Two-time Olympic gold medalist Gretchen Walsh broke the world record in the 100m women’s butterfly event with a time of 54.33 seconds during the 2026 Fort Lauderdale Open on Saturday, May 2.

She went 0.27 clear of her previous best in the 100m fly, set at the same venue (Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Centre) nearly a year ago. Since 2024, Walsh has broken the world record and breached the 55-second barrier four times each in this event.

During the US Olympic trials for Paris 2024 in June in Indianapolis, she broke the world record for the first time in the 100m fly, finishing the race in 55.18 seconds to go 0.30 clear of the previous best. Walsh managed to win the Olympic silver medal in Paris at this event with a time of 55.63 seconds, just 0.04 behind her American counterpart and new gold medalist Torri Huske.

The 23-year-old currently holds the 13 fastest times in the 100m fly, and all of them have occurred since June 2024. Also, with her new personal best time in this event, she is now over a second clear of the second fastest swimmer, Swedish Sarah Sjostrom (55.48 seconds).

Following an epic night in the pool, Walsh took to her official Instagram account to bask in the glory of her new world record in the 100m fly. She posted a few pictures from her appearance at the 2026 Fort Lauderdale Open and wrote in the caption,

“Must be magic or something out here in FLL”

“Could not be more grateful for the WR, the crowd, and the pool. Thank you Fort Lauderdale — let’s make this an annual thing, shall we??!!!” Walsh added.

However, that's not the end; she also received a lot of support from other swimmers.

Katie Ledecky and other Olympic swimmers hail Gretchen Walsh for her 100m butterfly world record

After Gretchen Walsh added her name to the history books once again by setting the fastest ever time in the women’s 100m butterfly event, she received appreciation from all comers on social media.

In the comments section of her Instagram post, many of the top Olympic swimmers hailed her, but none bigger than Katie Ledecky, who sent out a couple of emojis for her, “🤯🔥”

Summer McIntosh posted, “ur unreal ” for Walsh, while Lilly King said, “Gretchie so fast”

Regan Smith, the fellow butterfly swimmer, couldn’t get enough of Walsh and commented, “I literally loveeeeeee uuuu.” The older sister, Alex Walsh, was proud to see the incredible performance from Gretchen and called her a “queen.”

The Nashville, Tennessee native talked about magic in Fort Lauderdale on the night in her post on Instagram, to which Kate Douglass seemingly responded by saying, “Must be,” while Katharine Berkoff exclaimed, “And I’m like BRUH."

Towards the end of it, Walsh asked a rhetorical question about breaking the world record, an annual thing in Fort Lauderdale. Some of her peers seemingly answered to her in kind, with Katie Grimes saying, “We shall.”

Moreover, during the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in July in Singapore, Walsh won the world title in the 100m fly after the Olympic silver medal a year prior. She achieved this with a time of 54.73 seconds, which also set a championship record.

Read more at Daily Swimmers Club!

Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi