Gretchen Walsh: “I Needed To Give Myself Grace” (Worlds Day Two Quotes) ...Middle East

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2025 World Championships

Day two of the 2025 World Championships in Singapore brought the heat, with Qin Haiyang of China, Gretchen Walsh of the United States, Maxime Grousset of France and Summer McIntosh of Canada each topping the podium in their respective events.

Read on below to find out these and other athletes’ mindsets and reflections as the competition continues to unfold from the World Aquatics Championships Arena.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke – Final

Final: 

Flash Quotes

GOLD – QIN Haiyang (CHN)

On the gold: 

“This definitely helps with confidence. I’m competing in three events, and they’re all tough ones. Even if I didn’t win the gold today, I’ve done better than yesterday, and that’s enough for me. In the last 10m, we were all spent, maybe this was when my technique gave me a little bit of an advantage. This win gives me confidence. To win this gold medal is not something that’s easily said and done for me.” 

On whether he is back to his best: 

“I can only say I will do my best. I desire it very much, but my form is not at its best. I’ve been injured and it’s not been easy to get back to my best. I’m at 70% of my best. The level of the field is now all going up. I can only say I’ll give it my best go.”

On discovering his past form early in the Olympic cycle: 

“You can’t say I’m trying to start early. I have a lot of anticipation for LA 2028. I’m just getting myself into the frame of mind early. There are still a lot of uncertainties on the road ahead, and I have to be prepared for anything that may come. As far as I’m concerned, my results this year can be described more as an improvement. And that’s enough for me. There are still a few years ahead before the next Olympic Games, and I want to still be able to achieve my dreams. That dream is to achieve Olympic gold in this event.” 

SILVER – Nicolo MARTINENGHI (ITA)

On the silver: 

“I’m really proud of myself tonight. That silver was a goal for me, especially after yesterday. Even though I did good yesterday night. I threw up the whole night so I’ve got nothing inside me right now. I’ve got only my heart and my brain working right now, so I compete with that today. That’s why this silver medal feels like a gold for me.” 

On coping with the disqualification and reinstatement yesterday:

“It was really strange, you know? I had two different feelings. One, really bad straight after the race. And then really good when they told me, there was a mistake. You know, the sport is like that, you have to be ready to restart the game everything from zero.”

BRONZE – Denis PETRASHOV (KGZ)

On winning Kyrgyzstan’s first medal at the World Aquatics Championships: 

“I’m not an emotional person, but this is very emotional for me. First medal for my country at the worlds, so very proud and happy. I was not expecting this at all. I had no idea where I was in the race. I saw the turn, we were close to each other, but I didn’t see anything.” 

“Of course we all want to win something. This was the final, I had nothing to lose. If you have a lane, you have a chance. It means a lot…Hopefully, we’ll get more resources for swimming (in KGZ). We don’t have an Olympic-sized pool in Kyrgyzstan. Hopefully this is a big step to more things.” 

“It’s just training. Consistency. No secrets, no nothing, nothing special. I don’t know what I’m feeling.”

WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – Final

Final: 

Flash Quotes

GOLD – Gretchen WALSH (USA)

On her time:

“I feel great about it. I was not expecting that time for myself. I think I’ve had to reevaluate my expectations for myself over the course of this meet. I know it’s only been two days, but I wanted to go in just executing the race like I knew how. If that was gonna be a 55, that was gonna be 55, and I was gonna be happy with that, but the fact that it was a 54.7, second fastest time ever, very close to my personal best and the world record. I’m over the moon. I’m really happy that when it mattered, I was able to do that and just get my hands on the wall.”

“I’m so happy to be under 55 again; it means everything. It was not easy. And I’m just really proud of myself for that time. And giving myself grace throughout this whole process.”

On why she needed to reevaluate her expectations: 

“With the illness that’s been going on, I faced it back the last couple days, my body has just been fragile, and I think that I’ve needed to give myself grace. Luckily, I had the morning to recover and rest, and I used that, and that helped me enormously going into tonight, so I tried to make the most of it.”

On racing under pressure: 

“The world record, just having that title as the world record holder is a lot of pressure, but I feel like I’ve gotten used to knowing that that’s my best time, and that’s just kind of what I have to shoot for every time I dive in. I’ve gotten more and more comfortable with it. And even going into tonight, I knew that maybe it wasn’t going to be a world record, but any time, I would have been happy with if I touched first, because at meets like this, that’s what matters most.”

On how she manages stress and anxiety: 

“A lot of breathing exercises. I did a whole exploration into meditation and mindfulness. I don’t get the chance to do that all the time when I’m at meets and I have a roommate and all that stuff, but definitely like to take some time to myself to just focus on my breath, positive self-talk. And that seemed to work today.”

On how she overcame the illness in the USA team:

“It took a lot of guts. I think I just wanted to go out here and do it for my team. Represent the flag well and I think that race just… It came out of somewhere. But I’m really, really happy.”

