, a race she has by no means misplaced in a significant last, high seed Kate Douglass within the 100m breast and a 100m again together with all three Olympic medalists: Australian Kaylee McKeown and Americans Regan Smith and Katharine Berkoff.