Gretchen Walsh Swims 45.68 100 Freestyle, Fastest In-Season Time Ever

01/25/2025 01:01 PM

By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam

2025 EDDIE REESE SHOWDOWN

• January 24-25, 2025
• Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center — Austin, Texas
• 25 Yards (SCY)
• Meet Info
• Live Results, also available on MeetMobile as "Eddie Reese Texas Showdown"
• Friday Morning Live Recap | Friday Night Live Recap | Saturday Morning Live Recap

Gretchen Walsh picks up another top 10 all-time swim in the women’s 100 freestyle, swimming 45.68 at the Eddie Reese Showdown to win the event by almost two seconds and swim the fastest in-season time ever.

Women's 100 Free

• NCAA Record: 44.83, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• 2025 NCAA 'A' Cut: 47.10

Top 8:

1. Gretchen Walsh (UVA) – 45.68
2. Anna Moesch (UVA) – 47.63
3. Caroline Bentz (ASU) – 48.27
4. Olivia Nel (NC State) – 48.45
5. Grace Cooper (Texas) – 48.47
6. Lily Christianson (NC State) – 48.63
7. Ava Longi (Texas) – 49.07
8. Erin Milligan (ASU) – 49.33

Gretchen Walsh continues to throw down improbably fast times seemingly whenever she wants. Her winning time of 45.68 is the #6 performance ever, and appears to be the fastest in-season time ever.

Teammate Anna Moesch took 2nd in 47.63, a little less than a second shy of her personal best of 46.76. ASU's Caroline Bentz touched 3rd in the A-final with a 48.27, just off her best of 48.16. But once again, we had some fast swims in the B-final as well : Texas' Erin Gemmell won the heat with a 48.22, while UVA's Maxine Parker took 2nd in 48.27.

With her time today, Walsh owns five of the top 10 swims in the event.

Top 10 Performances

1. Gretchen Walsh– 44:83 (2024 NCAA Championships)
2. Gretchen Walsh– 45.16 (2024 ACC Championships)
3. Simone Manuel– 45.56 (2017 NCAA Championships)
4. Gretchen Walsh– 45.61 (2023 NCAA Championships
5. Simone Manuel– 45.65 (2018 NCAA Championships
6. Gretchen Walsh– 45.68 (2025 Eddie Reese Showdown)
7. Gretchen Walsh– 45.78 (2024 NCAA Championships)
8. Erika Brown– 45.83 (2020 SEC Championships)
9. Kate Douglass– 45.86 (2024 ACC Championships
10. Maggie MacNeil– 46.02 (2021 NCAA Championships)

Every other time on this list came from a conference or NCAA Championship. It appears the next fastest dual-meet time is Walsh’s own 46.12 from Virginia’s dual meet with Virginia Tech earlier this month at #14.

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