The enthusiastic crowd at the Paris La Defense Arena was momentarily silenced as Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh completed the women’s 200m individual medley. Despite appearing to finish in second and third place respectively, Team USA only added one more medal to its tally after officials decided to review Walsh’s performance.
The 22-year-old swimmer was later disqualified from the event due to an illegal turn during her transition from backstroke to breaststroke. NBC swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines explained, “She rolls over…she went past vertical, that’s the problem. The head has to come back and cannot go past that 90 degree mark. From that angle, that looks like that’s the right call.”
Shortly after Walsh’s race, her sister Gretchen was set to compete in the mixed 4x100m medley relay. Just before the relay, she learned of her sister’s disqualification. “When I saw she touched third, I was thrilled that she was on the podium. Then I did one more 50 of warm down and then it was a DQ. I was just stopped in the middle of the pool, so upset,” she recounted.
Gretchen took a moment to comfort Alex before diving into her relay in honor of her sister. “I knew that I was going to have to move on from that quickly in the moment and give her a big hug, tell her that I’m here for her. And then go out and do this [win the mixed relay] in her honor,” Gretchen said.
The motivation proved fruitful, as the medley relay team not only clinched gold but also set a world record, finishing 0.15 seconds faster than the previous mark established during the Tokyo Games.
In addition to her gold medal, Gretchen Walsh also secured silver in the women’s 100m butterfly and the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay. The Walsh sisters’ strong connection to swimming began with their competitive coach Terry Lowe, who emphasized that enjoyment should be the top priority in the sport.