Walsh Watch: Gretchen Dominant Across Short Course Yards All-Time Rankings
During her four years representing the University of Virginia Cavaliers, Gretchen Walsh has bludgeoned the record books short course yards. She has walloped the American, NCAA and U.S. Open records in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly while coming up just short of the decade-old 200 free record held by Missy Franklin.
Walsh also ranks as the ninth-fastest performer in history in the 100 breaststroke, courtesy of a 56.86 effort at the Virginia Invitational in February, and she has left a significant mark in meters as well, which will only continue as Walsh focuses on metric distances during her upcoming professional career. In long course, Walsh is the world-record holder in the 100 fly while sitting fourth all-time in the 50 fly.
A dominant performance at the Short Course World Championships in December gave Walsh world records in that format in the 50 free, 50 fly, 100 fly and 100 IM while she came in just six hundredths off the mark in the 100 free. She also ranks third all-time in the 100 back and fourth in the 50 back.
As for yards, Walsh has beaten or challenged records at so many championship and regular-season competitions that her name is omnipresent in the all-time standings. Her three 50 freestyle efforts from Thursday gives her possession of the top-10 performances in history in that event, all recorded since February 2024. Walsh also has seven of the top-10 times ever in the 100 free, six of the top-10 in the 100 back and the six quickest times ever in the 100 fly.
Below is an assembled list of the top performances in each of Walsh’s specialty events for short course yards. At least the 10 quickest swims in history are listed for the 50, 100 and 200 free as well as the 100 back and 100 fly. The italicized performance in each event indicates the fastest time ever at the start of Walsh’s college career, and the list of performances in several events is extended, with the 0221 record now falling outside the top-10.
Times recorded by Walsh or other swimmers (specifically Bella Sims and Torri Huske) during the 2024-25 season are indicated in bold, with marks from the NCAA Championships also underlined.
50 Freestyle
1. Gretchen Walsh, 20.37 (2024 NCAA Championships – final)
1. Gretchen Walsh, 20.37 (2025 NCAA Championships – relay leadoff)
3. Gretchen Walsh, 20.41 (2024 NCAA Championships – prelims)
4. Gretchen Walsh, 20.44 (2025 NCAA Championships – prelims)
5. Gretchen Walsh, 20.49 (2025 NCAA Championships – final)
6. Gretchen Walsh, 20.54 (2024 ACC Championships)
7. Gretchen Walsh, 20.69 (2025 ACC Championships)
8. Gretchen Walsh, 20.73 (2025 Virginia vs. Virginia Tech)
9. Gretchen Walsh, 20.74 (2025 Texas Showdown)
10. Gretchen Walsh, 20.77 (2024 ACC Championships)
11. Maggie Mac Neil, 20.79 (2023 NCAA Championships)
11. Gretchen Walsh, 20.79 (2023 Tennessee Invitational)
13. Gretchen Walsh, 20.83 (2023 ACC Championships)
14. Kate Douglass, 20.84 (2022 NCAA Championships)
14. Gretchen Walsh, 20.84 (2024 Virginia vs. North Carolina)
16. Gretchen Walsh, 20.85 (2023 NCAA Championships)
17. Kate Douglass, 20.87 (2022 NCAA Championships)
17. Gretchen Walsh, 20.87 (2025 ACC Championships)
19. Gretchen Walsh, 20.88 (2024 Tennessee Invitational)
20. Abbey Weitzeil, 20.90 (2019 Minnesota Invitational)
100 Freestyle
1. Gretchen Walsh, 44.83 (2024 NCAA Championships)
2. Gretchen Walsh, 45.16 (2024 ACC Championships)
3. Gretchen Walsh, 45.20 (2025 ACC Championships)
4. Gretchen Walsh, 45.50 (2025 ACC Championships)
5. Simone Manuel, 45.56 (2017 NCAA Championships)
6. Gretchen Walsh, 45.61 (2023 NCAA Championships)
7. Simone Manuel, 45.65 (2018 NCAA Championships)
8. Gretchen Walsh, 45.68 (2025 Texas Showdown)
9. Gretchen Walsh, 45.78 (2024 NCAA Championships)
10. Erika Brown, 45.83 (2020 SEC Championships)
200 Freestyle
1. Missy Franklin, 1:39.10 (2015 NCAA Championships)
2. Gretchen Walsh, 1:39.34 (2025 ACC Championships)
3. Mallory Comerford, 1:39.80 (2018 NCAA Championships)
4. Gretchen Walsh, 1:40.23 (2024 ACC Championships)
5. Mallory Comerford, 1:40.26 (2019 NCAA Championships)
6. Missy Franklin, 1:40.31 (2014 NCAA Championships)
7. Mallory Comerford, 1:40.36 (2017 NCAA Championships)
7. Katie Ledecky, 1:40.36 (2017 NCAA Championships)
9. Simone Manuel, 1:40.37 (2019 NCAA Championships)
9. Taylor Ruck, 1:40.37 (2019 NCAA Championships)
100 Backstroke
1. Gretchen Walsh, 48.10 (2024 ACC Championships)
2. Gretchen Walsh, 48.26 (2023 NCAA Championships)
2. Gretchen Walsh, 48.26 (2024 NCAA Championships)
4. Katharine Berkoff, 48.55 (2024 NCAA Championships)
5. Katharine Berkoff., 48.70 (2024 ACC Championships)
6. Katharine Berkoff, 48.7 (2022 NCAA Championships)
7. Gretchen Walsh, 48.77 (2024 Virginia vs. North Carolina & NC State)
8. Gretchen Walsh, 48.95 (2025 ACC Championships)
9. Bella Sims, 48.97 (2025 SEC Championships)
10. Gretchen Walsh, 49.00 (2022 NCAA Championships)
11. Katharine Berkoff, 49.01 (2024 NCAA Championships)
12. Gretchen Walsh, 49.12 (2023 NCAA Championships)
13. Katharine Berkoff, 49.13 (2023 NCAA Championships)
14. Regan Smith, 49.16 (2021 Aquajet Invitational)
100 Butterfly
1. Gretchen Walsh, 47.21 (2025 NCAA Championships – prelims)
2. Gretchen Walsh, 47.35 (2024 Tennessee Invitational)
3. Gretchen Walsh, 47.42 (2024 NCAA Championships)
4. Gretchen Walsh, 47.48 (2025 Texas Showdown)
5. Gretchen Walsh, 48.25 (2024 ACC Championships)
6. Gretchen Walsh, 48.26 (2024 NCAA Championships)
7. Gretchen Walsh, 48.43 (2024 Virginia vs. North Carolina)
8. Kate Douglass, 48.46 (2023 NCAA Championships)
9. Maggie Mac Neil, 48.51 (2023 NCAA Championships)
10. Torri Huske, 48.52 (2025 ACC Championships)
11. Kate Douglass, 48.84 (2023 ACC Championships)
12. Maggie Mac Neil, 48.89 (2021 NCAA Championships)
