U.S. Open, Day Three Finals (Women): Gretchen Walsh Secures Victory in 100 Butterfly
During the first night of women’s action at the U.S. Open, American Kate Douglass doubled with victories in the 200-meter individual medley and 50 freestyle while Canadian Summer McIntosh delivered the No. 2 performance in history in the 400 freestyle. Both women will be back in the pool on Friday night, Douglass as the top seed in the 100 breaststroke and McIntosh in the final of the 100 butterfly.
World-record holder Gretchen Walsh will be in Lane Four for the final of the 100 butterfly and Regan Smith will be in the finals of the 100 fly and 100 backstroke, the latter event as the top seed.
Here is an event-by-event recap of the women’s events from Night Three of the U.S. Open:
Results
Day One Finals
Day Two Finals
Women’s 100 Butterfly
Building a lead of more than a second on the way out, Gretchen Walsh stormed to a convincing triumph in the 100 butterfly. The University of Virginia product notched a time of 55.60, which was exactly one second off of her global standard of 54.60. Walsh was out in 25.52 and came home in 30.08, a combination of splits that enabled her to finish ahead of Regan Smith, who touched in a strong outing of 56.18. Smith had the fastest homecoming split, a 29.33.
Summer McIntosh, one night after going 3:55 in the 400 freestyle, was the third-place finisher with a career-best effort of 57.01. That time bettered McIntosh’s previous best of 57.19.
Women’s 400 Individual Medley
Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey led three women under the 4:40 barrier, prevailing over the field with a mark of 4:36.75. Harvey was in third place at the midway point, but a strong breaststroke leg vaulted her into the lead and she never relinquished that advantage. Australian Tara Kinder was the second-place finisher, touching in 4:39.01, with two-time Olympic medalist Emma Weyant clocking 4:39.45 for third.
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
Coming off a pair of victories on Thursday night, Kate Douglass added another win to her collection with a solid showing in the 100 breaststroke. The silver medalist in the event at last summer’s World Championships in Singapore, Douglass registered a time of 1:06.55. The triumph complemented first-place finishes from Day Two in the 200 individual medley and 50 freestyle.
Ireland’s Mona McSharry and Canadian Alexanne LePage gave Douglass a challenge while tying for second place in 1:06.81.
Women’s 100 Backstroke
Regan Smith had finished second behind a pair of world champions in her first two finals this week in Austin. Following a runnerup finish to Katharine Berkoff in the 50 backstroke Thursday, she came in behind Gretchen Walsh in the 100 butterfly earlier Friday evening. Now, Smith has a win, and it came in dominant fashion, a regular occurrence for Smith in the 100 back. The 23-year-old has not lost to an American in the event in more than six years, and that streak continued here.
Smith was out in 28.36 and back in 29.83, the quickest splits in the field both ways, and she finished in 58.19 to beat Berkoff by a half second. Smith clocked 58.19, just over a second behind her own world record of 57.13. Her best time this year was 57.35 was posted on the way to silver behind Australia’s Kaylee McKeown at the World Championships. Berkoff came in second in 58.71, within six tenths of her 2025 best (58.13), while NC State swimmers Leah Shackley (59.42) and Erika Pelaez (59.56) were third and fourth, respectively. Canada’s Ingrid Wilm (59.57) and Wisconsin’s Phoebe Bacon (59.65) were also under the 1:00-barrier.
Women’s 200 Freestyle
