UVA swimmer Gretchen Walsh sets new Olympic record in 100M butterfly

Gretchen Walsh is already making history at the Olympics. The Virginia Cavaliers swimmer set a new Olympic record in the 100m butterfly on Saturday afternoon.

Walsh came in with a time of 55.38, winning her semifinal heat by more than a second. She finished with the fastest time in the semifinals and seems to be in a good spot as she hopes to win the Gold medal. The women’s 100m butterfly finals will be held on Sunday.

Gretchen Walsh is competing in her first Olympics after qualifying in the 100m fly, 50m free and 4×100 relay. She won seven national titles this past season, helping Virginia to its fourth straight national championship.

While this is her first Olympics, Walsh did win gold in the 100 medley relay at the world championships.

The United States of America also won the other 100m butterfly semifinal as Torri Huske came in with a time of 56.00.

It will be interesting to see if Walsh and Huske can finish 1-2 for the United States in the finals on Sunday. The race will take place at 2:45 p.m.

As for the rest of Sunday’s swimming action, it will begin at 5 a.m. with prelims for the men’s 200m freestyle, 400m individual medley and 100m backstroke. The women’s 100m breaststroke and 200m freestyle prelims will also take place early Sunday morning.

Afternoon action will be headlined by the men’s 400m individual medley final, the women’s 100m butterfly final and the men’s 100m breaststroke final. There are also several semifinals races set for Sunday morning. It should be another entertaining day of swimming action.

The Olympics are taking place from Friday, July 26 through Sunday, Aug. 11 in Paris, France. Several new stars are sure to emerge over the next few weeks. Gretchen Walsh is already off to a great start.

Gretchen Walsh broke world record at U.S. Olympic Swim Trials

Gretchen Walsh setting an Olympic record is obviously incredibly impressive, but it’s not the only record she has set this summer.

Back in June, Walsh broke the world record in the 100m butterfly at the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials.

Her time of 55.18 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials broke Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström’s previous world record time of 55.48, which she set at the 2016 Olympics.

It was the first time an American swimmer broke a world record at the Olympic trials since legendary Michael Phelps did so in 2008.

The Olympic swim trials were held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.