For Gretchen Walsh, a trip to a possible gold rush to the world swimming championships

Gretchen Walsh enters the world swimming championships with a chance to win not only his first long-term world gold medal, but some.

Walsh, 22, broke the world record for the 100m butterfly three times (including twice in a day). She won nine individual NCAA titles in four seasons in Virginia (25 widespread pools) and won five individual gold medals at the world’s world short course (25 -meter swimming pool) last December.

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In the Olympic pools used in long -term worlds (50 meters), Walsh has the best time in the world this year in the butterflies 50m and 100m and the 50m free. It is also the fastest of 100m free. In addition, it should swim on three American relays that could take gold in Singapore. The meeting begins on Saturday evening in the United States, live Peacock.

Less than two years ago, Walsh was aware of those who labeled him as a “bathtub swimmer” – that it was more successful in smaller and short -term pools than in Olympic pools that require more cerebral vascular accidents.

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Now she could earn the most medals from all swimmers in these long -term worlds. Missy Franklin’s female record six titles in a single edition (more relay individuals) is not out of the question.

If it was not already clear, Walsh made his ambitions known during his chosen the best women’s university athlete in the country in all sports on June 30.

“It’s weird now, my personal records being the fastest of all time”, ” She said Almost during the Honda Cup ceremony. “It was totally a different mental game for myself, and I had to approach sport differently, but I really appreciate a challenge. This is what sports are. So I can’t wait to beat more world records, hopefully, and get up on the podium in Worlds because I have never made the top of the podium during a summer world championship, so it’s a new goal of mine.

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The 6 -foot Walsh 1 inch has regularly climbed at that time.

2016: Qualified for the Olympic tests of Rio nine days before the competition and was, at 13, the youngest of more than 1,500 swimmers there.
2021: Fifth of the 50m free at the Tokyo Olympic tests after its last year of high school at the Harpeth Hall in Nashville (old old: Tracy Caulkins, undoubtedly the best overall swimmer in American history).
2022: World championship team failed by a hundredth of a second at 50m free.
2023: First World Championship Team, bronze in the 50m Fly, plus two relay medals.
2024: First world record (Olympic tests, 100 m of fly), the first Olympic team (four medals in Paris, including 100m in fly silver and three relay medals).

Virginia coach Todd Desorbo is organizing annual goal fixing sessions with his swimmers (eight current or future riders have made this world team).

Walsh said that her priority for this summer was to go faster in the final than in the semi-finals-which she did not do the 100m at the fly at the 2023 world championships, at the 2024 Olympic tests and at the Paris Games (where she swam a record Olympic period in the semi-finals).

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“It’s my Super Bowl,” she told NBC Sports in the spring of the semi-finals. “And then during the finals, I become nervous, or something is just not going well. I do not perform the race I wanted.”

Walsh, a major in finance, took a stress and anxiety management course in Charlottesville.

“I wanted to remove lessons from this to help me balance my life, then also enjoy my last year (from the university), to enjoy moments, to be present”, ” She said on “kick with Walsh sisters”, “ A YouTube program that she welcomes with the older sister Alex, also an Olympic swimming medalist.

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DESORBO changed training after the Olympic Games, to the great approval of its students: to go from five training sessions per week in the long -term swimming pool to one, with the vast majority in a 25 yards swimming pool instead.

After Christmas, there was no practice in a swimming pool of 50 meters before the NCAA championships in March. After that, they went again to the majority of the training in the largest pool.

During its first meeting in a 50 -meter swimming pool, Walsh broke 53 seconds in 100m free for the first time (fifth the fastest American in history), broke its own American record in the 50m fly (second faster in history in the world) and broke its own world record in the 100m fly in prelime and in the final.

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“I think the way we approached, it really helped her,” said Desorbo about the training changes, “because there was no pressure. There was no expectations.”

The first individual Walsh event in Worlds is its brand: The 100m Fly (final on Monday morning in the United States). In 2025, no other woman in the world was less than 1.5 seconds from the last world record in Walsh.

If it flies, it could be the beginning of an unforgettable week.

“Overall, I want to go the best moments, reduce certain records,” said Walsh, “and get gold.”

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