U.S. Open, Day Three Finals (Women): Gretchen Walsh Impresses in 100 Butterfly, Kate Douglass Wins Third Event
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 were back in the pool Friday night, with Douglass taking the win in the 100 breaststroke while McIntosh made rare appearances in 100-meter races.
World-record holder Gretchen Walsh had the best swim of the evening in the 100 butterfly while Regan Smith was second in the 100 fly before she topped the 100 backstroke. Veteran Canadian medley swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey and American sprint stalwart Simone Manuel were the other women to earn victories.
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
The last women’s race of the night brought a strong performance from veteran Simone Manuel in the 200 free. The 29-year-old is almost a decade removed from the signature achievement of her career, tying for Olympic gold in the 100 free in Rio, but she continues to produce strong performances. Here, she passed Anna Peplowski on the third length and held on for the win in 1:56.66. The mark was the second-quickest of Manuel’s career, trailing only the 1:56.09 she posted back in 2019, and she was ahead of her 2025 best of 1:56.90 from June.
Peplowski, a member of the U.S. women’s 800 free relay team that took silver at the World Championships, came in second at 1:57.43, while her new Indiana teammate Liberty Clark touched third in 1:58.18. Clark entered the day with a best time of 2:00.84, but she crushed that with a 1:58.81 in the morning before going even quicker at night.
