US swimmer Gretchen Walsh breaks 50m freestyle world record days after rival sets new mark
The 23-year-old has now broken a world record 21 times, is viewed as a top contender for the US heading into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
American swimmer Gretchen Walsh broke the women’s 50 metres freestyle world record on Sunday at the Sette Colli International Trophy in Rome, lowering a mark that had already been beaten this month.
The 23-year-old clocked 23.55 seconds, breaking the previous record of 23.59 set by compatriot Kate Douglass earlier this month at a United States Pro Swim Series event in Indianapolis.
In May, Walsh bettered her own 100m butterfly world record for the third time in a year, posting 54.33 seconds in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
With the 50m freestyle mark, Walsh has now broken a world record 21 times.
She also got two relay gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics and won her first individual long-course world title in July last year at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, where she took gold in the women’s 100 butterfly.
“I would feel a lot of regret if I left the time like this on the table and never was able to go [at] it again, so I say the more the merrier,” Walsh told swimming news outlet SwimSwam after breaking her newest record.