Gretchen Walsh Leads Off Relay With 21.02 50 Free, #6 Performance Of All-Time

2022 TENNESSEE INVITATIONAL

• November 17-19, 2022
• Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center, Knoxville, Tenn.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Start Times: Prelims – 10 am / Finals – 6 pm (ET)
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream (ESPN)
• Dual Meet Scoring (9-4-3-2-1)
• Day 1 Prelims Recap
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap

It’s become very clear that Gretchen Walsh is very, very fast. In her first swim of the night at the 2022 Tennessee Invite, she led off Virginia’s 200 free relay in a time of 21.02, which is her second-fastest time ever, and the fourth-fastest swim of all-time in the history of the event.

Walsh’s personal best stands at 20.95 from 2022 NCAAs, a mark which is the #3 ranked performance of all-time. Her performance today overtakes Maggie MacNeil’s 21.03 from yesterday and Erika Brown’s 21.03 from 2022 SECs as the new #4 performance of all-time.

Fastest All-Time Performances, Women’s 50 Free

1. Kate Douglass (2022) – 20.84
2. Kate Douglass (2022) — 20.87
3. Abbey Weitzeil (2019) – 20.90
4. Gretchen Walsh (2022) – 20.95
5. Kate Douglass (2022) — 21.00
6. Gretchen Walsh (2022)/Abbey Weitzeil (2019) — 21.02
7. Erika Brown (2020)/Abbey Weitzeil (2019)/Maggie Macneil (2022) – 21.03

The live results were a bit off for the women’s 200 free relay, so her splits are not available.

Headed into invites, Walsh’s 2022 season-best was a 21.16, which was an extremely impressive time considering that it was done in a practice suit. Her first 50 free swim (in bona fide competition) in a tech suit was a 21.27 from prelims this morning.

Walsh still has to swim the individual 50 free later tonight, so keep an eye on her teammate Kate Douglass‘s NCAA, US Open, and American record time of 20.84 that could potentially be going down.

In fact, Douglass was also in tonight’s relay, leading off Virginia’s ‘A’ relay in a time of 21.25 (Virginia split their best swimmers into two relays, so Walsh was on the ‘B’ relay). She went a 21.17 in prelims this morning, so expect a very fast swim from her tonight as well.