American Olympic champion Gretchen Walsh continued her sparkling year by breaking the 15-year-old world record in the 50-meter butterfly on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old recorded a time of 24.02 in the 50m butterfly heats on the opening morning of the World Short Course Championships in Budapest. The previous record was held by Sweden’s Therese Alshammar, whose time of 24.38 came during the so-called ‘shiny suit’ era in 2009, when records fell regularly.
Welsh said she believed she could go faster. “Definitely a great way to start the meeting, the best way I could have. I think I have a lot more to offer in that race – just some details that I could fine-tune and execute a little bit better,” she said after the race. “So I’m hopefully looking forward to the semi-finals and finals, I’m just getting better and better so I’m definitely excited for tonight.”
Welsh, who is currently a student at the University of Virginia, has now set two individual world records this year: the other came in the 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. She also won two gold medals – in the 4x100m mixed medley and the 4x100m individual medley – at this summer’s Olympic Games. At the Paris Games she won individual silver in the 100 meter butterfly.