2024 Olympic Previews: Walsh and Huske Lead an American 1-2 Punch in the Women’s 100 Fly

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
  • Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024
• La Défense Arena — Paris, France
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Schedule
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Olympic Swimming Entries as of July 12th

WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY — BY THE NUMBERS:

• World Record: 55.18 – Gretchen Walsh, USA (2024)
• World Junior Record: 56.43 – Claire Curzan, USA (2021)
• Olympic Record: 55.48 – Sarah Sjostrom, SWE (2016)
• 2021 Olympic Champion: 55.59 – Maggie MacNeil, CAN

With almost the entire final from 2021 set to return, the women’s 100 butterfly was already set to be one of the most loaded fields of the entire Olympic Games. However, with a new World Record at the US Olympic Trials meet, Gretchen Walsh added a whole other layer of excitement to the race, which is shaping up to be one of the greatest in history. 

Returning Tokyo Finalists

Out of the 8 finalists from Tokyo, 6 are set to return, with the only two exceptions being former world record holder Sarah Sjostrom and 8th place finisher Anastasiya Shkurdai, which means that this field will have plenty of experience on the Olympic stage. 

The Podium/World Champions

In 2021, Canadian Maggie MacNeil solidified her superstar status, claiming her first Olympic gold medal with a time of 55.59. At the time, her mark set a new Canadian and Americas record, nearly taking down Sarah Sjostrom’s World Record mark of 55.48 from Rio. Behind MacNeil, there was an extremely tight finish as Zhang Yufei touched 2nd in a time of 55.64, holding off Australian Emma McKeon (55.72). McKeon touched only .01 ahead of American Torri Huske to claim the final spot on the podium.

Maggie Macneil (photo: Jack Spitser)

All 4 swimmers are set to compete in this event again in Paris, setting up one of the best rematches of the entire meet.

Huske enters the highest seed out of the quartet after swimming a time of 55.52 at the US Olympic Trials last month, a time that would’ve beat MacNeil in 2021. In fact, since Tokyo, Huske has become one of the most consistent racers on the international stage. At the 2022 World Championships, Huske managed to top the entire field en route to the gold medal in this event, winning in a time of 55.64. She also won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships, just behind Yufei and MacNeil. 

Yufei, the 2023 World Champion, currently holds the 3rd-fastest time on the entry lists with her 55.86 from the Asian Games last fall, following up her 56.12 from Worlds. She holds a best time of 55.62 from 2020, which at the time was one of the top times in history. However, Yufei’s participation at the Olympics won’t come without controversy, as she was one of 23 Chinese Swimmers who were recently revealed to have tested positive for the drug trimetazidine prior to the last Olympics in 2021. The World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) has cleared all 23 swimmers, including Yufei, of any wrongdoing in the case so she will be eligible to compete in Paris, barring any major changes. 

Following her gold medal performance in Tokyo, MacNeil actually did not contest this event at the 2022 World Championships, a decision she made alongside the Canadian team staff amidst her pressure from topping the Olympic field. Since then, however, she has cemented her legacy in the race with a silver medal at the 2023 World Championships and gold medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2023 Pan American Games. Though she hasn’t touched her time from Tokyo, MacNeil looked very smooth en route to victory at the Canadian Trials meet, swimming a time of 56.61 in the process. 

Like MacNeil, McKeon hasn’t quite hit her time from Tokyo in more recent years, however she’s consistently been one of the top ranked swimmers in the world in this race. McKeon posted a time of 56.58 at the Australian National Championships this year, later solidifying her spot at the Olympics with a victory at Australian Trials. Though her performances this season haven’t been near her best, McKeon likely hasn’t peaked yet and is coming off of an injury as she suffered a torn armpit muscle late last year. 

The Remaining Finalists

Louise Hansson (photo: Fabio Cetti)

It’s hard to ignore the absence of Sarah Sjostrom here as the Swedish star has been one of the world’s top performers in this event for over a decade. However, Sjostrom has shifted her priorities towards the 50/100 freestyle for Paris, leaving Louise Hansson as the sole representative for Sweden here. Hansson herself has a wealth of experience on the international stage, finishing 5th in this event in Tokyo. She most recently won a bronze medal at the 2024 World Championships, swimming a time of 56.94, her fastest time since Tokyo. Hansson has proven that she is capable of stepping up and even if she doesn’t make the podium here, she’ll play a vital role on Sweden’s relays as well. 

