Washington (United States) (AFP) – American swimmer Gretchen Walsh broke her own 50-meter freestyle short course world record with a victory in 22.75 seconds at the World Prep Pro-Am meet in Charlottesville, Virginia. Walsh’s effort on Friday night in the 25-meter pool at the University of Virginia, where she competed collegiately, lowered her former mark of 22.83, set at the 2024 short course world championships in Budapest.
Walsh had also set a 100m individual medley world record in the same pool in October 2024 just ahead of breaking the mark two months later in Hungary. Walsh also won the 50 butterfly title on Friday in 24.02, the sixth-fastest short-course time ever in the event, to beat runner-up Claire Curzan by .83 of a second.
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Swimmers were training ahead of December’s World Short Course Championships in Beijing, with the United States trials for that meet coming in two weeks in suburban Chicago. Walsh won seven gold medals, five individually, at the 2024 short course worlds and three golds in last year’s long-course worlds at Singapore. She swam on two gold-medal relays at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
© 2024 AFP
