Walsh sets new 50m freestyle world record days after Douglass mark

USA swimming star Gretchen Walsh has set a new world record for the women’s 50m freestyle.

Gretchen Walsh broke the women’s 50m freestyle world record on Sunday at the Sette Colli International Trophy in Rome, lowering a mark that had already been beaten this month.

The 23-year-old clocked 23.55 seconds, breaking the ⁠previous record of 23.59 set by fellow American Kate Douglass earlier this month ⁠at a US Pro Swim Series event in Indianapolis.

In May, Walsh bettered her own 100m butterfly world record for the third time in a year, posting 54.33 seconds in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

With the 50m freestyle mark, Walsh has now broken a world record 21 times.

She also got two relay gold medals at the 2024 Paris ⁠Olympics and won her first individual long-course world title in July last year at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, where she took gold in the women’s 100m butterfly.

“I would feel a lot of regret if I left the time like this on the table and never was able to go (at) it again, so I say the more the merrier,” Walsh told swimming ⁠news outlet SwimSwam after breaking her newest ⁠record.

“I’m going to ⁠keep trying to break world records in everything because that’s what it takes to be at the level that I’m at.”

Walsh is viewed as a top contender for the U.S. heading into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, with multiple world records and a world championship already to her name.

“Maybe some eyes will be on me more so than ever now and I’m ready for the challenge to handle that pressure especially at a home Olympics, so I’m here, bring it on!” she added.