France’s Marie Wattel finished 6th in Tokyo and will be looking for a home field advantage in Paris. At the Tokyo Olympics, Wattel blasted a French record of 56.16 to place 2nd through the semi-finals of the race, though she ultimately settled for 6th in the final with a slight add (56.27). She came back in a big manner in 2022, claiming 2nd at the 2022 World Championships, resetting her national record again with a 56.14. Although Wattel hasn’t touched that time since, she has still thrown down consistent performances in the event, hitting 57s on several occasions. With that level of consistency, it wouldn’t be hard to see her make her second Olympic final in Paris, especially in front of a home crowd. 

The Walsh Effect

With so many contenders in this event, it’s almost insane to have gotten this far without talking about newly minted World Record holder Gretchen Walsh. 

Gretchen Walsh (photo: Jack Spitser)

Walsh, who didn’t even focus on the 100 butterfly until last year, broke through at last month’s US Olympic Trials to claim her first Olympic berth, shattering Sjostrom’s world record in the process. In the semi-finals of this race, Walsh blasted a time of 55.18, taking .3 off of Sjostrom’s 8-year-old World Record. Long called a “bathtub swimmer” by both casual and devoted fans of the sport, Walsh silenced her haters and established herself as the heavy gold medal favorite in just one swim. Though she couldn’t quite match that time in the final, Walsh still dropped a time of 55.31 to win the race, a time nearly .2 seconds faster than any other woman has ever gone. 

Even if she isn’t at her best, Walsh’s current marks stand so far ahead of the field that it almost seems inevitable that she will stand somewhere on the podium in Paris. It is also highly probable that she isn’t the only American on the podium given Huske’s presence. 

Rising Stars Lead Other Contenders

23-year-old Angelina Kohler is another rising star who could disrupt the returning Tokyo finalists. After finishing 5th in the 100 butterfly at the 2023 World Championships, Kohler produced a huge swim to win the World Championship title in 2024 with a time of 56.28. Earlier at the same meet, Kohler also dropped a new German Record and best time of 56.11, inserting herself right into the Olympic conversation. Though she will likely need to drop another half second to make the podium, Kohler is peaking at the right time with some of the best swims of her career, making her one to watch. 

Though much more known for her prowess in the 200 IM, Yu Yiting currently holds one of the top entry times in the 100 butterfly with her 56.82 from the Chinese National Championships earlier this year. She and countrymate Yufei could prove to be one of the best 1-2 duos in the race. 

Rikako Ikee (photo: Fabio Cetti)

Another 1-2 duo to watch for is the Japanese combo of Mizuki Hirai and Rikako Ikee. Hirai, the rapidly rising teenager, put the world on notice earlier this year when she dropped a time of 56.33 in the 100 fly at a Chinese high school meet. Her mark reset Claire Curzan’s World Junior Record of 56.43, though it has yet to be officially ratified by World Aquatics. In just over a year, Hirai has dropped over 2 seconds from her best time, marking a rapid improvement that cannot be ignored in Paris. Ikee, the current Japanese record holder, has also shown an incredible rise, though in a different sense. After quickly rising to swimming prominence between 2016 and 2018, Ikee was diagnosed with Leukemia in early 2019 and was in treatment for a year, during which she was unable to train. She re-entered the pool in 2020, setting out to eventually qualify for the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games as a relay swimmer. However, she made her goal of qualifying for Paris individually very apparent, and managed to do so by posting a time of 57.30 en route to silver at the Japanese Olympic Trials. 

The Verdict: 

It’s hard to ignore the Walsh-Huske duo and even harder to consider a situation where there isn’t at least one American on the podium. It’s also worth noting that there are actually 3 Americans that could theoretically have finished in the top 3 here, as Regan Smith currently ranks 3rd in the world this year with her 55.62 from US Trials. However, she finished 3rd in that race behind Huske and Walsh, not qualifying for a spot in Paris. 

The rest of the field seems extremely tight and there’s a huge probability that a potential gold-medal favorite might not even make the podium. The way I currently see it, Walsh looks to be the easy gold-medal favorite with Huske coming in right behind her. It will be a battle of opening and closing speed as the remaining swimmers fight to the wall. Though I see reigning Olympic Champion MacNeil picking up another medal here, I think that Yufei will also be extremely close to making the podium. Like Tokyo, there could be a situation where the top 4 swimmers are separated by only a tenth or so. 

SwimSwam’s Picks: 

Darkhorse Pick: Alexandria Perkins (AUS) – 23-year-old Alexandria Perkins had a huge meet at the Australian Olympic Trials, dropping a personal best of 57.10 in this event in prelims before finishing 2nd in finals to punch her ticket to Paris. With McKeon’s stronghold over this event in Australia, her rise might have gone relatively unnoticed. However, she could be in the position to make some waves at her first Olympic Games.