SILVER – Roos VANOTTERDIJK (BEL)

On how it feels to have a medal around her neck:

“Just amazing, I don’t really have any other words for it. Just unbelievable, I’m so grateful, like really, really happy. I was just coming into this competition, I knew some good things could happen. It already happened in the heats and the semi-finals and I was really, really pleased with how that went, so I went into the final (feeling) amazing and everything was just a really great bonus. I just went into the final without any expectations, just trying to enjoy myself and just go in with full confidence and see what can happen. And something incredible happened, so I’m really happy.”

On winning Belgium’s first medal since 1998:

“It’s really incredible, so I’m really happy about that. That’s seven years before I was born. All the hard work that I’ve put in is paying off and I’m really just enjoying myself and just really happy with these results.”

On swimming in Belgium:

“I think (there’s) a bit less attention on swimming but I think we’re trying to change that and I think this (medal) will certainly help this.”

On the biggest change in her journey to this medal:

“This last year, I’ve been able to put some really great training in. We did a lot more competitions just to learn how to race because it’s the best (chance) you have just to do races to see where you’re at in the international field. And I think that’s really helped me to see where I am at the moment and what I need to work on still. I think that was the biggest thing that changed over this last year that’s really helped me.”

On whether she was nervous going into the final:

“I think I had some good nerves, like the healthy ones. But I was not really super stressed. I was so happy with my heats and my semi-final swims so I didn’t really have any expectations. I was like, ‘This is already unbelievable, incredible, anything else is just a really great bonus. I was just there to enjoy myself, give my best and then see what happens. I’m really happy with this.”

BRONZE – Alexandria PERKINS (AUS)

On her first individual world championships medal: 

“I couldn’t be happier, honestly. I tried not to expect anything going into that final. I just wanted to put my best foot forward and be proud of what I’ve done. Coming away with the medal is just a bonus.” 

“I feel like I’ve always been a hard worker with my training, but I think a lot of it’s probably just come from the confidence in racing and having that self-belief and backing myself a little bit more.”

On Gretchen WALSH (USA): 

“She’s an incredible athlete. I knew she’d be in the race and wanting that individual world title. That lifts the whole field. I’m really happy when she was there and that I got to race alongside her. She’s just incredible.”

“We had a little chatter in marshalling, and she’s so lovely and humble. It’s just really an honour to be able to race against someone like her.”

On being quicker yesterday: 

“It’s just a mixture of things. You know, nerves into a final are always a bit more at the end of the day. It’s not about the time. It’s about getting your hand on the wall. Those two times in the finals are still faster than my time coming from trials.”

On her takeaways: 

“Just confidence in my ability to race…I think just with these improvements over the last year, I can take a lot from that and hopefully keep improving.”

“I just feel like I always trained at a level that was higher than I’m racing, but now I really feel like it’s starting to reflect on my racing a little bit more.”

Men’s 50 Butterfly – Final

Final: 

Flash Quotes

GOLD – Maxime GROUSSET (FRA)

On getting a world title:

“I don’t know how I feel. This race is very fast, and I got a good time. I worked for this. It’s another race for me and another chance for a medal.”

On winning gold:

“I feel very good. And I don’t know how I swam this final… a very fast final. Noe (PONTI) swam fast too. Overall, I am proud of myself. 

On his next swim:

“Next for me is the 100m freestyle. One day rest for me. After that, I hope to win another gold medal.”

SILVER – Noe PONTI (SUI)

On the race: 

“It was a good race, my race especially. I think I did almost a perfect race. I took it out fast, and I knew that Maxime would be faster than me in the last metres, we saw it yesterday. It was almost enough to meet him, but not quite yet. I think it was the fastest final in the 50 butterfly ever, so it’s good to be part of it and win a medal.

On his new racing mentality: 

“I go into the water wanting to win – not a medal, but to win. I used to be a bit nervous, and still nervous, but I think I have some experience now, and I need to try always to focus on my thing and on my race and don’t really think about other things or other people, the guys next to me, and that’s what I did, and what I’m doing, in fact, so the results are coming. 

“I’m enjoying it. You’ve got to enjoy your sport to be fast. You have to be happy to be fast.”

BRONZE – Thomas CECCON (ITA)

On the result: 

“Twenty minutes after a 100m back… it’s fine. Still my best time by 0.01s, so not bad, but the other guys were faster today. I’ll take a bronze.”

On whether the tight turnaround made a difference:

“Definitely. I was feeling really good in the butterfly, so probably it would’ve been different without the 20 minutes. Maybe one hour, one hour 30 minutes…”

On positive takeaways: 

“I still can do double races like this, 100 back in 52.3, and then the 50fly in 22.6 after just 20 minutes. I’ll take that.”

Women’s 200 IM — Final

Final: 

Flash Quotes

GOLD – Summer MCINTOSH (CAN)

On winning two world titles: 

“I mean, going in tonight, my goal was to get my head on the wall first, so to get that done is good. I’m not super happy with the time, but honestly, at a world championships, my goal is just to go as fast as I can against my competitors. Still happy with the gold and hoping to keep up my streak next time.” 

