Gretchen Walsh is no longer just a “bathtub swimmer.”
Having won two gold medals and a silver at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Walsh – a University of Virginia student – proved herself capable of swimming more than sprints.
Throughout her swimming career, critics often labeled her a “bathtub swimmer” because she was best at short distances. But Gretchen didn’t let the naysayers stop her from competing. Instead, she got stronger through her training and proved to everyone that she is more than a label.
Gretchen was born in 2003 to Glynis and Robert Walsh. Even as a child, she loved swimming. Her mother, who was a former collegiate swimmer from Boston College, had encouraged her and her older sister Alex to learn to swim at an early age. Because of her mother’s legacy, Gretchen and her sister were eager to follow in their mother’s footsteps.
Gretchen lived in Nashville, Tennessee, for most of her childhood years with her family. When she got to high school, she competed for the swim team and set records for both 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, winning state championship titles in various events.
Gretchen reached national competition when she was just 12 years old. She became the youngest swimmer to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Trials at 13 years old. Even though she did not move on to compete in the 2016 Olympics, she did not let that discourage her dream to become an Olympic Champion.
As the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha were postponed to 2021 due to the Covid pandemic, Gretchen started competing on the first day of the second wave of competition. In her third and final event of the trials, she came in 5th place, narrowly missing the 2021 Olympic team. But she remained committed to doing whatever it took to make it to her goal.
I should note that Gretchen puts in a lot of practice to improve her times. Part of her training regime is performing twelve dolphin kicks off each wall during practice. She also attributes some of her success to strength training in the gym.
In the fall of 2021, Gretchen started attending the UVA and began competing for the Cavaliers, with whom she won numerous medals. Then this year, she was selected yet again for the Olympic Trials, where she set a new world record in the 100 meter butterfly. This performance marked her first-ever American or world record in long course meters, thus securing her ticket to the Olympics.
In Paris, she brought home four medals: two gold and two silver. Her relay teams won the 4x100 meter medley relay while setting a world record, and the 4x100 meter mixed medley (combining women and men). In the 4x100 meter freestyle relay, her team took silver. And perhaps most important of all, she won silver in the 100 meter butterfly, just behind teammate Torri Huske. Gretchen also made the finals in 50 freestyle, where she finished fourth, and the 100 freestyle, where she finished eighth.
All in all, Gretchen Walsh had an unforgettable Olympic success. She proved to the world that she is a force to be reckoned with. Her critics can no longer call her a “bathtub swimmer,” as she is capable of swimming longer distances and doing really anything she puts her mind to.
