2025 U.S. World Trials Previews: Gretchen Walsh In Control Of The Women’s 50 Butterfly

2025 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, June 3 – Saturday, June 7, 2025
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Indiana University Natatorium
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• World Championship Selection Criteria
• SwimSwam Preview Index

Women’s 50 Butterfly – By The Numbers

• World Record: 24.43 – Sarah Sjöström, Sweden (2014)
• American Record: 24.93 – Gretchen Walsh (2025)
• 2023 U.S. National Champion: Gretchen Walsh – 25.11
• World Aquatics ‘A’ Cut: 26.23

Walsh’s World

The 50 butterfly has been a key event in Gretchen Walsh’s domination over the past six months. Walsh broke her American record at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim, blazing a 24.93 that makes her just the second woman to break 25 seconds in the event’s history. That performance followed a sensational outing at the 2024 Short Course World Championships, where she broke Therese Alshammer’s super-suited world record and became the first woman to break 24 seconds in the short-course 50 butterfly.

Walsh has taken the sprint butterfly world by storm since her world record performance in the 100-meter butterfly. Two years ago, she set the American record in the 50 butterfly at 25.11 as part of a strong performance at the 2023 U.S. National Championships and went on to win bronze in Fukuoka.

Two years later, Walsh returns to the World Championships with a much more decorated resume as she begins her professional career. Sarah Sjöström has ruled this event for years now, but as she’s not racing this season, the runway is truly clear for Walsh to fly ahead of the competition in this event. Her American record performance this month makes her the fastest woman in the world this season.

All-Time Top Ten U.S. Performers In Indy 

The second fastest woman in the world this season is Walsh’s Virginia teammate Kate Douglass. Walsh drew the spotlights with her 24.93 swim in Fort Lauderdale, but Douglass had a strong swim of her own in the sun. She swam a 25.39 lifetime best, which makes her the third-fastest American woman in history, six-hundredths behind Torri Huske.

Huske also raced the 50 butterfly in Fort Lauderdale, but in the ‘B’ final. She’d won the 200 freestyle ‘B’ final in a lifetime best earlier in the session with a 1:57.71. Huske also collected the 50 butterfly ‘B’ final win, swimming a 26.23 that exactly hits the World Aquatics ‘A’ cut. It’s a ways off her lifetime best of 25.33 from the 2023 U.S. Nationals that makes her the second-fastest American woman.

Torri Huske (photo: Jack Spitser)

It’s possible Huske was using Fort Lauderdale as a test for pulling the same double next week in Indianapolis. The 200 freestyle and 50 butterfly both fall on Day 2 of the 2025 U.S. National Championships. The 200 freestyle is first, while the 50 butterfly closes the session. It’s do-able, and it’s possible we see Huske on the psych sheet in both and she makes a decision as the meet progresses.

The double is tougher for Douglass as the 200 breaststroke is also on Day 2. There is the 200 backstroke between the two, but the bigger problem for Douglass would be the World Championships, where the women’s 200 breaststroke final is directly before the 50 butterfly semifinals in the new schedule. Douglass is a versatile swimmer and it’s possible we see her focus on new events in the post-Olympic year, but it would be a surprise to see her completely forgo the 200 breaststroke in favor of the 50 butterfly.

Similarly, though Regan Smith fired off a lifetime best 25.63 in Fort Lauderdale that ranks her as the seventh-fastest American woman in history, it’s unlikely we see her in this final. The conflict remains at the World Championships, with the 200 backstroke and 50 butterfly semifinals on the same day, which also likely counts Claire Curzan out of this final. She was third in the event at the 2023 U.S. Nationals and is the fourth-fastest American performer with her lifetime best 25.43. However, backstroke has been Curzan’s focus for the last year and she scratched this event at the 2024 World Championships. She and Smith almost certainly will be focused on the 200 backstroke at this meet. That said, Smith and Douglass both have a history of taking on tough doubles, so they could take on this race, which is relatively low stakes for them on this stage. It’s less likely Curzan tries the double as she focuses on returning to the senior international team roster through a qualification meet for the first time since 2022.

The 2023 U.S. National Finalists  

This year’s U.S. National final will be very different than it was two years ago. In addition to Curzan likely skipping this race, Abbey Weitzeil, Natalie Hinds, Olivia Bray, and Katharine Zenick are either not competing this season or have retired.

Beata Nelson (photo: Jack Spitser)

That leaves Beata Nelson as the only woman from the championship final two years ago joining Walsh and Huske in this year’s field. Nelson has looked solid through the early racing this season. She has a season-best of 26.21 from Fort Lauderdale that makes her the fourth-fastest American this season.

