U.S. Open, Day Four Finals (Women’s): Gretchen Walsh Dominant in 50 Butterfly
On the final night of the U.S. Open, the last major long course competition of 2025, three women will compete in events in which they won world titles in 2025. Gretchen Walsh goes in the 50 butterfly, an event in which she became the second-fastest swimmer in history earlier this year, while Virginia training partner Kate Douglass has the 200 breaststroke after previously capturing wins in the 200 IM, 50 freestyle and 100 breast in Austin.
Next, Summer McIntosh competes in the 200 fly, potentially setting up a shot at the legendary world record of 2:01.81 held since 2009 by China’s Liu Zige. McIntosh finished just 0.18 off that mark on the way to the world title. Meanwhile, Regan Smith goes in both the 200 backstroke and 200 fly, a pair of events in which she was Worlds runnerup this year, while Walsh, Douglass and Simone Manuel line up in a stacked heat of the 100 free.
Women’s 800 Freestyle
Ohio State’s Mila Nikanarov completed the distance double with a dominant effort in the women’s 800 free. Three days after her 1500-meter victory, Nikanarov never trailed in the 16-lap race on the way to a final time of 8:34.38. She was within seven seconds of the time she swam on the way to gold in the event at the World University Games this summer (8:27.61). Rounding out the top three behind Nikanarov were Louisville’s Leticia Fassina Romao (8:41.05) and Long Island’s Alex Siegel (8:41.77).
Women’s 50 Butterfly
As usual, no one was stopping Gretchen Walsh in the 50 butterfly. After a year in which she became world champion and second-fastest swimmer ever in the one-lap race, Walsh dominated the field at the U.S. Open by more than a second. She touched in 25.18, a half-second behind her American record of 24.66 but ahead of the silver-medal-winning time from the World Championships (Australia’s Alex Perkins, 25.31).
Versatile Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey continued her run of top-three finishes with a time of 26.43 while Alabama’s Emily Jones claimed third (26.51).
Women’s 200 Backstroke
Regan Smith would not be stopped in the 200 back final. She pulled away from World University Games winner Phoebe Bacon, a two-time Olympic finalist in the event, and held strong on the final length as World University Games winner Leah Shackley moved into second place. Smith touched in 2:05.52, which was just over a second behind the 2:04.29 she swam to win silver at this summer’s World Championships but still quicker than the bronze-medal-winning time.
The top-three finishers came out well ahead of the field, with Shackley touching second in 2:07.21 and Bacon claiming third in 2:07.77. Shackley got under 2:07 and 2:06 for the first time this year, topping out at 2:05.99 at WUGs in July. No other swimmer went under 2:10.
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
The world’s dominant 200 breaststroker had no peer in Austin as Kate Douglass pulled away for a four-second win. Douglass was the Olympic gold medalist in the event last year and world champion this year, her Singapore time of 2:18.50 making her the No. 2 performer in history. At the U.S. Open, Ireland’s Mona McSharry stayed close in their early going, the Irish Olympic medalist in the 100-meter event showing off her speed, but Douglass asserted herself down the stretch.
Douglass swam a time of 2:20.86, lowering the meet record of 2:21.87 she set back in 2023. The runnerup spot here went to Alex Walsh, a longtime teammate of Douglass at UVA. Walsh finished in 37.76 to surpass a fading McSharry at the finish by three hundredths, 2:24.88 to 2:24.91, with Tara Kinder (2:25.09) and Alexanne LePage (2:25.10) just outside the mix.
Women’s 100 Freestyle
Women’s 200 Butterfly
