Gretchen Walsh

In 2015, Walsh caught the attention of SwimSwam after achieving her first spot at a national competition for juniors when she was 12 years old.[9]

Walsh became the youngest swimmer to qualify for the 2016 US Olympic Trials in 2016.[2][10] In addition to being the youngest qualifier, at just 13 years of age, she was also the youngest swimmer to compete at the Olympic Trials, where she was 13 years, 4 months, and 13 days old at the time of competition.[11] In the one event she qualified to compete in, the 50 meter freestyle, Walsh finished with a time of 26.55 seconds and placed 125th overall.[12]

In December 2017, Walsh broke her own National Age Group record in the 50 yard freestyle for the girls 13–14 age group with a time of 22.00 seconds in the final of the event at the Speedo Junior Nationals East Championships in Knoxville.[13] Four months later, in March 2018 and when she was 15 years old, Walsh became the youngest female American swimmer to swim the 50 yard freestyle race in less than 22.00 seconds with a time of 21.85 seconds that also broke the former National Age Group records in the event for the girls 15–16 age group set by both Simone Manuel and Kate Douglass at 22.04 on different dates.[14]

Carrying this record-breaking momentum to the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Suva, Fiji, Walsh won the gold medal and broke the Championships record in the 100 meter freestyle on the first night of competition with a time of 54.47 seconds, which lowered the previous Championships record of 54.60 seconds set by Simone Manuel in 2012 by over one tenth of a second.[15] In addition to this first gold medal, Walsh won gold medals in the 4×100 meter medley relay, 4×100 meter mixed medley relay, 4×100 meter freestyle relay, and the 4×200 meter freestyle relay, a silver medal in the 50 meter freestyle, and placed 12th in the 200 meter freestyle and 16th in the 100 meter butterfly.[1][16]

Competing as part of the Nashville Aquatic Club at the 2019 Speedo Southern Premier Meet in Knoxville, Walsh broke the girls 15–16 age group National Age Group record of 47.73 seconds in the 100 yard freestyle set in 2013 by Simone Manuel with a time of 47.49 seconds.[17] In May 2019 SwimSwam ranked Walsh as the number one NCAA recruit from all swimmers across the United States in the high school graduating class of 2021.[18]

2019 World Junior Championships
	4×100 m mixed medley	3:44.84 (WJ,CR)
	100 m freestyle	53.74
	4×100 m mixed freestyle	3:25.92 (WJ,CR)
	4×100 m freestyle	3:37.61
	50 m freestyle	24.71
	4×100 m medley	3:59.13

Ahead of the start of competition at the 2019 World Junior Championships held at Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary in August, Walsh was named as one of the five captains for the United States contingent of swimmers at the Championships by USA Swimming.[19] On the second day of competition, August 21, Walsh won her first medal, a gold medal in the 4×100 meter mixed medley relay, swimming the freestyle leg of the relay in 53.60 seconds and helping the relay set new world junior and Championships records in the event with a time of 3:44.84.[20] The next day she won her first individual medal of the competition, a gold medal in the 100 meter freestyle with a time of 53.74 seconds.[21] She won her third gold medal later the same day, this time swimming the fourth leg of the 4×100 meter mixed freestyle relay in a time of 53.83 seconds to contribute to the relay's winning time of 3:25.92, which was also a new world junior record and Championships record for the event.[22][23] Two days later, August 24, Walsh won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, splitting a time of 54.13 seconds for the lead-off leg of the relay to help the relay achieve the winning mark of 3:37.61.[24] On August 25, the final day of competition, Walsh brought her total medal count to six gold medals by winning a gold medal in the 50 meter freestyle in a time of 24.71 seconds as well as winning a gold medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay with a finals relay time of 3:59.13.[25][26]

Starting the year off, Walsh announced in January her verbal commitment to compete collegiately for the University of Virginia Cavaliers starting in autumn of 2021.[6][7] On February 7, Walsh set a new overall National High School record in the 50 yard freestyle in 21.59 seconds, which broke the former record of 21.64 seconds set in 2015 by Abbey Weitzeil.[27][28] The next day, Walsh became the fastest female swimmer in American high school swimming history in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 46.98 seconds, breaking the former overall National High School record in the event set in 2015 by Abbey Weitzeil at 47.09 seconds.[29][30]

At the 2020 US Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, which were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Walsh started competing on the first day of the second wave of the competition, swimming a personal best time of 27.02 seconds in the 50 meter butterfly en route to her final mark of 58.58 in the prelims heats of the 100 meter butterfly, which ranked her eighth heading into the semifinals.[31] In the semifinals of the 100 meter butterfly, Walsh swam a personal best time of 58.46 seconds, ranked twelfth overall, and did not advance to the final of the event.[32] For her second event of the trials, the 100 meter freestyle, Walsh placed 28th in the prelims heats with a time of 55.91 seconds.[33] In her third and final event of the 2020 Olympic Trials, Walsh swam a personal best time of 24.64 seconds in the semifinals stage of competition of the 50 meter freestyle, which ranked her sixth overall ahead of the final.[34] Walsh swam a 24.74 in the final of the event, placing fifth overall, and not making the 2020 US Olympic Team.[35][36]

In one of the first dual meets of her collegiate career, Walsh helped her school's team, the Virginia Cavaliers, win against the California Golden Bears, winning four individual events, including the 100 yard backstroke in 51.15 seconds, and swimming on two relays.[37][38] Her performances contributed to collegiate swimming being ranked number one for "The Week That Was" honor from Swimming World for the week of October 18, 2021.[39] Walsh was also named as the "Women's Swimmer of the Week" by the Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC, for the week of October 19, 2021.[38] Later in the month, at a dual meet between her school and Army, Walsh won the 200 yard freestyle.[3][8]

Legend: h – heat; sf – semifinal; † – en route to final mark