American Gretchen Walsh lowered the 100m butterfly world record again on Saturday, winning in 54.33 seconds at the Fort Lauderdale Open.
Walsh sliced 27-hundredths of a second off the previous world record of 54.60 she set in the same Florida pool at a Pro Swim meeting last May.
In fact, she broke the record twice in one day at last year’s meeting and has now broken the record four times.
Walsh, winner of three world titles in Singapore last year, is now more than a second faster than the second-fastest woman in the history in the event, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, who owns a best of 55.48.
France’s Olympic hero Leon Marchand captured two titles to take his tally for the week to four.
On Saturday, the four-time Olympic gold medalist won the 200m breaststroke in 2min 9.04sec, his best time of the season, and followed up with a victory in the 200m individual medley in 1:57.28.
Hungary’s Hubert Kos, who trains with Marchand under former Michael Phelps mentor Bob Bowman in Texas, tied for second in the medley with Carson Foster, both touching in 1:57.95.
Marchand, gearing up for the European Championships starting in Paris on July 31, had used early meets this season to test himself in less familiar events.
But in Fort Lauderdale the 23-year-old has opted for the same race program that saw him win four gold medals at the 2024 Paris Games.
Published on May 03, 2026