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 session of the 2025 Pro Swim Series stop in Fort Lauderdale, Gretchen Walsh made history, becoming the first woman to break 55 seconds in the 100 butterfly with a mind-boggling 54.60. The swim came after she had already broken her own world record earlier in prelims, clocking 55.09 to surpass her previous mark of 55.18 from the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Trials last June.
Walsh opened in 25.32 and brought it home in 29.28, pairing her third-fastest opening 50 with a massive back half to produce a 54.60. By comparison, her prelims swim saw her go out in 25.54 before closing in what was then her fastest back half ever, a 29.55.
The sprinter is widely known for her front-end speed, but her 29.28 on the final 50 ranks her 3rd all-time, with only Regan Smith (28.94) and Maggie MacNeil (29.09) closing faster. This newfound endurance at the end of the race has opened lots of doors for her in this event.
Walsh now owns the five fastest swims in the history of the 100 fly, bumping Sarah Sjostrom’s 55.48—her gold medal-winning performance from the 2016 Rio Olympics—out of the all-time top five.
See a full splits comparison between Walsh’s five quickest swims ever, below.
Walsh’s Top 5 LCM 100 Butterfly Splits Comparison:
Walsh’s Final World Record Walsh’s Prelim World Record Walsh US Trials – Semis (Former World Record) Walsh US Trials– Final (#3 Performance All-Time) Walsh Olympic- Semis (#4 Performance All-Time) First 50 25.32 25.54 25.45 25.20 25.29 Second 50 29.28 29.55 29.73 30.11 30.09 Total Time 54.60 55.09 55.18 55.31 55.38All-Time Top 5 LCM 100 Butterfly Performances:
Gretchen Walsh, 54.60 (2025 Ft. Lauderdale Pro Swim Series-Final) 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)Split Comparison, Top 5 LCM 100 Butterfly Performers’ Performances:
Swimmer (Meet) First 50 Second 50 (Total Time) Gretchen Walsh (2024 U.S. Trials – Semis) 25.32 54.60 (29.28) Sarah Sjostrom (2016 Olympics) 26.01 55.48 (29.47) Torri Huske (2024 U.S. Trials – Final) 25.93 55.2 (29.59) Maggie MacNeil (2021 Olympics) 26.50 55.59 (29.09) Zhang Yufei (2020 Chinese Nationals) 25.71 55.62 (29.93) Regan Smith (2024 U.S. Trials – Final) 26.68 55.62 (28.94)Walsh’s swim tonight marks her 16th world record in the past year, having broken the aforementioned 100 fly at Trials and prelims, helped Team USA to two relay records in Paris, and set 11 total records at Short Course Worlds last December.
In addition to her historic 100 fly performances today, the Todd-Desorbo-coached athlete made headlines yesterday as well, becoming only the second woman in world history to dip under the 25-second barrier in the 50 fly. 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 waves 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.
Race Video
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