Tag: gretchen walsh

Gretchen Walsh: 5 facts about the Virginia swimmer off to her first Olympics with a new world record

Gretchen Walsh enters the Paris Olympics with a new swimming world record.

For the Paris Olympics this summer, For The Win is helping you get to know some of the star Olympians competing on the world’s biggest stage. We’re highlighting 15 Team USA athletes in the 15 days leading up to the Opening Ceremony. Up last is Gretchen Walsh.

Gretchen Walsh is a name you’ll want to remember during swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Although the 21-year-old from Nashville is a first-time Olympian, she’s riding a lot of momentum into Paris and has a shot at bringing home some hardware.

So before the Paris Olympics officially start, here are five things to know about Walsh.

1. Gretchen Walsh is expected to swim 4 events in Paris

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – JUNE 16: Gretchen Walsh of the United States swims during the Women’s 100 Meter Butterfly championship on Day Two of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium on June 16, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

At U.S. Olympic swimming trials in June, Walsh qualified for the Olympics in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. While the top-2 finishers are selected for the individual Olympic events, the top-4 finishers in the 100 freestyle make the relay team, and Walsh was third behind Kate Douglass and Tori Huske.

However, Douglass recently dropped the individual 100 freestyle, which opened the door for Walsh to add another individual event to her lineup.

While Walsh has the 15th fastest time this year in the 50 freestyle — and 10 of those times belong to world record holder Sarah Sjöström — watch out for her in the 100 butterfly.

2. Walsh enters the Paris Olympics with a new world record in the 100 butterfly

Walsh broke the 100 fly world record in the semifinals at U.S. Olympic trials in June. She posted a time of 55.18, which broke Sjöström’s 55.48 mark from 2016. She didn’t break it again when she won the final, but she came close and could lower it again at the Paris Olympics.

3. Walsh’s Olympic debut is on the heels of a stellar NCAA season for Virginia

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – APRIL 13: Gretchen Walsh competes in the Women’s 50m Freestyle prelims on Day 4 of the TYR Pro Swim Series San Antonio at Northside Swim Center on April 13, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Earlier this year, Walsh helped lead the Virginia Cavaliers to their fourth straight NCAA title and became an 18-time NCAA champion. At NCAAs in March, Walsh won the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly, and she was also on four championship-winning relay teams.

Walsh is one of at least seven current, former or future Virginia swimmers competing at the Paris Olympics, along with Cavaliers swimming head coach Todd DeSorbo, who will lead the American women at the Games.

4. Walsh is part of at least 6 sets of siblings on Team USA with her sister, Alex Walsh

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8IHsF2ALx3/?hl=en&img_index=1

While Gretchen is making her Olympics debut, her older sister, Alex Walsh is a two-time Olympian who won a silver medal in the 200-meter IM at the 2021 Tokyo Games and qualified for Paris in the same event. Three years ago, Gretchen didn’t make the team.

“She was more upset than me that I didn’t make the Olympics last time, and I think that says a lot about our relationship,” Gretchen said at trials in June. “We definitely rely on one another. We relate to each other. We support one another. At a high level, high-stakes meet that’s so stressful, it’s nice to have a sibling on the deck just there to even give you just a smile or nod that you got this.”

But they’re far from the only siblings at the Olympics. They’re not even the only ones on Team USA’s swimming roster and are joined by Alex and Aaron Shackell.

Other Team USA siblings include twins Annie and Kerry Xu (badminton), Brooke and Emma DeBerdine (field hockey), Juliette and Isabella Whittaker (track and field) and Chase and Ryder Dood (water polo), according to the USOPC.

5. Gretchen Walsh’s Paris Olympics schedule starts right away

She’ll swim in two events on the first day of swimming at the Olympics with the heats for the 100 butterfly and 4×100 freestyle relay set for Saturday, July 27 — though she might not swim the relay heats. Heats for the individual 100 free are Tuesday, July 30, and heats for the 50 free begin Saturday, August 3.

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9 swimmers to watch at U.S. Olympic swimming trials at Lucas Oil Stadium

You’ll definitely want to watch these swimmers compete for a spot on the 2024 Paris Olympics team.

The moment elite swimmers have been training for the last three years — and, for some, their whole lives — is finally here after a shortened Olympics cycle.

Swimming trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics begin Saturday, as the best American swimmers compete for a coveted spot on the Team USA roster during the nine-day event at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Hundreds of swimmers will compete, but only the top-2 finishers in each event will make the team (and top-6 finishers for some relays).

Up to 52 swimmers — 26 each on the men’s and women’s teams — will qualify for the Paris Games, and some of them are familiar stars from previous Olympics, including Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel and Simone Manuel. Along with athletes attempting to make their first, second, third and sometimes fourth Games, there are a few rising stars fans will want to keep an eye on too.

