Alex Walsh Ready to Show ‘Untapped Potential’ in 400 IM at Worlds After Making Four Events
For years, the 400 IM made Alex Walsh so nervous that she didn’t swim it much.
After a breakthrough this summer, she is heading into the 2026 World Short Course Championships in what is currently her favorite event, at least for the time being.
“I am really excited to go to Beijing. I am most excited for the 400 IM. I swam it a couple of years ago and was really afraid of it. So I backed off then had a resurgence this summer,” Alex Walsh said. “It is always something that has been untapped potential for me. So I am excited to have a great group of girls out there to race – and hopefully do something special.”
It won’t be her only event. After her performance at the 2026 USA Swimming Short Course World Championship Trials in Westmont, Illinois, she earned four individual swims on the world stage.
Walsh won the 400 IM in 4:29.18. She finished second to Kate Douglass in the 200 breaststroke (2:18.76) and 200 IM (2:04.54) and was also second in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.59).
“I feel really good about making another team. I am really excited to have four events. I feel like in the past I have only swam the 200 IM and 200 breast short course,” Alex Walsh said. “I have been enjoying short-course meters this fall. I am hoping to replicate the success I had in yards. It makes me excited.”
Especially since she wasn’t quite as fast as she was two weeks ago at the Virginia Pro Am. That gives her a perfect balance of motivation and confidence of what she is capable of doing.
“I wish I could say I was super happy with that time. I was 4:27 two weeks ago, but I know I can throw down a really good swim in that event,” Alex Walsh said.
Walsh said she was aided by coach Todd DeSorbo‘s focus for the fall.
“The fall is always funny because Todd always finds something to hyper focus on. This year we are doing something called ‘Bofaty’ which is break-out-feet-at-the-yellow. It is a lot of underwaters. That has been really helpful for my IMs, especially my backstroke. That is something that I have been a little bit lazy with in the past. I want to keep hammering that.”
It is a good break from the long-course road to LA28, and Walsh, like most of the athletes, is looking for some low-pressure international racing.
“It is fun to have new goals doing SCM. It keeps me stimulated,” she said. “I am looking forward to the next couple weeks.”
