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 Swimming Schedule
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Pick ’em Contest
- How To Watch
- Entry Lists
- Live Results
- Prelims Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2
- Finals Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2
Another finals session, another story of redemption for Torri Huske.
A day after recording Team USA’s fastest split on the women’s 4×100 medley relay, Huske won gold in the 100 butterfly by 0.04 seconds, upsetting her American teammate and world record holder Gretchen Walsh. And in many ways, this race felt like a long time coming for Huske.
Let’s turn the clock back to 2021, back to the Tokyo Olympics. Huske had just graduated high school and was fresh off setting an American record in the 100 fly, and she came into the Olympics as a gold medal contender and the world’s No.1 ranked swimmer. In the race, she turned at the 50 in second place, and looked like she was about to win a medal before she faltered in the last few meters. In the end, she took fourth place, missing the podium by 0.01 of a second. Her final time of 55.73 was just 0.14 seconds off of the gold-medal winning time, and yet she wouldn’t even get a medal.
This time around, it was the complete opposite scenario. Huske was in third at the halfway mark, but closed in on Walsh to beat her in the final seconds of her race. Her pacing was the total antithesis of how she swam early on in her career, when she struggled to close races.
But this race wasn’t just a full-circle moment for Huske. It was a testament to her perseverance and her confidence in her own choices, even when that path didn’t seem like the more popular option.
When Huske first got to Stanford in 2021 to train under Greg Meehan, the school was beginning a mass exodus. Within just a few weeks of her being on campus, Katie Ledecky left for Florida. Mid-way through 2022, Regan Smith cut her NCAA career short to go to Arizona State and Stanford alum Simone Manuel joined her in Tempe shortly after. Claire Curzan did what Smith did in 2023, transferring to Virginia after a season as a Cardinal. That same year, Taylor Ruck decided not to stay at Stanford after graduation, joining the ASU squad as well.
Huske committed to Stanford back in 2020 when it was still the premier training destination for female swimmers — four years later, she was the only superstar remaining in Palo Alto.
But Huske refused to be the last domino to fall, staying at Stanford even when everyone else left. She even made the decision to stay at the university even when she took a gap year and redshirted the 2023-24 NCAA season, which was another major choice she made when many of her Olympic teammates chose to stay in college swimming during the leadup to Paris.
“These changes haven’t been scary, because I feel like Greg [Meehan] has been communicating a lot and I’ve be communicating what I need from him,” Huske told SwimSwam in 2023 regarding staying at Stanford despite a mass exodus. “I have a lot of faith in our program and the people there, so I’m not really concerned about that aspect.”
Sure, many of Huske’s training partners found success after leaving Stanford, and maybe a change of scenery was what they needed. But in a time where it felt like she was going against the current, Huske knew what was best for herself and stuck with it, and it ultimately paid off. And now, she’s an Olympic champion, on top of the world.
Other Highlights:
- The United States’ Nic Fink tied two-time Olympic champ Adam Peaty for silver in the 100 breast (59.05), winning his first-ever Olympic medal.
- Another first-time Olympic medal winner was the United States’ Carson Foster, who placed third in the 400 IM (4:08.66).
- Canada’s Maggie MacNeil, the Tokyo Olympic champion in the 100 fly, ended up finishing fifth overall in the event in Paris (56.44).
- The United States’ Claire Weinstein qualified for the 200 free final with a best time (1:55.24), while her teammate Erin Gemmell just missed out with a 9th place finish in the semi-finals. Lilly King also qualified for her third Olympic final in the 100 breast.
North American Medal Table:
| COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE |
| United States | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Canada | 1 |
Meehan catches a lot of flack here (justified), but I think one overlooked aspect of the exodus is the pressure and workload of Stanford academics—a ton to handle alongside the stressors of elite training and being away from home. Gotta be a factor for Regan and Claire, and perhaps part of why Torri is seeing success with a lighter classload and no NCAA commitments.
Gretchen is Walshed
No. Torri sets a torrid pace and husks the opposition as Victoria (Torri’s given name) emerges victorious!
I’ve said this in the past and it’s still true here. Stanfords academic/athletic program is for certain people and torri has learned to thrive in the program. Yes some changes have been made pretty recently with Stanfords women’s team but torri’s attitude has remained the same throughout so it’s no shock that she’s been biding her time and it rly shows here. Congrats on winning gold torri keep it up!
Stanford > UVA
To me, it looked like GW was sleep-deprived before the race. Maybe the pressure and excitement were too much.
First Olympics, the nerves are insane. Torri has had more experience with high-profile competitions, being a previous Olympian and having one more WC on her resume than Gretchen. I wasn’t super shocked to see Torri win. Hopefully Gretchen can keep her mind strong for the rest of the week, I want to see her do well so badly.
Huske had the best time leading to trials and was always going to be Gretchen’s biggest threat. But why are folks acting like Walsh missed the podium. She is an Olympic silver medalist her first try. Congratulations to both ladies for an incredible swim.
TH put her head down and didn’t breathe in the last strokes of the race. GW did not.
American women from UVA, in 7? swims, have faded slightly in each race.
Byron on CBC was fairly incredulous in either the prelim or semis race, can’t remember which, that W2 breathed on her last stroke. He was like, “Why would she need oxygen now?”
He also pointed out an error with her turn in the final. She can still work on some details, which is pretty cool when she’s already 55.18!
She deserves it for sure! So happy for her.
So happy for you Torri! Awesome swim!
Her decision to stay at Stanford was questionable at the time, but in hindsight, it paid off and it’s admirable. It would be difficult to have some of your best friends, best competitors, and roommate (Torri and Claire were apparently supposed to live together this past year) leave one by one. I’m glad she stuck to what she knew what was best for her, despite what people had to say about her and what she should do.