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Gretchen Walsh breaks 100 IM world record with 55.98, first swimmer under 56 to do so

Gretchen Walsh breaks 100 IM world record with 55.98, first swimmer under 56 to do so

Florida vs. Virginia

  • October 18, 2024
  • Charlottesville, Va
  • 25 meters (SCM)
  • Results on Meet Mobile: “Virginia vs. Florida”
  • Full summary of the meeting

After setting three American records in the first hour of racing at the Virginia-Florida short course meter dual meet, Gretchen Walsh was far from over.

In a 100 meter time trial, Walsh achieved a time of 55.98, breaking the world record he had set of 56.51 Katinka Hosszu back in 2017.

Walsh becomes the first swimmer in history to swim under 56 seconds, breaking the American hour-long record of 56.99 seconds Kate Douglass earlier on Friday at the World Cup stop in Shanghai.

It’s obvious that Walsh is a better fly/back sprinter than Hosszu and Douglass when comparing their splits, as Walsh was nine tenths ahead of Hosszu in the 50 with a sparkling start time of 25.07 while she was nearly two seconds in front of Douglass.

Douglass came back faster than anyone else, relying on her breaststroke skills, but the distance Walsh managed in the first 50 meters was enough to put her more than half a second ahead of the world record and more than a second ahead ahead of the American record.

Split comparison

Hosszu, old WR Douglass, Old AR Walsh, New WR
25.97 26.96 07/25
56.51 (30.54) 56.99 (30.03) 55.98 (30.91)

All-Time Performer, Women’s 100 IM (SCM)

  1. Gretchen WalshUSA – 55.98
  2. Katinka HosszuHungary – 56.51
  3. Kate Douglass, USA – 56.99
  4. Sarah SjostromSweden – 57.10
  5. Beryl GastaldelloFrance – 57.30
  6. Charlotte BonnetFrance – 57.47
  7. (TIE) Alicia Coutts, Australia/Marrit SteenbergenNetherlands – 57.53
  9. (TIE) Mariia Kameneva, Russia/Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, Great Britain/Anastasiya Shkurdai, Belarus – 57.59

Earlier this month, Walsh recorded the fourth-fastest 100 IM run ever in short course yards (52.63), with Douglass setting the fastest time ever at 51.97.

If Walsh’s swimming skills are recognized and recognized by World Aquatics, she will qualify for the 100m swimming at the World Short Course Championships, which she will compete in in December.

Douglass is also expected to compete in the 100 IM after registering an official time in Shanghai on Friday.

When the U.S. announced its roster for the championships last week, there were no competitors in the 100 IM because no one had posted a qualifying time. Assuming Walsh and Douglass represent the United States at the Budapest event, the Americans will most likely face a one-two finish.

Entering the dual meet with Florida, Walsh set American records in the 50 free (23.10), 50 back (25.37) and 100 back (54.89), placing 4th, 3rd and 2nd any times.

She did serious damage to the SCM record books in a single afternoon, with more to come in Budapest later this year.

Event WR (Pre-UVA/FLORIDA) AR (before UVA/FLORIDA) Walsh @ UVA/FLORIDA
50 free 22.93 (Kromowidjojo) 23.44 (Weitzel) 10/23
50 back 25.25 (MacNeil) 25.54 (Curzan) 25.37
100 back 54.56 (McKeown) 55.04 (Smoliga) 54.89
100 IM 56.51 (Hosszu) 56.99 (Douglas) 55.98

To date, according to USA Swimming’s database, Walsh has never competed against SCM in an official meet.

The full live recap of the double meet can be found here.