U.S. Nationals, Day 1 Finals: Torri Huske Takes Down Gretchen Walsh in 100 Free Final, Breaks U.S. Open Record
A quartet of decorated sprinters, all with Olympic gold medals to their credit, lined up to secure their World Championship spots, and Torri Huske came out on top with a stellar closing split, blasting to the top of the world rankings and lowering the U.S. Open record in the process. Huske got the better of short course world champion Gretchen Walsh, 2016 Olympic co-champion and American-record holder Simone Manuel and two-time defending national champion Kate Douglass.
As is her norm in the 100 free, Walsh had the lead at the halfway point, flipping in 25.04, and she extended the advantage with her usual strong underwater dolphin kicks. But Huske had a response during the middle portion of the second length while Walsh had to stave off a surging Manuel three lanes away.
Huske touched in 52.43, surpassing the 52.77 of Marrit Steenbergen for the fastest time in the world for 2025. Huske broke the U.S. Open and meet records of 52.54 set by Manuel in 2018, and she was marginally short of her lifetime best of 52.29, which ranks her No. 11 in history and second among Americans. Walsh claimed second in 52.78, good for No. 3 globally and her best time by 12-hundredths.
Manuel became the fourth swimmer this year to break 53 as she touched in 52.83. Manuel is the fifth-fastest swimmer and American-record holder at 52.04, but this Nationals performance marked her first sub-53 swim since she set that record in 2019. In between, Manuel struggled at the 2021 Olympic Trials, barely qualifying for the Tokyo Games as she dealt with Overtraining Syndrome, and then she took an extended layoff from the sport before reemerging in time to produce a successful Paris Games.
The top-four swimmers automatically qualify to swim the women’s 400 free relay at the World Championships, with Douglass earning the last spot in 53.16. That team will hope to snap an American gold-medal drought in the event that stretches back to 2017. Erin Gemmell finished fifth in 53.51, followed by Anna Moesch in 53.54, and those two swimmers could be added as relay alternates later.
Walsh and Huske have clashed frequently over 100 yards and meters in recent seasons. Walsh has been utterly dominant in short course yards as she progressed through her record-annihilating college career, and her last individual swim representing the University of Virginia Cavaliers was 1.30-second win over Huske in the 100-yard free. But in the long course 100 free, Walsh has traditionally struggled to maintain her speed down the final 25 meters. She faded to eighth in last year’s Olympic final while Huske rode some outside smoke to a her surprise silver.
Of course, these two swimmers are no stranger to exceedingly close finishes. In the Olympic final of the 100 butterfly, Huske erased an early deficit to pass Walsh in the closing strokes and win gold by four hundredths. This time, the outcome was similar as Huske’s impressive finish got the job done and sent her to Singapore as the fastest 100 freestyler in the world. That said, expect both swimmers to be in the mix for medals when they face off against the top competitors from Europe, China and Australia in late July.
