University of Virginia fourth-year student Gretchen Walsh broke two individual world records Tuesday at a swim meet in Budapest, Hungary, and teamed with alumna Kate Douglass as part of a relay team that broke another – all in the first day of competition.
Competing in the 2024 World Aquatics 25M Championships, Walsh broke the 50-meter butterfly record in a preliminary race and then broke it again in the semifinals. That record had stood for 15 years. Walsh became the first woman to swim the 50-meter butterfly in under 24 seconds, finishing in 23.94 seconds.
Douglass netted a world record in the 200-meter individual medley, posting a time of 2 minutes, 1.63 seconds. Walsh and Douglass, along with Katharine Berkoff and Alex Shackell, earned another world record in the 4x100 freestyle relay, at 3:25.01.
Seven current or former Wahoo swimmers are competing this week in the short-course championships, held in a 25-meter-pool – half the length of an Olympic-size pool.
