Walsh swims second-fastest 100m butterfly in history

CHICAGO - Gretchen Walsh clocked a stunning 54.76sec to win the 100m butterfly at the US Swimming Championships on Thursday, coming up just shy of her own world record in a comfortable victory over Olympic champion Torri Huske.

Walsh, who settled for silver behind Huske at the Paris Games last year, had lowered her own world record twice at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim last month, becoming the first woman to dip below 55 seconds with a world mark of 54.60sec in the finals there.

She was well under world-record pace when she turned in 25.19sec, and even though she couldn't lower the mark, she posted the second-fastest time in history and had plenty to hold off Huske, who finished 1.8sec back in 56.61sec.

"I just like pushing myself past boundaries that I never thought possible," Walsh, who now owns the top seven times in history, told NBC Sports.

She lined up a second individual event at the World Championships in Singapore July 11-August 3 after winning the 50m fly with the fourth-fastest time ever on Wednesday.

Katharine Berkoff also turned up the heat, posting the second-fastest 50m backstroke time in history with her win in 26.97sec. She broke the American record of Regan Smith, who was second in 27.20.

Lilly King, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and an 11-time world champion who has announced this will be her last season, won the 50m breaststroke in 29.88sec.

Bobby Finke ran down Carson Foster to win the men's 400m individual medley in 4min 07.46sec.

He sliced more than two seconds off his personal best to get the better of Paris Olympics bronze medallist Foster, who finished in 4:07.92.

Finke, two-time Olympic gold medallist and world record-holder in the 1,500m freestyle, indicated last month that he wouldn't swim the 400 medley in Singapore even if he qualified because of a scheduling conflict with the events.

"I've got to talk to my coaches about it, but we kind of have a plan in mind," he said.

Emma Weyant, silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics and bronze medallist at the Paris Games last year, won the women's 400m individual medley in 4:34.81 with Katie Grimes second in 4:37.22.

Shaine Casas led all the way in winning the men's 100m butterfly in 50.51sec.Quintin McCarty won the men's 50m backstroke in 24.34sec with Casas second in 24.44. Walsh swims second-fastest 100m butterfly in history

Read More........ → June 11, 2025

Canada, US, Mexico brace for World Cup extravaganza

MEXICO CITY - The largest and most complex World Cup in history kicks off in just over a year's time, with the United States, Canada and Mexico co-hosting the football extravaganza against a backdrop of political tension triggered by Donald Trump.

Forty-eight teams and millions of fans are set to descend on North America for the first-ever World Cup shared by three nations, with the tournament getting underway on June 11 next year.

In theory, the 23rd edition of the most popular sporting spectacle on the planet has all the makings of a successful tournament.

An array of venues ranging from Mexico's iconic Estadio Azteca to the glittering $5 billion SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles will play host to 104 games spread over nearly six weeks.

The United States will host the bulk of those fixtures -- 78 -- with Canada and Mexico staging 13 each.

All games from the quarter-finals onwards will be held in the United States, with the tournament culminating in the final at New Jersey's 82,500-seater MetLife Stadium on 19 July 2026.

American officials believe the return of the World Cup to the country -- 32 years after the United States hosted the 1994 finals -- could represent a watershed moment for football in the country.

"The World Cup is going to raise the attention of the sport in ways that nobody ever dreamed of," said Don Garber, the commissioner of Major League Soccer.

FIFA's President Gianni Infantino, meanwhile, has been hyping next year's finals as the equivalent of "104 Super Bowls", contrasting the World Cup's estimated six billion viewers to the 120 million or so who tune in for the climax of the NFL season.

There are historical precedents which suggest the hype might be justified. The 1994 World Cup in the United States remains the best-attended World Cup in history, with an average of 68,600 fans flocking to each game.

Yet while organisers eagerly anticipate a commercial success, with one FIFA estimate suggesting it could generate a mammoth $11-billion in revenues, questions over other aspects of the tournament remain.

The 48 teams -- up from 32 in 2022 -- will be spread into 12 groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the knockout rounds, and the eight best third-placed teams joining them to make up a last 32.That expansion is likely to reduce the sense of jeopardy in the first round, a problem seen in other major championships which have increased in size in recent years. Canada, US, Mexico brace for World Cup extravaganza

Read More........ → June 11, 2025