Gretchen Walsh put the 2026 Sette Colli Trophy swimming competition on notice in Rome by taking the top seed in both the women’s 100m fly and 100m free. She did it with a meet-record 55.47 in the fly and a season-best 53.38 in the free, a double that left her positioned for two finals on the same program.
Walsh Sets the Pace
The 55.47 in the women’s 100m fly was the sharper mark of the morning. It set a meet record and gave Walsh the best lane position going into a final that already includes Roos Vanotterdijk and Angelina Köhler.
In the women’s 100m free, she followed with 53.38. That time stood as a season best and put her ahead of Marrit Steenbergen and Siobhan Haughey in the lineup for the final.
Rome Heat Times
The numbers mattered because both swims came during day two heats at the 2026 Sette Colli Trophy, where the session was used to sort the finals field for multiple events. Walsh’s two top seeds came in the two women’s sprint races that will carry the most immediate attention later in the program.
Her fly swim is the one that shifts the frame most clearly. A meet record in heats means the target in the final is now set by her own mark, not by anyone else in the field.
Finals Pressure In Rome
The free final carries a different kind of pressure. Walsh’s 53.38 was her season best, but the field behind her is not empty: Steenbergen and Haughey are still in range if the race tightens over the last length.
That same pattern runs through the rest of the session in Rome, where other finalists are lined up across the program, but Walsh’s morning was the one result that changed the shape of the women’s sprint events most directly. Will Gretchen Walsh turn both top seeds into gold medals in the finals?
