Gretchen Walsh's unique record-breaking streak outpaces Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky

Gretchen Walsh recorded a unique history by setting her 13th world record, eclipsing the two most decorated swimmers, Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky. Walsh won the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly, and 100m butterfly in the Fort Lauderdale stop at the TYR Pro Swim series.

Walsh narrowly missed the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but was a strong force in 2024 in Paris. She broke her first world record in the 100m freestyle at the 2024 US Olympic trials, lowering Sarah Sjöström's record from the 2016 Rio Olympics. At the Olympic finals, she swam the butterfly split of the 4x100m medley relay and contributed to the team's world record-breaking feat. Walsh also helped the 4x100m mixed medley team to a world record.

Continuing her excellence in the TYR Pro Swim series, the 22-year-old posted multiple world record-breaking times with her effort. In Fort Lauderdale, she won all four events, the 50m and 100m freestyle and 50m and 100m butterfly. Gretchen Walsh lowered her 100m freestyle world record twice in the Pro Swim series campaign, a unique feat that eclipsed Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky.

In 323 days, the University of Virginia student-athlete broke 13 world records while the most decorated Olympian Phelps and the most decorated female swimmer Ledecky took over three years to go from their first to 13th world record.

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Gretchen Walsh will be graduating as one of the most successful Virginia student-athletes on May 17, 2025.

Gretchen Walsh opened up about her racing mindset after her TYR Pro Swim series feats

Walsh looks on at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) 2024 - Day 5 - (Source: Getty)

In a post-race interview in Fort Lauderdale, the Tennessee-born swimmer shared that things are in her favor when she enjoys her events. She also expressed her desire to take it easy and consider every race as an opportunity (via SwimSwam).

"The sport is so hard, and sometimes you feel like it's not worth it or whatever, but I feel like when I'm having fun, everything seems to be going my way, and so if I can just carry that throughout the rest of the summer with me, learn that sometimes it's okay to not take it too serious, and look at every race as an opportunity to go out there and actually race."

Walsh and her sister, fellow swimmer Alex, became the first NCAA athletes to launch their signature swimwear line in collaboration with Sporti, called the Sporti x Alex + Gretchen Walsh collection. Alex also swam for the University of Virginia and capped her collegiate career with 29 medals after the 2025 NCAA Championships.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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Edited by Agnijeeta Majumder