Cavaliers Set Four World Records on Day One of World Championships

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Virginia senior Gretchen Walsh and alumna Kate Douglass combined to set four world records on the opening day of competition at the 2024 World Aquatics 25M Championships at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

Walsh posted a 24.02 in the morning prelims of the 50 Butterfly, breaking the previous record of 24.38 set in 2009 by Therese Alshammar of Sweden. Walsh then broke her own record in the semifinals, posting a 23.94, becoming the first woman ever to post a time of under 24 seconds in the event. She will swim the final of the event on Wednesday.

Douglass swam a world-record time of 2:01.63 in the final of the 200 Individual Medley to win the world title. The previous mark of 2:01.86 was set by Katina Hosszu of Hungary in 2014.

Walsh and Douglass teamed up to set the world record in the 4×100 Free Relay. Douglass swam a 50.95 in the opening leg, just shy of her own American record time of 50.82, to put the American team on pace. Walsh swam the anchor leg to bring it in at 3:25.01, breaking an Australian team’s previous record of 3:25.43 set in 2022.

“I’m so proud of these ladies, our prelim swimmers as well,” Walsh said. “A lot goes into these relays, and we all just did our job tonight. So it was pretty cool what we could come up with together.”

Walsh owns three individual world records. She set the 100 Individual Medley SCM mark in Charlottesville in October and the long course world record in the 100 Butterfly at the Olympic Trials in June. She also helped set two relay world records at the Paris Olympics in the Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay and the Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay, making this her third relay world record.

Douglass has short-course world records in the 200 Breast as well as today’s record in the 200 IM. She has also helped set relay records in the 400 Medley at the 2022 Short Course World Championships.

Three other Cavaliers were also in action on Tuesday (Dec. 10). Grad student Alex Walsh won silver in the 200 IM, behind Douglass, with a 2:02.65. Alumna Paige Madden was fourth in the 400 Free with a 3:55.12. Senior Jack Aikins advanced to the semifinals of the 100 Back with a 50.64. He finished 13^th in the semis and will not advance to the final.

The meet continues on Wednesday, with preliminary action starting at 3 a.m. ET. Gretchen Walsh and Douglass will swim in the 100 Free and junior Emma Weber the 100 Breast. Semifinals of both events happen in the evening session that begins at 11:30 a.m. ET, which also includes the final of the 50 Fly. Madden and incoming freshman Katie Grimes will also compete in the final of the 800 Free.

The meet runs through Sunday, Dec. 15. Final and semifinal sessions stream live on Peacock each day.