Pan Pacific Championships, Day 1 Finals: Gretchen Walsh Wins Opening Gold in Irvine at 24.65; Kate Douglass Takes Silver
The first gold of the Pan Pacific Championships belonged to the American who has redefined butterfly and freestyle swimming in every format over the past several years. In her first of four individual events this week, Walsh pulled away from the field in the 50 butterfly to win gold by more than four tenths. In the process, she put a scare into a 12-year-old world record.
After clocking 24.91 in prelims, Walsh emerged from the start slightly behind University of Virginia training partner Kate Douglass but quickly overcame that deficit to move into the lead and pull away. The question then became whether Walsh could touch the world record, the mark of 24.43 set by Swedish legend Sarah Sjostrom in 2014.
Walsh swam well in the closing portion of the race but did not have quite enough to reach record pace, coming into the wall at 24.65 to lower her own championship record from prelims. The time was the fifth-best performance in history, behind three of Sjostrom’s performances and Walsh’s own 24.51 from June, when she missed the world record by just eight hundredths.
“It is always an important step for me to progress from prelims … to finals,” Walsh said, “I felt like it was all a step in the right direction. I know I talked about wanting to break the world record, and I still do, but I think that is a goal that will keep motivating me in the future.”
Walsh won the world title in the event last year while Sjostrom took the year off from competition after giving birth to her first child. On the way to that gold, Walsh became the second swimmer to put up a time under 25 seconds, signaling her intent to take a shot at the world record. She nearly stole that record in June at the Sette Colli meet in Rome, when she swam the 24.51 and notched her first-ever win over Sjostrom in the process.
Douglass earned silver in 25.06 to secure a 1-2 finish for the United States. Her prelims time of 24.99 had put her ahead of China’s Zhang Yufei as the third-fastest performer in history. Walsh and Douglass will both return later in the session to race with on the U.S. mixed 400 medley relay, with Walsh handling butterfly duties and Douglass anchoring.
Canada’s Taylor Ruck secured bronze in 25.23, 0.11 clear of Australia’s Alex Perkins (25.34). The 26-year-old Ruck has earned a large collection of international medals over her decade-long career on the big stage, but this is her first ever podium finish in a butterfly event.
The B-final win went to New Zealand’s Vanessa Ouwehand in 26.13, edging American Torri Huske (26.20) by seven hundredths. Huske, the Olympic gold medalist in the 100 fly, missed out on the championship heat after she was the third-best American in prelims. The two-per-country rule figures to affect results throughout the meet, particularly in the women’s sprint events with a deep group of U.S. contenders.
