Newly minted world record-holder Gretchen Walsh punched her ticket to the Paris Olympics on Sunday with a victory in the women’s 100m butterfly in a blistering 55.31sec.
The 21-year-old Tennessean couldn’t match the astonishing 55.18 she threw down in the semi-finals to shatter Sarah Sjoestroem’s previous mark of 55.48 — but she clocked the second-fastest time ever and completed the most important job of the week in securing her first Olympic berth.
“I’m still in shock,” she told a pool-deck interviewer. “I don’t even know what to say.
“Making the team was the biggest goal, but getting a world record was absolutely insanity.”
Torri Huske, the 2022 world champion who was shut out of the medals at the Tokyo three years ago, finished second in her lifetime best 55.52 — fourth-fastest ever — to line up another Olympic shot.
But former backstroke world record-holder Regan Smith will have to look to her other events after finishing third in 55.62.
The trio of contenders showcased the cut-throat nature of the US trials, in which only the top two finishers can book individual berths for Paris.
Smith’s time tied her for fifth-fastest all-time in the event but just wasn’t enough.
The tension-packed meet has a suitably spectacular venue in Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
The second night of action opened with 22-year-old Carson Foster, who missed out on the Tokyo Games with a third-placed finish at trials, winning the 400m individual medley to punch his long-awaited ticket to Paris ahead of Tokyo gold medallist Chase Kalisz.
Foster led all the way to win in 4min 07.64sec, Kalisz narrowing the gap on the breaststroke and freestyle legs to finish second in 4:09.39.
In Paris, both of the Americans will be gunning for French world record-holder Leon Marchand, who has emerged as the dominant force on the global stage and is set for a star turn in home waters.
Jay Litherland, who took silver behind Kalisz in Tokyo, was third.
