World Championships, Day 1 Women’s Semifinals: Gretchen Walsh, Roos Vanotterdijk Tie for Top Seed in 100 Butterfly
Four finals were contested on opening night of the World Championships in Singapore while the field was assembled for four further medal races set to take place Monday evening. For the women’s events, the world-record holders headlined the field in their respective events: Gretchen Walsh in the 100 butterfly and Summer McIntosh in the 200 IM. Both swimmers earned top-seeded performances, with Walsh tying Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk in the butterfly event before McIntosh put up a big medley swim.
Women’s 100 Butterfly
American Gretchen Walsh is the enormous favorite to win a world title in the 100 butterfly. Walsh is the fastest swimmer in history by more than eight tenths, having lowered the world record on three occasions in the past 14 months and getting down to 54.60 in early May. No other swimmer has broken 56 this year, and Walsh has already been as fast as 55.68 at this meet with her prelims time.
But it was not a blowout in the semifinal round. Walsh had a slight lead halfway through her race, but a brilliant finish from Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk brought her to the wall at the exact same time as the 22-year-old American. Both clocked 56.07 to tie for the top seed. Vanotterdijk moved into a tie for No. 9 all-time in the event, and she is now the second-quickest swimmer inthe worldthis year.
Australia’s Alex Perkins is now her country’s top performer in the event following the retirement of Emma McKeon, and Perkins has a real chance of reaching the podium in the event. A second-lap surge brought Perkins to the wall in 56.19, knocking two tenths from her best time. Perkins entered the meet tied with Germany’s Angelina Kohler for second in the world at 56.42. Perkins goes into the final as the third qualifier.
Neutral athlete Daria Klepikova took fourth in 56.42, followed by defending world champion Kohler in 56.75. China’s Zhang Yufei, the 2023 world champion and Olympic bronze medalist, was sixth in 56.84, followed by Japan’s Mizuki Hirai (56.86) and China’s Yu Yiting (57.11).
Olympic gold medalist Torri Huske was not a part of the semifinal round. Huske did not show up for her race in prelims, choosing to concentrate on the 400 free relay after battling stomach illness over the past week.
Women’s 200 IM
Summer McIntosh was only minutes removed from a dominant swim in the 400 freestyle final, but she still had plenty in the tank for this semifinal performance. McIntosh blasted out in front of the field in the first semifinal heat, briefly flirting with world-record pace, before finally relaxing on the way home. It was still enough to earn the top seed by more than a second before she dashed off to the medal ceremony for the 400 free.
McIntosh swam a time of 2:07.39, 1.69 seconds short of her world record of 2:05.70 set last month but still quicker than the lifetime best of all but one swimmer heading to the final. With a full day of rest prior to the final, McIntosh could win gold by even more than her almost-two-second dominance in the 400 free.
The second-best lifetime best in the field belongs to Alex Walsh, the 2022 world champion in this event. Walsh will be favored for a return to the podium in the final after she won the second semifinal heat in 2:08.49, just four hundredths behind the 2:08.45 she clocked at U.S. Nationals for No. 2 in the world rankings. Walsh led for most of the Olympic final and ended up claiming bronze, but she was disqualified for an illegal backstroke-to-breaststroke turn.
Two other swimmers were under 2:10 in the second semifinal heat, Japan’s Mio Narita (2:09.16) and Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko (2:09.68). Great Britain’s Abbie Wood (2:10.12) and Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey (2:10.19) placed fifth and sixth, respectively, while 12-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi swam a best time of 2:10.22 to reach her first World Championship final.
Ireland’s Ellen Walshe was the last swimmer to make the final at 2:10.49, while China’s Yu Yiting, the bronze medalist in the event two years ago in Fukuoka, ended up ninth in 2:10.63.
