Gretchen Walsh on Going Pro: “My process is gonna start over”

  34 Coleman Hodges | March 23rd, 2025

2025 NCAA Women's DI Championships

19 Mar 2025 – 22 Mar 2025

2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Gretchen Walsh‘s NCAA career has come to a close. She leaves the ranks of college swimming as one of the most decorated swimmers in history, making a case for herself as the greatest yards swimmer of all time. Now, Walsh will turn her focus to her pro career and international swimming, where she’s already seen success in the last year.

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Hoos Broad Stripes and Bright Stars
2 months ago

Hail to the Queen! Thank you Gretchen for an incredible four years at UVA. Looking forward to cheering you on in LA and beyond.

Aquaman
2 months ago

The best part of this is the joy of belly flopping in the background

Red
Reply to  Aquaman
2 months ago

That bellyfloppjng in the background was so posed and staged. And please please tell me we won’t have to endure photos of Gretchen Walsh with a live goat and/or sitting on a throne via UVa Sports Info like we did with Douglass last year. (Yes I can avert my eyes.) Here a goat, there a goat, every year a goat goat when it comes to UVa Sports Info hype.

Admin
Reply to  Red
2 months ago

Hating is a lifestyle.

Awsi Dooger
2 months ago

I appreciate that she immediately referenced short course meters, during the segment related to goals. That’s her strength. Don’t run away from it in deference to conventional wisdom. Those numbers can be taken lower once she figures out the optimum stroke count and timing the wall entry.

4 kick pullout
2 months ago

Gretchen to- do list:

– up the aerobic base, lots of 200 free work and back end 100 pace. Maybe do the 200 free unsuited a couple times, like she did when the 100 plateaued a couple years back.
– overhaul freestyle catch and make sure the elbows aren’t dropping with fatigue.
– continue to vibe with butterfly. Seems like she is close to mastery on that front. Lean into it. Chase 53s (again back half 50s pace all day long)
– maybe after a year or 2 of working on over the water freestyle, take a stab at that 50 fly wr by training to start the catch a little further out and upping the stroke rate.

Lisa
Reply to  4 kick pullout
2 months ago

I’m sure she knows what to do and she’s definitely can improves her performance especially in freestyle.

George Taylor
Reply to  4 kick pullout
2 months ago

Okay Boomer, pun intended.

Porter
2 months ago

“I have really explored my own gift I have in swimming.” Oh, okay.

sjostrom stan
Reply to  Porter
2 months ago

I mean yea she does have inherent physical advantages. Girls tall and jacked af

Mike
Reply to  Porter
2 months ago

I think it is perfectly legitimate to an acknowledge when you are gifted and to take credit for exploring that gift to it’s fullest extent. I’d argue that there are not a whole lot of non gifted sprint champions. Seen a few distance swimmers that just willed there way to victories though. Maybe that ability is in reality a gift as well.

Lane
Reply to  Mike
2 months ago

Not to be like JD Vance with Zelensky, but I have never once heard Gretchen Walsh say thank you to her caffeine-drink type of sponsors, or her suit sponsor, or the UVa boosters who put up her NIL money and the NIL money for her sister and UVa’s recruited mercenary pro teammates like Katie Grimes and Claire Curzan. Maybe she is embarrassed by it or thinks it is insignificant. All I hear are things like “I am proud of myself”, “I am gifted” and “I am amazed by myself.”  

gretchen truther
Reply to  Lane
2 months ago

look, as a poor millennial alum with a connection to the team (my name is in the fact book), who buys her suits for my kids and now contributes (however small the amount) to the virginia athletics foundation, earmarked for the women’s swim team… I don’t need a shoutout. I support what she does for my school, the sport, and who she is as a person. I’m proud that SHE is proud of herself… she oughta be! She “thanks” people like me by continuing to be herself and swimming really freaking fast.

and either way – her partnerships with arena, celsius, sporti, and others are lucrative both ways… I don’t think those companies thank her for bringing them $$.

Yikes
Reply to  Lane
2 months ago

Wondering if you have a similar problem with men being confident? She should be amazed by herself, we all are! If you have been paying attention to her career you’d know she’s endured a fair share of disappointment, people calling her washed, overrated, a short course merchant. She should celebrate this.

Tomek
2 months ago

I hope KD will stuck around throught LA games.

AragonSonof Arathorn
Reply to  Tomek
2 months ago

can’t see why she wouldn’t if she continues to go fastrr

WaterAce
Reply to  Tomek
2 months ago

In an interview with swim swam earlier this year she said she wanted to retire after LA

NewBeginnings
2 months ago

UVA has done all they can for you

Professor Goon
Reply to  NewBeginnings
2 months ago

Greg Meehan welcomes you to the Farm, Gretchen.

VA Steve
2 months ago

The lead is that she will be training with Virginia and KD.

Mad Hater
Reply to  VA Steve
2 months ago

If that’s so then she’ll finally be able to cash her 300k swim earnings to a down payment on a nice home in Charlottesville. I’d love to see a cribs edition of that on TV

Vaswammer
Reply to  Mad Hater
2 months ago

$300K doesn’t go very far in Charlottesville, unfortunately.

Admin
Reply to  Vaswammer
2 months ago

….as a down payment?

Joel Lin
Reply to  VA Steve
2 months ago

I would not be shocked if Alex Walsh retires. She’s done it all in the sport & by all indications has a lot of attractive career options outside of the pool. Strictly a function of whether it’s making her happiest to continue & not a function at all of needing to continue competitive swimming to earn a good living. Just my guess

Last edited 2 months ago by Joel Lin
swimming on hate
Reply to  Joel Lin
2 months ago

I would be shocked if she didn’t train at Virginia, assuming she continues swimming, but I’d be a little less surprised if she retired this year. I still think both are unlikely.

Joel Lin
Reply to  swimming on hate
2 months ago

Agreed. If she continues swimming she is most certain to remain with DeSorbo. Makes no sense whatsoever to mess with that recipe for success that has served so well & so consistently well. Alex hasn’t missed making a team at any selection meet since she started with DeSorbo.

Big Mike
Reply to  Joel Lin
2 months ago

She can still medal if there is a new official.

OlympicCasual
Reply to  Joel Lin
2 months ago

No swimmer’s retiring before a home Olympics.

Swimfan
Reply to  OlympicCasual
2 months ago

Lily king is supposed to be done before LA28

SMV
Reply to  Swimfan
2 months ago

Lily King would also be over the age of 30 by 2028

Springtime
Reply to  OlympicCasual
2 months ago

You’re so convinced that a normal Olympics will be happening on American soil in 2028. Cute. If they do take place, the only other countries invited will be Russia, Hungary, Belarus and North Korea.

Last 15 Meters
Reply to  VA Steve
2 months ago

Time for Alex to move to Texas — College Station or Austin.

WhatAreTheirCocktails
Reply to  VA Steve
2 months ago

I might be wrong but IIRC, Alex mentioned in the Unfiltered Waters podcast episode she did that she plans on turning pro, but isn’t sure if she’ll swim up to LA. Not sure if anything’s changed since then

Last edited 2 months ago by WhatAreTheirCocktails