| Alex Walsh | |
| Full Name: | Alexandra Walsh |
| Birth Date: | 31 July 2001 |
| Birth Place: | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in |
| Strokes: | Medley, freestyle, breaststroke |
| Collegeteam: | University of Virginia |
| Coach: | Todd DeSorbo |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Alexandra Walsh (born July 31, 2001) is an American competitive swimmer. She is known for her versatility in all four strokes that has allowed her to have success in medley events.[1] Growing up, Walsh was a phenom who started setting national age group records at 12 in 2014. She led her high school team to multiple state and national championships. At the 2019 Pan American Games, she won three gold medals.
Walsh started her NCAA career at the University of Virginia in 2020. She helped Virginia win NCAA Championships in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. She qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games and won the silver medal in the 200 m individual medley. Walsh won three gold medals at the 2022 World Championships and then won three gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze medal at the 2022 Short Course World Championships. The following year, she won a silver medal at the 2023 World Championships.
Walsh was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2001. Her parents are Robert and Glynis Walsh. Glynis also swam competitively and was captain of the Boston College women's swim team in 1993. Walsh has a younger sister, Gretchen Walsh.[2]
The Walsh family moved to Old Greenwich, Connecticut, when Alex was young, and she attended Old Greenwich Elementary School. She began her competitive swimming career at age seven as a member of the Greenwich YWCA Dolphins. She later joined the Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club in Stamford, Connecticut. She swam in the summers for the Rocky Point Club.[3]
At the age of 12, Walsh broke three 11–12 girl's national age group records in the 100 yard individual medley, 100 yard backstroke, and 200 yard breaststroke at the Connecticut Age Group Championships in March 2014.[4] As a 12-year old, her 200 yard breaststroke time of 2:15.64 also set a new pool record at Wesleyan University.[5]
In 2014, the Walsh family moved back to Nashville, Tennessee. There, she competed for the Nashville Aquatic Club, coached by John Morse and Doug Wharam. As a 13-year old, Walsh qualified for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 and 200 m backstroke events.[6] Later that year, Walsh broke Missy Franklin's national age group record in the 13–14 girl's 200 yard individual medley with a time of 1:56.20.[7]
In June and July, Walsh competed at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. She was a semi-finalist in the 100 and 200 m backstroke events, in which she placed 14th and 11th, respectively.[8] Walsh then competed at the 2016 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Maui, Hawaii, in August. She won a silver medal.
Walsh attended middle and high school at Harpeth Hall School. She competed at the 2017 Junior World Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana, in August. She swam in the final of the 4×100 m freestyle relay, winning a silver medal. Walsh's high school team, coached by Polly Linden, captured the state swimming and diving championship in 2017.[9]
Walsh competed at the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Suva, Fiji, in August. She won two gold medals. Walsh continued to break multiple national age group records throughout her high school career.[10] [11] [12] [13] In 2018, she set the NISCA independent school record in the 100 yard breaststroke. Harpeth Hall School repeated as state champions in 2018.[14] They were also named SwimmingWorld national champions.[15]
Walsh competed at the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru, in August. In total, she won three gold medals: two individual gold medals in the 200 m individual medley and 200 m backstroke and a gold medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay.[16] Harpeth Hall School was named SwimmingWorld national champions for the second straight year in 2019.[17] Walsh was an eight-time NISCA/Speedo high school swimming All-American.
Walsh competed at the 2019 U.S. Open in Atlanta, Georgia, in December. She won the silver medal behind Olympian Melanie Margalis in the 200 m individual medley. Her time of 2:09.01 shattered the 17–18 girl's national age group record previously set by Elizabeth Pelton in 2011.[18] Walsh graduated from Harpeth Hall School in 2020.
