Nashville’s Gretchen Walsh qualified for her first Olympics in record-setting fashion over the weekend.
The Harpeth Hall School graduate set a world record in the 100-meter women’s butterfly on Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, capturing her semifinal heat in 55.18 seconds at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. She broke Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjöström’s 55.48 mark from 2016.
“I didn’t think I was going to do it tonight,” Walsh told press after the race. “I just knew that I wanted to go a best time, and now, here I am, world record holder. It’s actually insane.”
But there was still work to be done.
The 21-year-old Walsh followed up her record-shattering performance by winning the 100-meter women’s butterfly final on Sunday, posting a time of 55.31 and automatically qualifying her for the Paris Olympics beginning next month. She finished ahead of Torri Huske (55.52) and Regan Smith (55.62).
Walsh previously failed to qualify for the 2021 U.S. Olympic team and 2022 World Championships.
She credited the support of her sister, Harpeth Hall grad Alex Walsh, as well as USA Swimming Women’s Olympic head coach Todd DeSorbo. The latter is also the head coach at the University of Virginia, where both Walsh sisters swim.
“Alex and Todd have been with me every step of the way since last trials, and this was a full-circle moment for me and for them,” Walsh said. “This whole journey has been full of ups and downs. But I'm just really happy to be on such a high right now and have them alongside me experiencing it.”
Walsh is also entered in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle at the trials, which run through June 23.
Alex Walsh, meanwhile, is scheduled to compete in the 200-meter individual medley, the 100-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter breaststroke. The 22-year-old won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, finishing second in the 200-meter individual medley. She also competes for DeSorbo at Virginia, which has won four straight NCAA championships.
A total of five Harpeth Hall grads qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials in swimming.
In addition to the Walsh sisters, Ella Nelson, a 2019 Harpeth Hall graduate and 2024 Virginia graduate, will compete in the 200-meter breaststroke and the 400-meter individual medley; Alex Massey ’20, currently swimming at Yale University, will participate in the 200-meter butterfly; and Maggie Petty ’24, a University of California-Berkeley signee, will enter the 50-meter freestyle.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