SILVER – Alex WALSH (USA)

On the race:

“I definitely knew I wanted to be as close to her (Summer) as possible. She’s super talented and I enjoy racing her, just because she pushes me to be better than I can be and have been, so I was really excited on the breaststroke leg. I could see her and I knew I was kind of gaining on her because breaststroke is my best stroke. 

“I was really excited and obviously coming home on the freestyle, that’s definitely where my biggest weakness (is). I’m happy with the way that I was able to approach the race (and) my mindset. I was excited to be competitive and I’m happy with the first 150m, but definitely need to work on that last 50 metres. Hopefully, a best time somewhere in my future to get that elusive 2:06.”

On her time:

“I definitely wanted to be faster. I’ve been 2:08 a lot of times in my career now. I wanted to be definitely at least a low 2:07 or 2:06, that’s always been my goal for the past couple of years. Kind of bummed with the 2:08 but I thought that was a really good race, I was really excited on the breaststroke portion of the race just because I could see Summer (MCINTOSH) and I felt competitive with her, so I was happy about that. But definitely a lot of things to work on heading into the Pan Pacific Championships next year and the rest of the quad.” 

On how she approached the race against Summer MCINTOSH: “I knew she was going to be out really fast, that’s her trademark. Obviously very talented, and I enjoy swimming against her, just because I think she makes me better. She makes all of us better on Team USA and just across the world. It’s really awesome that I get to be someone to swim in the Summer era and get to compete against her. 

“I just try to use her race strategy to know where I am in the race and let my competitive drive get me (over) especially on the breaststroke – that’s where I can gain on her. I think we’re going to be racing together a lot more in the future so I’m excited for the future matches.”

On YU Zidi (CHN):

“I kind of forgot she was there until I saw her walk out. I was really busy talking to the Canadian girls I’m close with and Abbie WOOD (GBR). We’ve been racing together for a long time and I was like, ‘Wow, I totally forgot about YU Zidi.’ She’s obviously phenomenally talented at such a young age, and I think it’ll be interesting to see how she takes this meet and translates it into the future swims she has, because she’s definitely got a really bright future.”

BRONZE – Mary-Sophie HARVEY (CAN)

On her road to a first individual long course world medal: 

“This year, it has been really, really, really challenging, and at times I was wondering if I was gonna have a good meet here. Our main facility has been closed. I would drive five hours on Mondays to get to my trainings. I would sleep in my car in between training and eat there. And when it was minus 20 (degrees), I would sleep on people’s couches just to be able to do my trainings. I’ve done that for 10 months now, and it’s been really, really challenging to the point where I’m like, I can’t be at my 100% in training because I’m travelling so much. 

“But I think it just shows that throughout adversity, if you keep showing up, you’re going to be rewarded by the end. It’s really exciting, because I feel like this is an off year for me, and stepping on the podium on an off year, I’m just excited for the rest, when my pool is going to be open and I’m going to be in better condition. I think it’s exciting for the three years ahead.” 

On the race: 

“A goal for final is not necessarily the time. It’s about position and just getting your hand to the wall as quickly as possible. That was my main goal, just racing the field and just try to get my hand in as quickly as possible.

On her tattoos and how she has 4s tattooed to represent her fourth-place finishes: 

“Every star is a medal I’ve won for Canada. And these are the world long-course ones. I’m pretty excited to add one to the mix.

“The position in itself (fourth) sucks, but the time and the work I’ve done behind it doesn’t, and that’s what I take pride in. It’s how I’m working towards my goal. I can’t control what everyone else is doing, but I can control what I’m doing, and I think I’m going in the right direction, and that’s what I’m enjoying the most. Yes, I have a bunch of fourth places, but I mean, fourth is better than not making the final, so I’ll take that over it and gain more experience.”

On racing YU Zidi (CHN) for bronze: 

“That last leg of the race, to be honest, we were kind of far apart, so I could not really see clearly. I was just like, I just need to keep my head down and get my hands to the wall. For this time around, they came in third. So I’m really happy about it, happy to bring a medal back for Canada and step on a podium with Summer.”

On YU Zidi (CHN): 

“Now she’s gonna have a lot of pressure, but coming into the meet, she was unknown to everyone. So I think it’s good for younger people to just get that experience and swim without any pressure, because they don’t have expectations – it’s just a bonus every time they swim faster. 

“She might have more pressure by the end of the meet, because she’s been swimming really well so far. I used to be a junior, and I used to think that it’s just gaining experience for the future, and I think going into LA, we’re probably going to see her a lot more.” 

On sharing the top of the podium with Summer MCINTOSH (CAN) during the anthem: 

“It was a nice moment. It’s pretty special to share the podium with someone and one of my teammates. She’s pushing the boundaries for swimming in general, and to stand alongside her is just something I will cherish for a long time. It’s setting the tone well for the rest of the meet, and hopefully we can do that again in a couple of days.”

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