Gretchen Walsh: “I’m never really gonna do a 50 free short course again… which is sad”

025 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Gretchen Walsh swam the last two 50 freestyles of her storied NCAA career tonight, winning the individual 50 free in 20.49 before leading off the 200 free relay in 20.37, tying her own NCAA record in the event. Walsh reminisced on her time swimming the event in college, noting that she’s sad to potentially never swim one in a championship setting again.

In This Story

21
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

21 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Walsh-Madden-Grimes-Weinstein
1 hour ago

There is always the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup which K. Douglass and R. Smith seemed to enjoy last year.

saltie
5 hours ago

If the officials weren’t biased and afraid of being hated she wouldn’t have even swam finals. Very clear 15m infraction in prelims

Vaswammer
Reply to  saltie
4 hours ago

Saltie, indeed.

Yikes
Reply to  Vaswammer
2 hours ago

You really hate UVA don’t you lol

CavaDore
Reply to  saltie
3 hours ago

What an apt name you have

Seth
5 hours ago

Isn’t there still the US Short Course Senior national championships every year which is held in yards?
It probably won’t be a priority with Olympic and Worlds but still fun to showcase SCY to the world.

Last edited 5 hours ago by Seth
YeeHaw
Reply to  Seth
4 hours ago

Wasn’t the US Open in SCY last year? How often does that come around?

Admin
Reply to  YeeHaw
4 hours ago

It’s really sporadic and unpredictable. Sort of depends on the whim of whoever is in charge in a given year.

It’s almost always LCM in a pre-Olympic year, but more recently it’s been hard to predict the pattern. That “Winter Nationals” slot always used to be SCY and college teams would use it as a mid-season invite.

Peter
6 hours ago

Maybe now she’ll figure out how to swim a functional freestyle instead of hiding behind her underwaters, which won’t be an option in longcourse

I_Said_It
Reply to  Peter
5 hours ago

Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

YeeHaw
Reply to  I_Said_It
5 hours ago

I mean…he not wrong.

Ohio Swimmer
Reply to  YeeHaw
4 hours ago

Except he is because she made the olympic final when Simone Manuel didn’t

YeeHaw
Reply to  Ohio Swimmer
4 hours ago

Not talking about her freestyle technique.

My take is that after this week…. she’ll be able to focus on LC and her underwaters won’t be her main Tim Ferris cheat code.

Some of the smaller swimmers who lean heavily on underwaters can’t seem to translate that to the big stage.

But with her height and work ethic, there’s nothing stopping her.

If she can get faster on top of the water, she’ll truly dominate.

Last edited 4 hours ago by YeeHaw
Breezeway
Reply to  Ohio Swimmer
3 hours ago

What does Simone have to do with this conversation? You’re going to diss a multi time Olympic/Worlds champ in the LCM 100/50 free with an undefeated NCAA career in the 50/100.

Did Simone make it out of the prelims in Paris, nope. But let’s stack up some LCM golds before bringing up Simone’s name in any sprint free conversation

Alex Dragovich
Reply to  Breezeway
2 hours ago

There’s something about Simone that takes up real estate in the minds of haters like this one. Hmmm. Wonder what it could be.

Vaswammer
Reply to  Peter
4 hours ago

She missed the podium in Paris by .01 as a 21-year-old.

She’s a better long-course freestyler than you’re giving her credit for.

Viking Steve
Reply to  Peter
4 hours ago

I suspect that you could only wish for a freestyle as ‘functional’ as hers and don’t be silly, she is not hiding behind anything… just good ol’ fashion domination which naturally gets people like you a little salty

Last edited 4 hours ago by Viking Steve
Pisa Schiff
6 hours ago

Coleman: thanks to you and your poolside assistant for bringing these thoughts to us!

Gretchen: there’s always Masters Short Course Nationals waiting in the future. Tons of 50 freestyles appear in the future for you.

Signed,
The Coleman Hodges Fan Club

Pisa Schiff
Reply to  Pisa Schiff
5 hours ago

Coleman: we will comply with the wishes of your boss. Be it resolved: no more RG mentions on our end.

Thanks and best wishes.

Signed,
The Coleman Hodges Fan Club

ACC fan
7 hours ago

There’s always Masters Gretchen! 😁

Swimfanjacoby
7 hours ago

She read the comments! Nooooo

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

Read More »