Gretchen Walsh sets 100 meter butterfly world record at US Olympic trials

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gretchen Walsh set a world record in the women’s 100-meter butterfly Saturday night, clocking 55.18 seconds in a semifinal at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials.

Walsh was more than half a second under the world record at the turn and held on to eclipse the mark of 55.48 set by Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

“I definitely felt it,” said Walsh, who considers herself a stronger swimmer in the short course pool. “I thought I was dying. I didn’t know I was going that fast and apparently I took it out that fast.”

Do not worry. Walsh held her left hand over her mouth as she stared in disbelief at the scoreboard, a “WR” next to her name.

“There was a little buzz there,” she said. “I think before tonight I knew it was going to take a (55) point-4 or I guess a point-5, but I didn’t think I was going to do it tonight. I just knew I wanted to go fast. time and now here I am – a world record holder.

Walsh, a 21-year-old native of Nashville, Tennessee, who competes for the University of Virginia, still has work to do to claim a spot on his first Olympic team.

In the final on Sunday evening, she will face a strong field including Torri Huske, Regan Smith and Claire Curzan, all Tokyo Games medalists.

But Walsh believes she can go even faster.

“I still have room to improve in this race,” she said.

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AP Sports Writer Michael Marot contributed to this report.

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