BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – University of Virginia senior swimming star Gretchen Walsh shocked the world Tuesday in the 50-meter butterfly at the World Aquatics meet in Budapest, but did not shock herself. Walsh broke the world record twice, a record that had stood for 15 years. In a morning heat, Walsh broke the world record 24.30 that was set in 2009 with a swim of 24.02. But afterwards, she told SwimSwam she had more in her and was “looking forward to maybe getting under that 24 barrier tonight”.

Swimming a little more than 7 hours later in a 50-meter fly semifinal, Walsh did exactly that becoming the first woman to ever swim the event in under 24 seconds, breaking the world record she had set in the morning with a new record 23.94. She said she knew she could do it cleaning up a few things from the earlier swim. She told SwimSwam she was in the pool at the UVA Aquatics and Fitness Center swimming 50s with UVA Head Swimming Coach Todd DeSorbo, and “was getting kind of close off of Todd’s watch, and he has a fast watch”.

Walsh has a chance to do it again tomorrow as she swims for 50-meter final gold medal Wednesday.
Click here to watch Walsh’s sub 24-second swim.