So ahead of the 2024 U.S. Olympic swimming trials, here are nine athletes to know, along with the trials events they’re entered in (but some could scratch).

1. Katie Ledecky

(Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Entered: 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle, 1500 freestyle
College: Stanford

A swimmer who needs no introduction, 27-year-old Ledecky is first in U.S. rankings in each of the events she’s entered and is the world record holder in the 800 and 1,500 — her most dominant event, which made its Olympic debut at the 2021 Tokyo Games. She should qualify in all four events, assuming she swims them all.

In addition to trying to add to her 10 Olympic medals, seven of them gold, Ledecky is aiming to become just the eighth American swimmer to compete in four Olympic Games.

2. Caeleb Dressel

(Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports)

Entered: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly
College: Florida

After taking some time away from swimming following the Tokyo Olympics, the 27-year-old swimmer is back and hoping to make his third Olympic team. At trials, he’s entered in the same individual events he swam in Tokyo, but based on his times, he’s got some ground to make up. He’s the fastest American in the 100 fly this year so far but enters trials currently ranked third in the U.S. in the 50 free and is tied for fourth in the 100 free.

Dressel knows nothing but gold at the Olympics as a seven-time Olympic champion.

3. Kate Douglass

(Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Entered: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 200 IM
College: Virginia

If you can’t tell from her lineup, Douglass is one of the most versatile swimmers. It’s nearly unheard of to see a swimmer excel in such drastically different events like the 50 free and 200 breaststroke, but she’s definitely one to watch at trials. The 22-year-old swimmer enters trials seeded first in the 50 free, 100 free, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM, and she’s fifth in the 100 breaststroke.

After winning bronze in the 200 IM in Tokyo, Douglass is a good bet to make the U.S. Olympic team in multiple events.

4. Jack Alexy

(Joe Warner/Correspondent / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Entered: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle
College: Cal

This 21-year-old sprinter isn’t a household name, but that could easily change with a strong outing at trials and — should he make his first Olympic team — in Paris. Especially after standout performances at the 2023 world championships, where he won five medals, including gold in the 4×100 medley relay. On his way to worlds last year, Alexy was the 100 free U.S. national champion and finished second in the 50. Definitely one of the swimmers to beat at trials, he enters the meet ranked second in the 50 free to Ryan Held and first in the 100 free.

5. Simone Manuel

(Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Entered: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle
College: Stanford

Manuel also took a break from swimming after winning her fifth Olympic medal in Tokyo, and, based on her times, it could be challenging for her to qualify individually for Paris, especially in the two shorter sprint races. However, the 27-year-old sprinter could be a solid pick to make the team via relays if she doesn’t qualify outright for her third Olympic team.

6. Gretchen Walsh

(Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Entered: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly
College: Virginia

Although Walsh is aiming to make her first Olympic team, she has tremendous star potential, especially after a record-breaking NCAA championship run in March when she won all seven of her events. Olympic trials are obviously on another level, but Walsh has a strong shot. She enters trials ranked third in the 50 free and fourth in the 100 free, along with being second in the 100 butterfly.

She’s looking to make the team with her sister, Alex Walsh, who won Olympic silver in the 200 IM in Tokyo. For trials, Alex is entered in the 200 IM, 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke.

7. Dare Rose

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZX6qI1PuTo/?hl=en&img_index=1

Entered: 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly
College: Cal

Although this isn’t Rose’s first Olympic trials, this is definitely his best shot at making his Olympics debut.. After winning the 100 butterfly at the 2023 U.S. national championships, Rose went on to win bronze in the event in his world championship debut that year. He was also a world champion in the 4×100 medley relay. Going into trials, the 21-year-old swimmer is seeded first in the 100 butterfly and eighth in the 200 butterfly.

8. Regan Smith

(Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports)

Entered: 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke
College: Stanford

Another versatile swimmer, 22-year-old Smith is looking to build on her Olympic resume after winning three medals in Tokyo, including a silver in the 200 butterfly and bronze in the 100 backstroke. She heads into Olympic trials ranked first in the U.S. this year in the 200 butterfly, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke, and she’s third in the 100 butterfly, behind Walsh and Torri Huske. She should qualify for Paris in multiple events and could make a medley relay team too.

9. Ryan Murphy

(Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports)

Entered: 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 100 butterfly
College: Cal

Already a two-time Olympian, Murphy is looking to add to his five Olympic medals, four of which are gold. He enters trials with the fastest seed time in his two backstroke events — he’s still the American record-holder in the 100 back from 2016 — but in 2024, he has the second-fastest American time in each event. As for the 100 butterfly, Murphy is seeded sixth at trials but said competing in the event at trials will be a “game-time call.”

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