FLASH! Gretchen Walsh Annihilates 100 Fly NCAA Record, 48-Second Barrier, Clocking 47.42
One night earlier, Gretchen Walsh had set the 50 freestyle NCAA and American record for the fifth time this season, bringing a record that stood at 20.79 four months ago down to 20.37. After that race, Walsh admitted that after so many incredible accomplishments this season, which includes all-time records in four different events, she has trouble making sense of her own accomplishments and determining what her new goals should look like.
“I can’t say that I want an NCAA record anymore because I already have that,” Walsh said. “It’s also hard to really use people around me, especially in the races that I swim because I can’t see anything. I’m not looking around at all. It’s hard to find the motivation to reach a new level and really be super stoked when that even happens.”
So Walsh had kept things simple: just try to drop time from the ACC Championships to the NCAA Championships, never mind that she had stunned the country with her performances last month in Greensboro, N.C. In her 100 fly, Walsh had notched a mark of 48.25 to break an NCAA record that was less than one year old. At the 2023 edition of the national meet, former Virginia star Kate Douglass had out-dueled 100-meter fly Olympic gold medalist Maggie Mac Neil by one hundredth, setting a mark of 48.46 that seemed poised to survive many years.
Not with Walsh. No way. And in the NCAA final of the 100 fly Friday evening, Walsh pulled off a swim even more stunning.
After a clocking of 48.26 in prelims, just one hundredth off her own record, Walsh swam in lane four in the 100 fly final, and as expected, she jumped on the field right away. She was out in 9.94 at the 25-yard mark and 21.75 at the halfway point, a whopping two-thirds of a second under record pace. From that point on, the previous mark. The record was toast. Heck, the 48-second barrier was already gone, too.
By the race’s conclusion, Walsh was two seconds up on the field, and she touched the wall in 47.42, knocking more than eight tenths off the previous record. She had posted a time more than one second quicker than Douglass’ 2023 record-setting speed. That left the crowd inside Gabrielsen Natatorium cheering in astonishment at the third-year swimmer’s latest stunning performance.
Not to be overshadowed, it was a huge race for the Texas Longhorns, with Emma Sticklen placing second in 49.70 while Olivia Bray took third (50.52) and Kelly Pash was fourth (50.55). That produced 48 points for Texas, moving the Longhorns to within three points of second-place Florida.
