American swimmer Gretchen Walsh broke the women's 50m freestyle world record with a time of 23.55 seconds at the Sette Colli meeting in Rome on Sunday, June 28, 2026 [1, 2, 3]. Walsh lowered the previous mark of 23.59 seconds, set just nine days earlier by her University of Virginia training partner Kate Douglass at the US Pro Swim Series in Indianapolis [1, 2, 3].
Walsh improved her personal best in the event from 23.91 seconds to 23.55 seconds in only two weeks [3]. She is also the current world record holder in the women's 50m freestyle short-course and 100m butterfly long-course events [1, 3]. Walsh is the first American female swimmer since Jenny Thompson to hold long-course world records in two different strokes — freestyle and butterfly [3].
Earlier in the same Sette Colli event, on June 26, Walsh swam the second fastest women's 50m butterfly time ever, finishing just 0.08 seconds slower than the world record held by Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom [3]. Walsh won her first individual long-course world title in the 100m butterfly at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore and had previously earned two relay gold and two silver medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics [1, 2].
Walsh has now broken world records 21 times in total as of June 28, 2026 [2]. Reflecting on her recent record-breaking performance, Walsh said, "I would feel a lot of regret if I left the time like this on the table and never was able to go [at] it again, so I say the more the merrier" [2].
Walsh and Douglass will likely continue their rivalry as teammates and record contenders following these rapid record resets.
The Sette Colli meeting concluded on Sunday, where Walsh's latest record was recorded, marking the newest benchmark in women's sprint freestyle swimming [1, 2, 3].
