While filming at the University of Virginia recently, SwimSwam sat down with Alex Walsh, who has had quite the rollercoaster year in the pool. Walsh started the season with a historic NCAA season, going some of the fastest times ever en route to individual titles in the 200 IM, 400 IM, and 200 breast.
Later in the year, she qualified for her 2nd Olympics in the 200 IM. In Paris, Walsh initially touched for 3rd in the final but was ultimately DQed for an illegal turn.
After getting meniscus surgery in the fall, Walsh returned to competition at the 2024 Short Course World Championships, where she won 5 medals, including gold in the 4×200 free relay, silver in the 200 IM, and bronze in the 200 breast.
The battle between A. Walsh and K. Grimes (3:57.07 dated 12/20/24) in the 400 IM at the 2025 NCAA DI Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships should be a barn burner.
Based on personal best times, Alex Walsh should be the prohibitive favorite in the 200 BR and 200 IM at the 2025 NCAA DI Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships.
How can you ignore Torri Huske in the 200 IM? Last they met, Torri beat her
If you had not noticed, Alex Walsh has become faster in the 200 IM and the 400 IM since the 2023 NCAA DI Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships.
AW is extremely talented but I fear she is in a similar position as Katie Grimes without a clear path to individual gold in LCM.
Regan too
Haha I guess people disagree but Regan has to get through McKeown or McIntosh to get individual LC gold and has never been able to do it. It’s possible (closer to McKeown than McIntosh) but definitely not a clear path.
Very different between them though. Physically Regan is clearly capable of doing it given that she swam the 2 fastest 100 backs of all time this year, while AW and Grimes at their best in best events are still comfortably behind the gold medal favorites in their best events
Very true but the OP phrased it as “clear path” and while she has an easier path than Walsh it’s anything but clear. I would however say McKeown and McIntosh have clear paths.
Except Alex already has an individual gold from worlds 2022?
Yes she did. Forgot about that one. Glad she got it. Tough sledding go forward in the IMs
It’s much easier to win gold in the 200 IM when Summer McIntosh and Kate Douglass aren’t in the field. See also: Claire Curzan in Doha sweeping the backstroke events.
Nobody has a clear path to any medal at any meet like the Olympics. Her record and results have been amazing.She has nothing to prove to anyone..
You are aware most Olympians will never get a gold medal? Hell, most will never medal.
Most will never final actually
Walsh’s best time in the 200 IM is less than a half second away from McIntosh and Douglas. She also got back to her best albeit getting DQ’ed while barely training breaststroke kick due to her knee (per her on the unfiltered waters podcast). Summer and Kate also are very versatile athletes who have mixed up their lineups at big meets, so it’s not even a given they’ll be in the 200 IM. So outside of Summer in the 400 IM and Ledecky in the 1500, there’s no one with a crystal clear path to gold without any competition like Walsh will face in the 200 IM. Sprints are wide open without Sjostrom, 200 has Titmus/Mollie, 400 Titmus/Summer, 800 Ledecky/Titmus/Madden,… Read more »
I think some of you are being way too sensitive on this. I’m referring to favorites and predictions, something we do a lot of on SwimSwam. No one would predict AW to win a IM race in the Worlds/Olympics with a fully loaded field going forward. Could she win, yes because she’s that talented. But with everyone at 100%, I wouldn’t make that gold medal prediction. She can definitely get silver or bronze though
If she can nail her last 25 free in the 200 IM she could be the first one to go 2:05. However Douglass looks better and better in that event every meet, and then there’s McIntosh….so yeah it’ll be a challenge for sure, but I don’t think it’s as undoable as Grimes’ case. I think Walsh still has a very serious shot at the 200 IM
It is difficult to win a gold medal if you are not the best in your country in the category, both Smith and Grimes are the best nationally in their categories with American records. When you are great in several events like Alex but not the best, it is very difficult.
Between AW and Douglass they will both make any foreseeable int’l team in the 200 IM regardless of order between them, no one is close in the US to threaten their duo.
On the int’l stage, they’re also pretty much guaranteed a medal each in that event, plus McIntosh to complete the podium of course.
In Paris, AW was winning with TEN meters to go. Is the abysmal finishing speed something that can be fixed? Or is she always doomed bc of her natural fallacies to fade? If she can fix her last 25-ish, as I implied, she could absolutely win gold.
Idk if it’s her finishing speeds so much as the fact that she’s a 1:57 200 freestyler up against summer who goes a 1:53 and Douglass who goes 52 low in the 100 free to Alex’s 55? Alex is better than them in other strokes (back for Kate/breast for Summer) but they are much better than her in free so it’s not surprising she got run down.
Ok you know what, fair. It wasn’t AW’s fail as much as it was that a 3:56 400 freestyler was on her tail
I mean Katie Grimes is very young and Katie Ledecky won’t swim forever. Not saying K Grimes is guaranteed to take the 1500 throne but she does seem like the heir apparent at least rn
No regrets? Lol. Not even that disqualifying turn?
Coping mechanism. Downplaying something’s importance when it goes wrong.
Sometimes it’s important to make peace with one’s mistakes and move on. Sometimes it’s really hard to do, but if she’s managed, I think it’s not just a coping mechanism.
Or maybe… just maybe… she realized that one turn does not define her talent as a swimmer, nor did it stop the world from spinning on its axis…
Obviously she regrets the turn, but she had a phenomenal year – won 3 ncaa titles, made her second Olympic team, and even though she got DQ’d, she was in that race. And then capped it off with 5 medals at SC worlds
Two sentences before the “any regrets” question, she said the dq was one of the worst experiences of her life. The dq was a given in this context. She didn’t need to revisit.
Exactly. Obviously, the DQ is terrible and not at all what she was expecting – I think what she’s saying is that she worked really hard for this summer and wouldn’t change anything about her decision to swim the 200 IM. I think this quote was taken a little bit out of context…obviously she would’ve liked to medal and not be disqualified.
NCAA ain’t ready for Alex’s return
She’s gonna have a great season. Very curious to see what she swims on day 3 of NCAAs. 4 IM? 1 BR? 2 Fr?
You know you are a versatile athlete when you are deciding between 4IM, mid distance free and sprint breastroke 🤣
I would have said 4IM but Grimes may take that one. Breastroke is pretty wide open this year so maybe that?
I think the 400 IM is her only path to winning an event on day 3. You’re right that the 100 Breast is pretty open though, most of the A final isn’t returning except for McSharry (no idea what kind of form she’s going to be in after taking the fall off to travel), Dobler (is she taking a 5th year?), and Makarova from Auburn. I do think Gridley from Duke is going to be up there though as she’s been on a tear this fall, and the Tennessee underclassmen have also been swimming well.
I thought Dobler’s 5th year was last year but maybe not.
The 200 FR? You have to be kidding!
The 100 BR took off like a lead balloon at the 2024 USA Swimming Olympic Team Trials.
The 400 IM is the best event to maximize points for the University of Virginia Cavaliers at the 2025 NCAA DI Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships.
Is she swimming through 2028?
I don’t get the sense Alex or Kate have totally decided this yet. They clearly both absolutely loved their college experience and maybe as their teammates move on it will ale them reassess.
It’s time to look forward to kicking some University of Texas Longhorns ass.
New year, new relay handle, same toxicity and negativity 👍🏻