By Sean Griffin on SwimSwam
2025 Pro Swim Series – Fort Lauderdale
Wednesday, April 30 – Saturday, May 3, 2025 Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center LCM (50 meters) Meet Central Psych Sheets Live Results Live Recaps Prelims: Day 2 | Day 3 Finals: Day 1 (Timed Finals) | Day 2 | Day 3During the final preliminary session of the 2025 Pro Swim Series stop in Fort Lauderdale, Gretchen Walsh broke her own world record in the 100 butterfly by nine-hundredths of a second, touching in 55.09 to surpass her 55.18 mark from the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Trials last June.
Walsh opened in 25.54 through the first 50, which was 0.09 slower than her world record pace, but closed in a monstrous 29.55 — 18 hundredths quicker than she swam over the final lap in Indianapolis last summer.
Her sub-30 closing split this morning represents only the second time the 22-year-old has come home under that barrier, with the other being her world record swim. For context, she closed in 30.09 in the Olympic semifinal and 30.11 in the Olympic Trials final, where she notched her 3rd and 4th fastest swims ever.
While Walsh opened a few tenths slower than those swims this morning—25.54 compared to 25.20 in the Olympic Trials final and 25.29 in the Olympic semifinal—she still stayed within striking distance.
Walsh now owns four of the five fastest swims in the history of the event, with Sarah Sjostrom’s 55.48, her gold medal-winning swim from the 2016 Rio Olympics, remaining the only non-Walsh time on the list.
See a full splits comparison between her four swiftest swims ever, in addition to Sjostrom’s Rio clocking, below.
Splits Comparison:
Walsh’s New World Record Walsh US Trials – Semis (Former World Record) Walsh US Trials– Final (#3 Performance All-Time) Walsh Olympic- Semis (#4 Performance All-Time) Sjostrom- 2016 Rio (Fastest Non-Walsh Swim Ever) First 50 25.54 25.45 25.20 25.29 26.01 Second 50 29.55 29.73 30.11 30.09 29.47 Total Time 55.09 55.18 55.31 55.38 55.48All-Time Top 5 Women’s LCM 100 Butterfly Performances:
Gretchen Walsh, 55.09 (2025 Ft. Lauderdale Pro Swim Series-Prelims) Gretchen Walsh, 55.18 (2024 US Trials-Semis) Gretchen Walsh, 55.31 (2024 US Trials-Finals) Gretchen Walsh, 55.38 (2024 Olympics-Semis) Sarah Sjostrom, 55.48 (2016 Olympics)Walsh’s swim this morning marks her 15th world record in the past year, having broken the aforementioned 100 fly at Trials, helped Team USA to two relay records in Paris, and set 11 total records at Short Course Worlds last December.
Todd Desorbo-coached Walsh made history last night too, becoming only the second woman in world history to dip under the 25-second barrier in the 50 fly, where she broke her own American record with a time of 24.93. Previously, Sjostrom, the six-time defending world champion in the event, who is sitting out this season after announcing her pregnancy, was the only woman in that range.
Walsh also made headlines on Thursday with her first-ever sub-53 performance in the 100 free. Clocking 52.90, Walsh defeated the Olympic silver medalist in the event, Torri Huske (52.95), and Kate Douglass, the 2023 U.S. National Champion and 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials winner (53.61).
Outside of the long course pool, Walsh has firmly established herself as the top short course swimmer on the planet. While her dominance in short course yards was already evident during her standout career at the University of Virginia, she finally had the opportunity to showcase that ability in short course meters last year—and did so in spectacular fashion.
She exploded at the Short Course World Championships this past December. There, she earned seven gold medals, set 11 world records across six different events (including two relays), and rewrote the record books in the 50 free (22.83), 50 fly (23.94), 100 fly (52.71), and 100 IM (55.11). She also posted the second-fastest time ever in the 100 free at 50.31.
Walsh’s big breakout on the long course international stage began at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, where she opened with the previous world record in the 100 fly. She also qualified in the 50 and 100 free events. At the Paris Games, she claimed silver in the 100 fly (55.63, behind Huske), finished 4th in the 50 free (24.21), and touched 8th in the 100 free (53.04). She also earned three relay medals: two golds in the women’s 4×100 medley and mixed 4×100 medley relays, and one silver in the 4×100 free relay.
Walsh, assuming she safely qualifies at the U.S. World Trials next month, is the heavy favorite for gold in both the 50 and 100 fly at the World Championships and a serious medal threat in both sprint free events.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Gretchen Walsh Breaks Her Own 100 Fly World Record With 55.09 In Ft. Lauderdale Prelims
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