Nelson has continued to improve in sprint butterfly this season, swimming a season-best 58.35 in the 100 butterfly at the MAC Midwest Invitational that was faster than she went in Fort Lauderdale. She’s been as fast as 25.95 in her career; that combined with her in-season swims makes her one of the favorites to finish in the top half of this final, though she’ll likely need a lifetime best to be one of the first two swimmers to the wall.

Looking past the ‘A’ final, there aren’t a lot of swimmers returning from the 2023 ‘B’ final either. We aren’t expecting Olivia Peoples, Ava Longi, Julia Heimstead, Emma Sticklen, or Abby Daniel in the field. Brady Kendall has swum one long-course meet since the 2025 NCAA Championships. She didn’t race the 50 butterfly, but did swim 1:00.78 in the 100 butterfly.

Gabi Albiero raced the first two stops of the Mare Nostrum tour, swimming a season-best 27.12 in Barcelona. Albiero owns a lifetime best 26.46 which makes her a solid candidate to move up into the ‘A’ final.

Teenagers On The Hunt

Photo courtesy Mena Boardman

That final in Fort Lauderdale may prove to have had a majority of the 2025 U.S. National finalists as teens Mena Boardman and Charlotte Crush have both turned in promising early season swims. Boardman finished fifth in that Fort Lauderdale final, clocking a lifetime best 26.24 that puts her a hundredth from the World Aquatics ‘A’ Cut. It was a big drop for the high school junior and Texas commit, whose former lifetime best stood at 27.33 which was her opening 50 during the 100 butterfly at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Tennessee commit Charlotte Crush was eighth in the Fort Lauderdale final, swimming a season-best 26.38 in prelims before posting 26.56 in the final. Her lifetime best is a 26.18 from July 2023, but her improvements in her other butterfly events suggest that she has a drop in store. She was the ‘B’ final winner at the 2023 U.S. National Championships and stands to upgrade to the big final.

Potential Finals Threats

The ‘C’ final winner was Louisville freshman Caroline Larsen. Larsen has started translating the gains she made in the yards pool during her freshman season at Louisville to meters. However, it will be interesting to see if she keeps the 50 butterfly on her schedule. There’s no obvious conflict for her, but her focus during her freshman season with the Cardinals was on sprint freestyle and breaststroke, so it’s possible that shift is reflected in her Nationals schedule.

But, if she is in the field, she has a lifetime best of 26.75 which she scared with a 26.77 for 11^th at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim.

Leah Shackley (photo: Jack Spitser)

Leah Shackley has made herself an interesting dark horse pick in the sprint backstroke/butterfly events after an excellent first NCAA season with the Wolfpack. Shackley has taken on a wide range of events as she raced at many long-course meets this spring. It’s hard to know where she’ll chose to focus after swimming a lifetime best in the 200 backstroke this month.

Of course, Shackley could swim both events and if she’s aiming to qualify in as many events as possible for World University Games, it’s easier to see her taking on the 200 backstroke/50 butterfly double than it is someone like Smith. If she opts for the butterfly sprint, she’ll bring a season-best of 26.61 and a lifetime best 26.20.

Other women who don’t typically focus on the 50 butterfly but could dip their toe into the new Olympic event are Alex Shackell and Simone Manuel. Both are inside the top 10 in the 50 butterfly national rankings this season as Manuel swam 26.46 in Westmont and Shackell a 26.57 opening her 100 butterfly in Fort Lauderdale.

Another name to keep an eye on is Erika Connolly (nee Brown). She’s only raced once since the Olympic Games, making an appearance at the Westmont Pro Swim to race the 50 freestyle/50 butterfly, signaling a potential focus shift for this year (or the next Olympic cycle). Connolly swam 26.68 for seventh in Westmont and has been as fast as 26.64.

Finally, it’s worth keeping an eye on the quartet of high schoolers that are hovering around 27-low this season. Lily Archibald (27.10), Lucy Velte (27.11), Emma Grace Richardson (27.23), and Annam Olasewere (27.31) could all pop a big lifetime best and mount a challenge for a lane in the final.

SwimSwam Picks

Dark Horse: Annika Parkhe – Annika Parkhe finished second in the 2023 U.S. Nationals ‘C’ final to Caroline Larsen. She owns a lifetime best of 27.08 that puts her in the mix to challenge for a lane in the final. She hasn’t raced since finishing her freshman season at Stanford at the 2025 NCAA Championships, so there’s a question mark on what kind of speed she’s carrying into the long-course season but her best puts her right in the mix. Her Stanford teammate Gigi Johnson is one to keep an eye on as well. Her lifetime best is a 27.57 from 2023, but her 22.57 50-yard butterfly split at 2025 NCAAs (her last competition) suggests she can dip under that if she races in Indianapolis.