Walsh attends the University of Virginia and started competing on their swimming team, coached by Todd DeSorbo, starting in her freshman season of 2020–21. At the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships, Walsh won the 200 yard individual medley, finished third in the 200 yard backstroke, and finished fourth in the 100 yard breaststroke. She swam on four of Virginia's first place relays (200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay, 400 medley relay).[19]
At the 2021 NCAA Division I Championships in March, Walsh anchored the 4×200 yard freestyle relay to first place, which marked the University of Virginia's first NCAA relay title in program history. Walsh was the NCAA champion in the 200 yard individual medley, finished fifth in the 200 yard breaststroke, and finished fifth in the 200 yard freestyle. She was also part of the 200 and 400 freestyle relays that finished second. Virginia won their first-ever team championship. In April, Walsh was named the ACC Women's Freshman of the Year in swimming and diving.[20] [21]
In June, Walsh competed at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials. She won the 200 m individual medley with a time of 2:09.30 to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games. The race had the closest finish in the history of the Olympic Trials with only 0.04 seconds separating first place finisher Walsh, second place finisher Kate Douglass (Walsh's teammate at Virginia), and third place finisher Madisyn Cox.[22] The race was ranked one of the top moments of the Olympic Trials.[23]
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July, Walsh won silver in the 200 m individual medley. In a thriller of a race, Walsh led down the stretch in the freestyle portion. She finished with a time of 2:08.65, just behind Japan's Yui Ohashi by 0.13 seconds.[24]
During her sophomore season at Virginia, Walsh was joined on the team by her younger sister, Gretchen.[25] At the 2022 ACC Championships in February, Alex was a three-time individual champion in the 200 yard individual medley, 200 yard freestyle, and 200 yard breaststroke and also won three relay titles.[26] She was named the ACC Women's Most Valuable Swimmer of the Meet.[27]
At the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships in March, Walsh won three individual titles: the 200 yard individual medley, 400 yard individual medley, and 200 yard butterfly.[28] She set an American, NCAA, U.S. Open, and pool record in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 1:50.08.[29] She swam on the 400 medley relay, and 400 freestyle relay that broke the NCAA, American, U.S. Open, and pool records.[30] Walsh also participated in the 800 freestyle relay, which placed second. She won a total of six gold medals and one silver medal at the meet, and Virginia won their second straight team national championship. That season, Walsh was a finalist for the Honda Sports Award in swimming and diving, which was won by her teammate Kate Douglass.
In April, Walsh competed at the 2022 U.S. International Team Trials and qualified for the 2022 World Aquatic Championships team in the 4×200 m freestyle relay.[31] She placed sixth in the final with a personal best time of 1:57.82. Walsh also won the 200 m individual medley, setting a new U.S. Open record in the final with a winning time of 2:07.84.[32] [33]
In June, Walsh became a world champion at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Her gold medal winning time (2:07:13) in the 200 m individual medley was more than a second faster than the second place finisher. In that race, she became the second-fastest American of all time and fifth-fastest world performer of all time.[34] [35] In total, she finished the 2022 World Championships as a three-time gold medalist, also winning gold in the 4×200 m freestyle relay and 4×100 m medley relay.[36] At the 2022 Golden Goggle Awards in September, Walsh was a nominee for Female Athlete of the Year.[37]
In December, Walsh competed at the 2022 Short Course World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. She won three gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze medal, participating in one individual event and five relays.[38] [39] In the 200 m individual medley, Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh finished first (2:02.12) and second (2:03.37), respectively. Both swimmers broke the previous American record and became the only American women to ever break 2:04.[40] Walsh swam the first leg of the 4×200 m freestyle relay, which won bronze and broke the American record with a time of 7:34.70.[41] [42]
At the 2023 ACC Championships, Walsh won the 200 yard freestyle, 100 yard breaststroke, and 200 yard breaststroke. She was also a part of three relay wins.[43]
At the 2023 NCAA Division I Championships in March, Walsh won three medals in her individual events. She won the silver medal in the 200 yard butterfly, the bronze medal in the 200 yard individual medley, and the gold medal in the 400 yard individual medley. Virginia won all five relay events, and Walsh swam on four of them. Virginia won their third straight national championship.[44] [45]
In June and July, Walsh competed at the 2023 U.S. National Championships. She won silver medals in the 200 m individual medley and 400 m individual medley and was named to the 2023 World Championships team.
