Gretchen Walsh Resets 100 IM World Record In 55.71

2024 Short Course World Championships

It’s all gas and no brakes for Gretchen Walsh at the Short Course World Championships as the American superstar continued to rewrite the record books in the semi-finals of the women’s 100 IM.

Walsh was too fast for everyone, even the cameramen, as she rocketed to a time of 55.71, knocking 27 one-hundredths off the world record of 55.98 she set two months ago during a time trial at her home pool in Virginia.

The 21-year-old was significantly faster than she was in October on the first 50, turning in a blazing 24.76 at the 50, more than three-tenths under her world record pace.

Split Comparison

After becoming the first swimmer sub-56 in history two months ago, Walsh now owns the two fastest swims of all-time and stands as the fastest woman ever by eight-tenths of a second.

Hungarian Katinka Hosszu previously held the world record at 56.51, set in 2017, while American Kate Douglass has produced some of the fastest swims of all-time over the past few months, including a 56.57 clocking at the Singapore stop of the World Cup.

All-Time Performances, Women’s 100 IM (SCM)

1. Gretchen Walsh (USA), 55.71 – 2024
2. Gretchen Walsh (USA), 55.98 – 2024
3. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 56.51 – 2017
4. Kate Douglass (USA), 56.57 – 2024
5. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 56.67 – 2015

Douglass posted a quick time of 56.88 in the semis to qualify 2nd into the final behind Walsh, while Mary-Sophie Harvey broke the Canadian Record in 57.19 to advance 3rd into the final and rank #5 all-time.

All-Time Performers, Women’s 100 IM (SCM)

1. Gretchen Walsh (USA), 55.71 – 2024
2. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 56.51 – 2017
3. Kate Douglass (USA), 56.57 – 2024
4. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 57.10 – 2017
5. Mary-Sophie Harvey (CAN), 57.19 – 2024

Diving deep into the 25-meter splits below, we can see that Walsh was the fastest swimmer on fly, back and free, and wasn’t too far behind the fastest swimmer on breast, which was Douglass.

South African Rebecca Meder added a new African Record of 57.69 to qualify for the final in fourth.

The performance from Walsh came after she won gold and broke the American Record in the final of the women’s 100 free, which marked her third gold medal of the event.