Gretchen Walsh breaks 100m butterfly world record for the fourth time

American Swimmer Gretchen Walsh Sets New World Record at Fort Lauderdale Open

Gretchen Walsh, an American swimmer, has broken the women’s 100-metre butterfly world record with a time of 54.33 seconds at the Fort Lauderdale Open in Florida. This achievement marks her fourth world record break in the event.

Walsh’s previous world record was set at the same pool last May, but she surpassed it by 27-hundredths of a second. She is now more than a second faster than Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, who holds the second-fastest time in the event’s history.

Walsh also outperformed world junior record holder Claire Curzan, who clocked 58.44 seconds for silver, and the fastest swimmer this season by over two seconds. With her new record, Walsh now owns more than a third of the sub-56-second swims in the event’s history.

In other events, France’s Olympic hero Leon Marchand won two titles, including the 200 metres breaststroke with a time of 2 minutes 9.04 seconds and the 200m individual medley in 1:57.28. Hungary’s Hubert Kos tied for second in the medley with Carson Foster, both touching in 1:57.95.

Katie Ledecky opened the day with an 8:12.66 in the women’s 800m freestyle, finishing over 30 seconds ahead of Katie Grimes’ 8:40.80.

Source: Al Jazeera