Gretchen Walsh

Gretchen Walsh is a competitive swimmer representing the United States internationally. She holds world records in the 100-meter butterfly, 4x100 medley relay, and mixed-gender 4x100 medley relay. A world champion in the 2023 400 medley relay, Walsh also won a silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where she set the Olympic record in the 100-meter butterfly in the semifinals with a time of 55.38. At the University of Virginia (UVA), she is an 11-time NCAA Champion, helping her team win the NCAA Championships in 2022 and 2023. Individually, in 2022, Walsh set an NCAA record by becoming the fastest female freshman to swim the 50-yard freestyle, and in 2024, she won NCAA titles in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, and 100-yard butterfly, setting NCAA records in all three events.

Walsh attended Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Tennessee, where she set national high school records and won state championships. She started attending the University of Virginia in 2021. In her first collegiate season, Walsh helped the University of Virginia Cavaliers win against the California Golden Bears, winning four individual events and swimming on two relays. She was named the "Women's Swimmer of the Week" by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in October 2021.

Outside of her swimming career, Walsh studies finance and accounting at UVA. She and her sister Alex made history as the first NCAA athletes -- and set of siblings -- to launch an apparel line with a major retailer after the passage of the NIL: they released a collaboration with Swim Outlet, creating their swimsuit line Sporti x Alex + Gretchen Walsh. Walsh has also been recognized as a finalist for the Honda Sport Award in 2022-2023 and has been featured on the cover of Swimming World Magazine.