Before World Aquatic Championships this summer, Gretchen Walsh was convinced – despite her many successes – that long course swimming neutralizes her natural super power.

“I have great under waters, which are very effective in short course yards and meters, but with long course meters, they aren’t as dominant,” said Walsh, a multiple-time NCAA Champion and Short Course World Champion (100 freestyle, 50 butterfly) who graduated from the University of Virginia this past May. 

“And while I have great short course results, people often forget or overlook that I have a long course world record, so I’m excited about swimming both.”

While Walsh may have had doubts, her results in the water say otherwise. 

Not only did she set the world record in the 100 butterfly last summer at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming, but she earned a silver in the event in Paris. She also won two gold medals and one silver medal on various relays.

Fast-forward to the TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale in early May, Walsh continued to prove herself wrong by lowering her own world mark in the 100 fly by becoming the first woman to break 55 seconds (54.60). 

She also broke the 53-second barrier for the first time to win the 100 freestyle in 52.90, and set a new American record and became the second woman in history to break 25 seconds in winning the 50 fly in 24.93.

Most recently, she cumulated 11 medals across World Aquatics Swimming World Cup events this past October, completing sweeps of three short-course meter events (50 fly, 100 fly, 100 IM) across the three legs of competition, and breaking a new world record in the 50 fly (23.72) along the way.

With all the successes of 2024 and 2025, Walsh has cemented herself as both a present and a future star of the U.S. National Team.

Worlds in her Hands

Walsh topped all of this by winning three gold medals (50 and 100 fly, 400 medley relay) at Worlds despite swimming through a stomach virus that impacted most of the team in Singapore. 

Her time of 54.73 set a Championship record in the 100 fly. She scratched the 100 freestyle, where she would have been a medal contender, and also missed swimming the 400 free relay due to the virus.

Suffice it to say, based on what she’s already accomplished – she’s always excited about finding and setting new goals. 

“I definitely need to keep working and finding new motivation because I have surpassed so many barriers I talked about prior to the season,” Walsh said. “I might have to get creative with goals, not make them time-based. 

“I think that helps me see it more as an opportunity to execute, versus having to go by a time. I’m really happy with where I’m at. It’s great to still be living and training in Charlottesville, Va., after graduating. I’m looking forward to the next part of my pro journey. It started on such a high note; this is going to be awesome.”

Now that she’s a college graduate, Walsh has the luxury of not having to think about exams and papers and can focus on long course swimming three years out from the Los Angeles Olympics – the first Summer Games on American soil since 1996 in Atlanta. 

Earlier this spring, a couple of weeks after NCAA Championships, she sat down with Virginia Coach Todd DeSorbo and mapped out a plan – both short-term in preparation for this summer and long-term as she looks toward 2028 and beyond. 

And while those plans remain unpublished between her and DeSorbo, Walsh said she is confident of one thing moving forward. 

She has more to do – and more to prove – in the water.

Familial Waters

The younger sister by 18 months to fellow National Teamer and Olympian Alex, Gretchen grew up in the water. Her mom, Glynis, swam at Syracuse University and wanted her daughters to have a sense of water safety and enjoy swimming.

What she discovered after a few practices was that both her daughters were quite special in the pool. 

Alex excelled right away, but for Gretchen, who her mom describes as a “daredevil” unafraid to try almost everything, it didn’t take right away. 

“Gretchen was so tiny and thin when she first started swimming that she wore a wet suit to keep warm,” Glynis said. “At first, she didn’t enjoy swimming – not structured swimming, anyway. In fact, one of her first races, she hit the wall and shouted ‘I hate this.’ She quit that same day. 

“But seeing her sister and friends continue to swim and have fun, she picked it back up, and she’s been in the water ever since.”

Within a few years, Walsh became the youngest swimmer (13) to qualify for and compete at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. A year later, she broke her own National Age Group record in the 50 yard freestyle for the girl’s 13–14 age group with a time of 22 seconds at the Speedo Junior Nationals East Championships in Knoxville.

