Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career. The Harpeth Hall senior is headed to Virginia next year.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career. The Harpeth Hall senior is headed to Virginia next year.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-19T19:16:47+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/gretchen-walsh.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan D'Addona \u2014\u00a0Swimming World Managing Editor\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan D'Addona \u2014\u00a0Swimming World Managing Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dan D'Addona \u2014\u00a0Swimming World Managing Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ef4e84c32e2bc4f10b0e5ed1fda25d04\"},\"headline\":\"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-19T19:16:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-19T19:16:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/\"},\"wordCount\":480,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/gretchen-walsh.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gretchen Walsh\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"Americas\",\"USA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/\",\"name\":\"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/gretchen-walsh.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-19T19:16:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-19T19:16:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career. The Harpeth Hall senior is headed to Virginia next year.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/gretchen-walsh.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/gretchen-walsh.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: Harpeth Hall Athletics Instagram (@hhathletics)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ef4e84c32e2bc4f10b0e5ed1fda25d04\",\"name\":\"Dan D'Addona \u2014\u00a0Swimming World Managing Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3055ac6ff59b58e41ba8bffac00fb751?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3055ac6ff59b58e41ba8bffac00fb751?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Dan D'Addona \u2014\u00a0Swimming World Managing Editor\"},\"description\":\"Dan D'Addona is the managing editor and lead college swim writer for Swimming World. He has covered swimming at all levels since 2003, including the NCAA championships, USA nationals, Duel in the Pool and Olympic trials. He is a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a graduate of Central Michigan University. He currently lives in Holland, Michigan, where he also is the Sports Editor at The Holland Sentinel.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/danield\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career","description":"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career. The Harpeth Hall senior is headed to Virginia next year.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career","og_description":"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career. The Harpeth Hall senior is headed to Virginia next year.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2021-04-19T19:16:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/gretchen-walsh.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dan D'Addona \u2014\u00a0Swimming World Managing Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@swimmingworld","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan D'Addona \u2014\u00a0Swimming World Managing Editor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/"},"author":{"name":"Dan D'Addona \u2014\u00a0Swimming World Managing Editor","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ef4e84c32e2bc4f10b0e5ed1fda25d04"},"headline":"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career","datePublished":"2021-04-19T19:16:47+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-19T19:16:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/"},"wordCount":480,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/gretchen-walsh.jpg","keywords":["Gretchen Walsh"],"articleSection":["-Home Slider","Americas","USA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/","name":"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/gretchen-walsh.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-19T19:16:47+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-19T19:16:47+00:00","description":"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career. The Harpeth Hall senior is headed to Virginia next year.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/gretchen-walsh.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/gretchen-walsh.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: Harpeth Hall Athletics Instagram (@hhathletics)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ef4e84c32e2bc4f10b0e5ed1fda25d04","name":"Dan D'Addona \u2014\u00a0Swimming World Managing Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3055ac6ff59b58e41ba8bffac00fb751?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3055ac6ff59b58e41ba8bffac00fb751?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Dan D'Addona \u2014\u00a0Swimming World Managing Editor"},"description":"Dan D'Addona is the managing editor and lead college swim writer for Swimming World. He has covered swimming at all levels since 2003, including the NCAA championships, USA nationals, Duel in the Pool and Olympic trials. He is a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a graduate of Central Michigan University. He currently lives in Holland, Michigan, where he also is the Sports Editor at The Holland Sentinel.","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/danield\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Photo Courtesy: Harpeth Hall Athletics Instagram (@hhathletics)","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/gretchen-walsh.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-1YiH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3915"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":470127,"date":"2021-04-19T12:16:47","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T19:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=470127"},"modified":"2021-04-19T12:16:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T19:16:47","slug":"gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-poised-for-extremely-fast-finish-to-high-school-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Gretchen Walsh Poised for Extremely Fast Finish to High School Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> has been one of the top high school swimmers in the country for the past four years. Her final meet for Harpeth Hall High School will be at this weekend\u2019s Tennessee state championships.<\/p>\n

Walsh is the favorite to win the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events as she hopes to lead Harpeth Hall to another state championship. But it is not winning that has made Walsh one of the top young swimmers in the country. It is the way she is winning.\u00a0Walsh, who has committed to Virginia, has continued to get faster and faster despite the roadblocks that came with a year in the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Expected to immediately contend for individual NCAA Championships as a UVA freshman, Walsh has posted times which are among the fastest in the nation.\u00a0Walsh swam her best short-course time in the 50 freestyle, clocking a 21.41 at the 2020 NAC Music City Invite, which was part of the virtual 18 & under championships. At the time, it was the second-fastest time in history among the 17-18 age group in the U.S., trailing only Simone Manuel (21.32).\u00a0It was two hundredth of a second ahead of fellow young gun Torri Huske<\/strong>. In the 100 free, she won in 47.36 ahead of Claire Curzan<\/strong> (47.51) and Huske (47.60).<\/p>\n

Each member of this remarkable trio has put together astonishing times in the past few months.<\/p>\n

In fact, it started before the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Gretchen Walsh also put together a career year in 2019. At U.S. Nationals, she finished second in both the 50 and 100 free, and that qualified her for the FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest<\/a>. There, Gretchen won six gold medals<\/a>, in the 50 and 100 free and on four relays. She swam lifetime-best efforts of 24.71 in the 50 free and 53.74 in the 100 free, both elevating her into the global top 25 for 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing. We were at the Duna Arena, and the podium is above the pool, so you get to look out over the entire natatorium,\u201d Gretchen Walsh said. \u201cI was so pumped after all of my races. I felt so much love for my team, too, because you can hear them in the stands. Before you get on the block, they scream your name. It just meant a lot to be up there for them, but also for myself because it just showed that everything had paid off that I had done that season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Walsh is aiming for a spot on the Olympic team this year in the postponed Tokyo Games.\u00a0But first, she is poised to throw down some of the fastest short-course times in history as she closes the high school chapter of her career.<\/p>\n

Walsh has the chance to break her own national high school records in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle at the Tennessee State Champs. The 50 free record sits at 21.59, with the 100 free record at 46.98.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"