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It was a night to remember in Singapore as sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club) delivered standout performances for USA Swimming during the second night of the World Aquatics Championships.

Gretchen Walsh continued her impressive international rise, powering to a gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 54.73, setting a championship record. The performance ranks as the second-fastest time in history and was her first individual long course World Championship medal.

Veteran Alex Walsh added to the momentum with a silver medal in the 200m individual medley, clocking 2:08.58. With the performance, she became the first American in history to win three World Championship medals in the event.

In semifinal action, Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Longhorn Aquatics) and Katherine Berkoff (Missoula, Mont./Wolfpack Elite) position themselves well heading into tomorrow's final of the women's 100m backstroke. Smith swam a time of 58:21 to head in with the top seed, and Berkoff swam 58.79 to qualify fourth. Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y./New York Athletic Club) in women's 100m breaststroke (1:05.49) and Luke Hobson (Reno, Nev./Longhorn Aquatics) in the men's 200m freestyle (1:44.80) head to the finals as the top seed and teammate Gabriel Jett (Clovis, Calif./California Aquatics) also squeezed into the men's 200m freestyle final, placing eighth with a time of 1:45.60. 

Men’s 100m Breaststroke – FINAL

8 - Josh Matheny (Pittsburgh, Pa./Indiana Swim Club), 59.26

Women’s 100m Butterfly – FINAL

1 - Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club), 54.73*

*Championship record

Walsh on her championship record time: “I feel great about it. I was not expecting that time for myself. I think I've had to reevaluate my expectations for myself over the course of this meet. I know it's only been two days, but I wanted to go in just executing the race like I knew how. If that was going to be a 55, that was going to be 55, and I was going to be happy with that, but the fact that it was a 54.7, second fastest time ever, very close to my personal best and the world record, I'm over the moon. I'm really happy that when it mattered, I was able to do that and just get my hands on the wall.”

“I’m so happy to be under 55 again; it means everything. It was not easy. And I’m just really proud of myself for that time. And giving myself grace throughout this whole process.”

Men’s 100m Backstroke – Prelim

18 – Tommy Janton (Kennett Square, Pa./University of Notre Dame), 53.87

44 – Jack Aikins (Atlanta, Ga./SwimAtlanta), 56.54

Women’s 100m Breaststroke - Semifinal

1 – Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y./New York Athletic Club), 1:05.49

9 – Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club), 1:06.26

Douglass on her swim: “I am very happy with that swim, I think I did a good job of controlling it this morning and then building off of that tonight. I am excited to see if I can improve tomorrow.”

Women’s 100m Backstroke – Semifinal

1 – Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Longhorn Aquatics), 58.21

4– Katharine Berkoff (Missoula, Mont./Wolfpack Elite), 58.79

Men’s 200m Freestyle – Semifinal

1 – Luke Hobson (Reno, Nev./Longhorn Aquatics), 1:44.80

8 – Gabriel Jett (Clovis, Calif./California Aquatics), 1:45.60

Women’s 200m Individual Medley – FINAL

2 - Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club), 2:08.58

Walsh on the race: “I was really excited and obviously coming home on the freestyle, that’s definitely where my biggest weakness (is). I’m happy with the way that I was able to approach the race (and) my mindset. I was excited to be competitive and I’m happy with the first 150 meters, but definitely need to work on that last 50 meters. Hopefully, a best time somewhere in my future to get that elusive 2:06.”

Walsh on her time: “I definitely wanted to be faster. I’ve been 2:08 a lot of times in my career now. I wanted to be at least a low 2:07 or 2:06, that’s always been my goal for the past couple of years. I was really excited on the breaststroke portion of the race just because I could see Summer McIntosh and I felt competitive with her, so I was happy about that. But definitely a lot of things to work on heading into the Pan Pacific Championships next year and the rest of the quad.”

Competition continues tomorrow, Monday, July 28 at the World Aquatics Championships Arena. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. Singapore standard time/ 10 p.m. ET, while finals start at 7 p.m. Singapore standard time/ 7 a.m. ET. Tomorrow’s finals include the men’s 200m freestyle, women’s 1500m freestyle, women’s 100m backstroke and the women’s 100m breaststroke.