Since then, she’s earned a series of progressive time drops that have placed her among the fastest female swimmers in the world. 

Doug Wharam, head coach at the Walsh sisters’ swim club in Nashville, attributes both swimmers’ success to strong parents who had regular involvement in their lives.

He said they knew when to push Alex and Gretchen, when to back off or take a day off, when to listen and when to seek advice from or give advice to their coaches. 

“Her parents could write a book on what to do right when raising swimmers or athletes; they have always been a united team,” Wharam said. “The support network they provide is incredibly important, and has been since they were young. 

“They provided so much insight into what was happening at home, school, etc. and how those things affected them in practice and during meets. They have been instrumental in helping both Alex and Gretchen achieve exceptional things.”

Despite their support, Glynis is the first to acknowledge what Gretchen has achieved and continues to achieve is because of her commitment to the sport, work ethic and desire to win.

“When I watched them (she and Alex) swim as kids, I knew they had natural talent, so it’s always been my objective to help pace them and make sure they don’t burn out,” she said. “It’s always been up to them. I just wanted to help them get where they were going however I could. 

“I don’t want to get in the way. Alex broke down doors; Gretchen ran right through them.”

Woman with a Plan

In her final spring as a collegiate swimmer, Walsh put together one of the most remarkable – and fastest – performances in the history of college swimming at this year’s NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

Over the course of five days, she broke multiple records, setting a new American, NCAA and U.S. Open mark of 46.97 in the finals of the 100 butterfly; swimming an NCAA and American record time of 20.37 to win the 50 freestyle; and sprinting to an NCAA and American record 44.71 for gold in the 100 freestyle.

With her time in the 100 fly, Walsh became the first woman ever to swim under 47 seconds in the event. 

“She set a new standard for women’s swimming at NCAA’s,” DeSorbo said.

After the meet, she took some time off to visit friends and decompress, but before the end of the month, she and DeSorbo sat down and mapped out her future. 

While being a member of a team and having others depending on you is something DeSorbo saw in Walsh each day in practice and at meets, he recognizes that swimming on her own may require more planning to continue to elevate her long-course strategy.

“Mutual trust is earned, and when Gretchen arrived on campus four years ago, she quickly embraced the way we train and the collective mindset we motivate athletes to achieve their best,” said DeSorbo, who coached the U.S. women in Paris last summer and has led Virginia to five straight NCAA titles. “She’s never been afraid to push herself in practice, and I don’t see that changing as she moves forward.

“The key for me as her coach is to identify what continues to motivate her. I’m really looking forward to seeing how far she takes her swimming over the next few years leading up to Los Angeles in 2028.”

Something to Prove

Walsh agrees, stating that the opportunity before her to focus on long-course training and strategizing presents a fresh opportunity to see where she can take her swimming. 

Despite all of her national and international success, she said, in her view, she still has more to accomplish and prove – and she wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“I’m definitely excited to see what I can do now that I can focus on training and swimming long-course meters and not yards,” said Walsh, who narrowly missed joining Alex on the 2020 Olympic team with a fifth-place finish in the 50 freestyle.

“I’ve got to learn to give myself grace more often and try to separate perfection from an actual experience. It’s important to me to be present for everything – the good and the not-so-good.”

With her former Virginia teammate Kate Douglass as a shining example – having gone pro at the end of the 2024 NCAA season and shined brightly at last summer’s Olympics with two gold and two silver medals along with three more gold and two silver at Worlds – Walsh knows she has a friend to lean on as her role continues to evolve and questions arise.

She also has her family, friends, coaches and support of USA Swimming as she forges her own path into the professional phase of her life – however long that might last and wherever it might lead.

“I have a tremendous support team around me, and I know I can rely on them for whatever I need as much as I need, and it helps to have Alex there as we move forward together,” Walsh said.

“We’ve always been each other’s biggest supporters – being there when things go well and when they don’t – and I feel very fortunate to have her and everyone else with me on this journey. I can’t wait to see where things go from here.”