Gretchen Walsh breaks Kate Douglass’ 50-meter freestyle world report

Gretchen Walsh has damaged the 50-meter freestyle world report, changing into the quickest feminine sprinter within the historical past of swimming.

Less than two weeks after Kate Douglass shocked the swimming world with a brand new world report within the 50 free, Gretchen Walsh has re-established a new fastest time.

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The 23-year-old American swam a 23.55 on the 67th Sette Colli meet in Rome on Sunday. The Sette Colli meet has lengthy been one of many jewels of the European summer time swimming calendar, and Walsh has now cemented herself into its historical past.

Walsh and Douglass are present coaching companions and had been teammates on the University of Virginia. The two helped lead probably the most dominant girls’s swimming packages in NCAA historical past. They’ve skilled collectively, raced collectively, and now each damaged the identical world report.

Walsh introduced dwelling 4 medals from 2024 Paris Olympic Games, together with two golds, and her post-collegiate trajectory has been outstanding. Walsh additionally owns the world report within the 100 meter butterfly and holds the 16 quickest instances ever recorded within the occasion.

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Women’s dash freestyle now runs by way of Charlottesville. Virginia, now dwelling to the 2 quickest performers in historical past after each Douglass and Walsh reset the world report. Swimming’s dash ceiling is being always being rewritten and Virginia’s coaching group is main the cost.