At the 2023 World Championships in July, Walsh won a silver medal in the 200 m individual medley as part of an American one-two finish with Kate Douglass. Walsh then finished fourth in the 400 m individual medley.
In 2024, Walsh helped Virginia win their fifth straight ACC Championship. She won the 200 yard breaststroke, 200 yard butterfly, and 200 yard individual medley. Her time of 1:49.16 in the 200 yard butterfly was an NCAA record. Walsh was also a part of four winning relay teams. By the end of the meet, she had 26 career first place finishes at the ACC Championships, passing her former teammate Kate Douglass for the most ever.[43]
At the 2024 NCAA Division I Championships in March, Walsh helped Virginia win their fourth straight team national championship. She won gold medals in the 200 yard breaststroke, 200 yard individual medley, and 400 yard individual medley, while setting personal bests in all three events. She also won gold medals in the 200 yard freestyle relay, 400 yard freestyle relay, and 400 yard medley relay. Walsh was a finalist for the Honda Sports Award in swimming and diving for the second time, with the award going to her sister Gretchen.[43]
In May, Walsh graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in computer science.[46]
Walsh competed at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials in June. She finished sixth in the 100 m breaststroke and then finished third in the 200 m breaststroke in personal best times. In her final event, the 200 m individual medley, she finished second and made the Olympic team.[47]
At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Walsh finished third in the 200-meter individual medley, but was disqualified due to an illegal transition from backstroke to breaststroke.[48]
Walsh was featured in Mary Ellen Pethel's book entitled Title IX, Pat Summit, and Tennessee's Trailblazers: 50 Years, 50 Stories. The book was published in 2022 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX and to honor female athletes and coaches with connections to the state of Tennessee.[49] Walsh spoke about opportunities available for current NCAA athletes after the passage of the NCAA NIL (name image likeness) Policy in 2021.[50] She also discussed the social pressures that come with being an athlete on social media. When commenting about her future, she was quoted as saying "I've come a long way, but I've still got a long way to go."[51]
Walsh and her sister Gretchen were the first NCAA athletes (and set of siblings) to launch an apparel line with a major retailer after the passage of the NIL. In September 2022, Alex and Gretchen released a collaboration with Sporti by Swimoutlet.com and created their swimsuit line called Sporti x Alex + Gretchen Walsh.[52] [53]
| Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Note(s) | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 m freestyle | 1:57.82 | 2022 U.S. International Team Trials | Greensboro, North Carolina | April 27, 2022 | [54] [55] | ||
| 200 m breaststroke | 2:22.38 | 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials | Indianapolis, Indiana | June 20, 2024 | |||
| 200 m individual medley | 2:07.13 | 2022 World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | June 19, 2022 | |||
| 400 m individual medley | 4:34.46 | 2023 World Championships | Fukuoka, Japan | July 30, 2023 |
| Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Note(s) | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 yd freestyle | 1:41.63 | 2023 ACC Championships | Greensboro, North Carolina | February 16, 2023 | |||
| 200 yd breaststroke | 2:02.07 | 2024 NCAA Division I Championships | Athens, Georgia | March 23, 2024 | |||
| 200 yd butterfly | 1:49.16 | 2024 ACC Championships | Greensboro, North Carolina | February 23, 2024 | |||
| 200 yd individual medley | 1:49.20 | 2024 NCAA Division I Championships | Athens, Georgia | March 21, 2024 | |||
| 400 yd individual medley | 3:55.97 | 2024 NCAA Division I Championships | Athens, Georgia | March 22, 2024 |